Two State agencies have differed over the venue of a musical concert dubbed ‘Koroga Festival-Naivasha Love Edition’ inside Hell’s Gate National Park in Naivasha next week.
While the Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) insists the park is safe for the event expected to attract hundreds of party goers, the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) has written to two ministries raising safety and environmental concerns.
The park is home to critically endangered Ruppell’s vultures, eagles, falcons, hawks, buzzards and owls.On January 23, 2020, Nema wrote to the organisers of the event, the KWS, ministries of tourism and environment saying it had not been invited to conduct an environmental impact assessment before the concert.
In the letter, Nema further raised concerns about the concert’s impact on endangered species in the park and possible degradation. It requested the organisers to provide a detailed assessment of potential environmental impacts and proposed mitigations as well as providing clearance from the KWS approving the event to be undertaken at the park.
The letter gave the organisers seven days to respond and was copied to KWS Director General Brg (Rtd) John Waweru and cabinet secretaries Keriako Tobiko (Environment) and Najib Balala (Tourism).But in December 27, KWS released a statement defending the decision to host the concert in the park.
Past events
“Over the years, we have held more than 20 successful events in the park including ‘To Hells Gate on a Wheelbarrow’ and ‘Safarcom Jazz festivals’ without significant damage to the biodiversity in the park,” KWS noted in a statement.According to KWS the park, was “unlike other wild-life based national parks because it is an activity-based conservation and recreation facility that hosts rock-climbing, horse riding, cycling, camping, walking, sight-seeing and event hosting.”
“As a matter of fact, the park has sites designated for hosting events where insecurity and disturbance of wildlife is minimised. We also have clear regulations for the event organisers including timing, noise levels and clean-up after events,” stated KWS.
It noted that some funds raised from the festivals will be ploughed back to support conservation and community development.“As guardians of Kenya’s national parks, we reassure the public of our utmost commitment to maintaining the ecological integrity of these conservation and recreation facilities,” stated KWS.
Conservationists have been drawn to the debate and criticised plans to host the festival at the park.Through their umbrella organisation, Conservation Alliance of Kenya, the organisations said the three-day event violates laws and regulations on wildlife conservation and management.
The event, conservation organisations also noted, will have negative impact on the critically endangered birds nesting within the park while also risking security for the participants.“The Conservation Alliance of Kenya requests the organisers of the Naivasha Love Festival 2020 to move it out of the Hells Gate National Park to an alternative location suitable for such events. The event planned inside the park is unacceptable, violates laws and regulations on wildlife conservation and management,” they said.
Raised concerns
Already, members of the Alliance have raised concerns with Nema and requested the organisers to provide a detailed assessment of the potential environmental impact of the proposed event.“The organisers are yet to provide that report and so it is illegal to continue with the event without approval. Therefore, we are alerting the general public that the planned festival in the park jeopardizes their own safety,” stated the organisations.The event is being sponsored by more than ten entities including Nakuru County.
