The Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transportation project (Lapsset) will be next to the lake, the Unesco's World Heritage Centre observes.
Turkana, the world’s largest desert lake, was added to Unesco’s roster of World Heritage sites in 1997 in recognition of its unique ecosystem.
The three Kenyan national parks that encompass the site include wildlife breeding grounds and unparalleled fossil remains. It also provides livelihoods for local fishing communities.
A Unesco committee meeting in Bahrain this week appears set to add Lake Turkana to a list of endangered World Heritage sites due to what monitors say are threats posed by an Ethiopian dam, sugar factories, and a multi-billion shilling infrastructure project involving Kenya.
The Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transportation project (Lapsset) will be next to the lake, the Unesco's World Heritage Centre observes.
“It is of concern that the Lapsset project proposes major developments in the vicinity of the lake, including an oil pipeline and a resort city,” the Centre’s analysis says. “Before any specific proposals for resort cities can be considered, strong guidelines for tourism are additionally needed,” the analysis urges.
Estimated to cost more than Sh2.5 trillion, Lapsset consists of a new port at Lamu, three resort cities, including one at Lake Turkana, highways, crude and product oil pipelines, railway lines, international airports, and a dam.
The expected UN listing is based on the likelihood of “irreversible” damage to the lake, a Unesco draft document states, and is intended to generate funding for a long-overdue environmental assessment.
Turkana, the world’s largest desert lake, was added to Unesco’s roster of World Heritage sites in 1997 in recognition of its unique ecosystem. The three Kenyan national parks that encompass the site include wildlife breeding grounds and unparalleled fossil remains. It also provides livelihoods for local fishing communities.
Ethiopia has stated that its Gibe III dam on the Omo River, which feeds the lake, has not negatively affected water levels.
But monitoring data “shows an overall rapid decline in water levels since January 2015 when the impounding of the Gibe III reservoir commenced,” says an analysis by the Heritage Centre and its advisers.
Ethiopia has failed to assess the potential impacts on the lake of further reductions in water flow as well as fertiliser and pesticide contamination from its Kuraz sugar irrigation and refineries project, the analysis adds.
The Centre calls for a halt to Kuraz project until a comprehensive environmental impact study has been completed
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