DPS – 2015 – AN INTRODUCTION TO ENVIROMENTAL EDUCATION

1.0 EDU 122 – ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

1.1 Understanding key concepts related to environmental education.

- What is environment – Simply stated environment is that which surrounds
us. The word itself derives from the French term ‘environ’ that means the
surrounding;
(1) Muyanda Mutebi (1993) defines environment as the surrounding
conditions that influence the behavior and growth development of living
things.
(2) Lucie Sauve (2) – Environment is a fabric of woven threads and an
interface between nature and culture.
(3) Dichil (quoted by Fiew 1993) defines environment as interactions
between physical surroundings and social, political and economic forces
that organizes us in the context of these surroundings e.t.c.

Environment therefore can be conceived as a sum total of natural, artificial and socio
components of the material world which are in direct interaction with human kind utilizing
controlling harnessing and influencing adapting.

Environment, according to O’donoghue, is a four dimensional social construct as shown below;

(i) Biophysical – referring to living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) simply meaning the
life and the life support systems.
(ii) Social systems – includes humans and their cultural interactions as diverse groups.
(iii) Economic – refers to man’s / Human economic endeavors to sustain himself in the
environment.
(iv) Political – Refers to Political power, Policy, political decisions and all other legal
factors that determine the access and distribution of natural resources – governance.

In essence, environment will have no reality without human beings. Environment is also
perceived by people differently depending on their habitatious cf. inhabitants of Tundra,
Tropical lands, Equatorial lands, the hot deserts etc. all will have very different views of the
environment.

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Environment Pictorially represented:-

Political

Social
Environment Econoicc

Biophysical
Faural flora + physical

NB: The dynamic interrelationship of the four social dimensions of environment (O’Doughue)

The environment in its totality provides mankind with the resources for his very survival - this
is done through the vital life sustaining activities such as cultivating, grazing, sheltering,
hunting and gathering, drinking, breathing e.t.c. It would be interesting to note urban and rural
settlements are both part & parcel of the environment.

NB: The environment does not belong to people; rather people belong to the environment. So,
whatever befalls the environment befalls people also cf. Global warming environment has no
fixed boundaries as it extends all-round the planet earth. The man-made environmental
demarcations are only for purposes of convenience.

1.2 Environmental Education

- O’Doughou – Environmental Education is communications process that causes
behavioral changes in human beings towards the environment.
- The Australian Association for environmental education (AAEE) says that environment
education is across the curriculum approach to learning that helps the individuals to
understand the environment to understand the environment with the ultimate aim of
developing a caring and committed attitude that will foster the desire and ability to act
responsibility in the environment.
- Environmental Education is concerned with knowledge, feelings, attitudes, skills,
values, social & community actions – thus it affects also people’s way of thinking and
perception.
- Muganda – Mutebi (1993) says that Environmental Education is a process of learning
and teaching knowledge and skills that enable us to understand and appreciate our
environment and the inter relatedness between us, our cultures and environmental
resources.

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Simply said, environmental education can therefore be conceptualized as a process through
which;

(i) Learners acquire knowledge, skills, attitudes, values on environmental issues.

(ii) The knowledge so acquired improves the awareness about the status of different
environments.
(iii) This awareness stimulates concerns and strong feelings about quality of the
environment on focus
(iv) These strong feeling and concern above leads to a committement in wanting to
improve and conserve the environment.
(v) And this commitment desire calls for participation and action in order to solve some
of the environmental problems.

Environmental Education is therefore the strongest and most effective tool/means used in
solving environmental problems. Other tools include environmental law; Environmental
managers, environmental community workers, engineers economists, foresters game hardens,
Policy makers e.t.c.

The rational for teaching environmental education to prospective teachers;

- Teachers live and work in an environment and are part and parcel of this
environment will have either positive or negative impacts depending on how
they go about it.
- Teachers are role models to their learners besides imparting the knowledge
skills and attitudes values that relate to the management and conservation of
the environment.
- Teachers are role models to the immediate School Society in addition to being
opinion leaders in those communities. Their influence in making decisions
involving environmental matters cannot be underestimated.
- Teachers’ influence on Societies has a multiple effect on the populations
through their learners and Pupil movement.

1.30 Approaches Used To Teach Environmental Education

These are the multidisciplinary and the interdisciplinary. The former is more applicable during
the formulative / early years of the life of the learner, while the latter approach is more
commonly used as higher education is approached.

1.31 The Multidisciplinary Approach

Environmental contents are infused into disciplines / subjects that are taught in School e.g
Geography, Science History Literature, Social Ethics e.t.c. this approach is not cumbersome to
curriculum developers as o extra subject for the timetable is necessary. Again no specialized
teaching and learning resources are required. The approach is also cheap to effect but is not

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capable of sensitizing the learners adequately in matters of environment. The deliberate and
constant co-ordination and awareness may not be fully developed in all teachers. The approach
as pointed earlier, can be used in Primary Schools, Secondary Schools Training Colleges and
some faculties / departments in tertiary institutions.

Chemistry
Gases Religion
History Cleanliness is second to
Origin of management godliness; concept of good
practices over time sanitation, moral and ethical
trends in pollution concern over garbage.

Mathematics
Biology Qualities of waste
Impact of pollutants on Pollution on generated percentage of
food chains Biodegradable Environmental people affected by each
pollutants
Issue category of waste.

Technology Economics
Appropriate technologies Cost- Benefit analysis of
to manage pollutants for pollution effect. Polluter –
cleaner production pay Principle Pollution effect
on GDP
Agriculture
Inorganic fertilizers,
pesticides, herbicides
insecticides, fungicides

Multidisciplinary approach of teaching the topic “Pollution” in a School.

NB:- The multidisciplinary approach of teaching environmental issues requires that the
teachers are quite conscious of what they intend to teach; fo it deliberately and honestly while at
the same time relating their subject of focus to the environmental issues. Curriculum
developers too will need to ensure that different topics on environmental issues are sliced
among the subjects existing in the School Curriculum taught in Schools.

1.32 The Interdisciplinary Approach of teaching Environment

This approach allows environmental education to be taught in Schools as a Subject in its own
right; often included in the block timetable. Teachers will need to be equipped with special
methods of teaching subject and specially designed the teaching / learning materials are
provided. The approach is somehow expensive on the part of hiring teachers and the
production of teaching / learning materials. It is however more effective in changing the
learners attitudes, behavior, lifestyles and in making them environmentally friendly. It is the

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approach that is commonly used in Diploma Training Colleges some institutions of higher
learning and some Universities where departments of environmental studies exist.

NB: Diagramatic Representation of this approach will be similar to the above but the arrows are reverse
to point at the centre.

The diagram depicts that although pollution is offered as a topic in the Subject of
environmental education other subjects contribute significantly in enriching & enhancing
the understanding of the subject by the learners.

1.40 Purpose Goal, Objectives and Principles of Environmental Education

These were deliberated upon and adopted in Thilis town in the former USSR in 1997 after
having been crafted into the forum in Belgrade, former Yugoslavia in 1975.

1.41 The main purpose of environmental education is to create awareness and a sense of
responsibility in (the) citizens of the world with regards to their environment and its emerging
problems and issues.

1.42 Goals of Environmental Education

(i) To faster a clear awareness of and concern about economic, social, political, ecological
interdependence in both rural and urban settings.
(ii) To provide every citizen with an equal opportunity to acquire the knowledge, values
attitudes, commitments and skills needed to protect to maintain and improve the
environment.
(iii) To create new ways of behavior and lifestyles in individuals, groups, and communities
as a whole towards their immediate environment.

1.43 Objectives of Environmental Education

a. Awareness – Individuals and communities to acquire an awareness of and

sensitivity to the total environment and its associated problems.
b. Knowledge – To impart basic understanding of the functioning of the
environment and its problems, and the human role factor in it.
c. Attitudes - To acquire strong concerns / feelings for the environment and be
motivated to act individually and communally in resolving environmental
problems.
d. Skills - To acquire relevant skills needed in identifying and solving
environmental problems.
e. Participation /involvement - Take appropriate and timely actions in solving
environmental problems and in preventing future ones.
In a nutshell, E.E creates conditions of a continuum which will make people of our Country and
the world over aware of , concerned about, committed to and equipped with skills &
knowledge & attitudes necessary for solving (action 1) environmental problems and preventing
(action 2) new ones from occurring.

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1.50 Guiding Principles of Environmental Education

Principles are the underlying rules & regulations of action or conduct that guide a process.

The Tbilis (1977) conference adopted the following principles to guide action in the
environmental education process;

(i) That environmental education should consider the environment in its totality
(i.e biophysical, social, economic, political) including what is man-made or
artificial.
(ii) That Environmental Education should be a continuous life-long process in all the
formal and informal non formal emerging dimensions of education.
(iii) That Environment Education should be interdisciplinary in approach where it
borrows heavily from the contents of other disciplines.
(iv) That Environmental Education should examine issues from local, National,
regional continental and the international points of view.
(v) That Environmental Education should focus on current and potential
environmental situations while remembering the historical perspective.
(vi) That environmental Education should promote and embrace the values and the
necessity for co-operation at all the levels cited in (iv) above.
(vii) That Environmental Education considers environmental impacts / aspects in the
development of economic projects.
(viii) That environmental education should help the learners to discover symptoms
and the real causes of environmental problems.
(ix) That environmental education should emphasize the complexity of
environmental problems which require some critical thinking and advanced
problem solving skills.
(x) That environmental education should utilize diverse teaching and learning
strategies with due emphasis / stress on practical activities and first hand
experiences.

Who should be Taught Environmental Education?

Two main categories of people are targeted.

(i) Learners in the formal education sector and at all levels of training and learning
institutions.
(ii) Non-formal informal emerging education sector (to include youths, adults,
administrators, policy makers, farmers and everyone else in general)

Teaching and learning of Environmental Education should therefore be an active participative

interaction that bears / comprises of the following three (3) characteristics:- Characteristics in
the strategies of teaching & learning E.E.

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 (a) Dialogue – Involvement of both the learners and the teachers in discussing ideas and
offering suggestions on ways of solving environmental issues.
(b) Reflection – Learners get involved in critical thinking on how to deal with
Environmental issues; and as they reflect they conceptualise and explore alternative
ways of problem solving or taking actions.
(c) Encounter – Learners getting the 1st hand experience on specific environmental issues
from field trips. Active learning or participatory learning is quite effective in changing
attitudes and behavioral styles.

Explain: Climate change and global warming: a diagramatic representation.

Global Warming:

Human Activities Burning of fossil fuels, deforestation agricultural

Cause Activities ex-industrialization transportation, mining
activities

Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxide, Carbon Monoxide,

Increase in Greenhouse
Gases Ozone, Methane, CFCs e.t.c

These cause the planet earth to overheat and also prevent the escape of the heat from earth’s
surface.

The effect of this GLOBAL WARMING

The Consequence of the gradual increase in the global means temperatures could result in
melting of global ice leading to:

(i) Altered weather patterns that are unpredictable

(ii) Intensification of droughts and aridity, dryness.
(iii) A rise in Sea Levels that could drawn coasts that are habitats for millions of people.
(iv) Displacing these people; essentially condemning them to a life of environmental
refugees (IDPS) e.g in Banglandesh and the Nile Delta.
(v) An increase of flooding and strong tropical storms & hurricanes.
(vi) Pressure on other scarce resources food insecurity overcrowding in some already
crowded and dirty urban areas.

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Question – Is there evidence that global warming is already here with us? If so, what should be
done?

(a) Prepare adequately greenhouse gases.

(b) Prepare adequately for impacts of global warmings’
(c) Provide financial / technical help to the less developed nations for economic
expansion and sustainable maintenance of the environment.

1.60 Historical Development of Environmental Education

The introduction of Environmental Education in the later 20th Century was a response to
environmental problems that faced societies as a result of environmentally unfriendly
technologies and the commitment changes lifestyles. To create environmental awareness,
environmental education was partially offered as conservation education or nature study in
Kenya and in other Countries of the World; with emphasis on the Biological aspects of the
environment only. Other aspects of the environment were therefore neglected and continued to
get even worse e.g Social, economic, political e.t.c. a curriculum of Environmental Education
that integrated all aspects of Environment was introduced at a later period following
deliberations at a series meetings at international continents regional and National levels.

The Stockholm (Sweden) conference of 1972 recommended the setting up of UNEP (now based
in Nairobi Kenya) with the objective of dealing with matters of ecology energy, population,
food and other natural resources. An international environmental education programme (IEEP)
was created under the auspices of UNESCO & UNEP so as to facilitate the introduction of
environmental education in Schools. These two actions were quickly followed by the 1975
Belgrade (former Yugoslavia) International Environmental experts set up the purpose goals,
objectives, guiding principles; and also determined the target groups to be addressed. The
document they produced later came to be known as the Belgrade Charter.

The African continental conference on the constraints facing the introduction of Enviromental
education was held in 1976 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Leopldville – Kinshasa.
The intergovernmental conference on Environmental Education held in Tbilis, Georgia (USSR)
1997 adopted the contents of the Belgrade Charter and recommended the introduction of
Environmental Education at all levels of education in the Countries of the World.

In a related development, the International Congress on Environmental Education and Training

was held in Moscow to review the Development of Environmental Education and to lay down
strategies for the decade that followed (1980’s)

Kenya held its first meeting in response to the Tbilise recommendations sometime around 1978
/9. The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development Education (KICD) immediately embarked
on developing guidelines of introducing Environmental Education in the formal education
curriculum for Primary, Secondary and Teacher Training colleges. The 1980’s saw the

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introduction of ‘Man & His Environment in the Country e.g environmental economists,
ecologist, Chemists hydrologists, foresters, game wardens e.t.c. Environmental Education thus
took root in the Country and has continued to grow and to expand.

NB: A Blue print document on environment was adapted at the Earth summit meeting in 1992 on
“development and environment” for guiding global community on areas of development in the 21st
Century, was dubbed on the ‘Agenda 21’.

The 2012 Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) Conference on environment

Biophysical Environment: Its Scientific Background (Dubbed as Riot 20 Meeting)

The study of the functioning of the natural environment is known as ecology. The component /
Principal parts of Ecology include:- Energy flow; material recycling, trophic feeling levels;
limiting factors & Principle of change.

Ecology is also the branch of biology that studies the relationships of livings things with their
environment and with each other. The word ecology derives from the Greek word “Oikos”
which refers to habitation, dwelling or house.

Ecosystems on the other hand refer to the active / dynamic interaction between living things
(biotic) and non-living things (abiotic) in their environments. Examples of ecosystems include
grasslands, equatorial forests, oceans, marines, fresh & salt lakes, semi deserts & true deserts
e.t.c. These (ecosystems) are classified as Terrestrial (land based) and aquatic (water – based)
and further sub classified into fresh water alkaline and marine.

(i) The Principal of Energy flow in the ecosystem

- The sun is the Primary source of energy.
- Green plants use visible light as the source of energy for photosynthesis.
- Living organisms receive their energy from plants through a process known
as food chain.
- We have two types of food chains viz (a) Predatory food chain and (b) The
detritus food chain.

The predatory or the grazing food chain begins with the green plants and proceeds to
herbivores and carnivores while the detritus food chains begins with dead bodies of organisms
and proceed on to plants through detritivores which are microscopic in nature.

Energy cannot be recycled and flows only in one direction. Energy from the main source, the
sun, usually diminishes its intensity, as heat, as it travels through the atmosphere and before it
reaches its consumers. A single plant is capable of supporting life of a large number of insects.

(ii) Principle of Nutrient / Material / Recycling

- An also known as biogeochemical cycle – found in the ecosystem and
includes about 30 -40 food nutrients that ate required for growth and

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development in plants and animals. Nutrients such as carbon, Nitrogen,
Hydrogen, Oxygen, Potassium, Potassium, Phosphorus & Sodium are
required in large qualities while others like tin, iron, Zinc and boron,
manganese iodine are required in small quantities. These essential nutrients
are normally reserved in the atmosphere, oceans, lithosphere (ground
deposits). The ecosystems ensure that the nutrients are systematically and
continuously being recycled so as to endure a sustained availability. The
organisms that are involved in the process of recycling the nutrients can be
categorized as follows: Producers, consumers, reducers and decomposers.
(i) Producers are mainly represented by green plants that are capable of
making their own food using sun-light energy, carbon dioxide and
water in the photosynthesis process. They are producers since the
food they manufacture is used to feed all other organisms.
(ii) Consumers We have three Primary and Secondary Consumers.
(a) Primary Consumers are the organisms that belong to the first
feeding a trophic level. They feed directly on / from the plants
e.g. cows, goats, giraffes, zebras etc – the herbivorous.
(b) Secondary Consumers organisms belong to the second feeding or
trophic level. They feed on the Primary Consumers on the
herbivores. All carnivores such as the lions, leopards, hynas,
cheetahs etc. are good examples of this category of consumers.
Tertiary consumers – sharks, vultures.
(iii) Decomposers: These are organisms such as fungi and bacteria which
feed on dead organizes. Their role is to unlock food nutrients
continued in the dead organic matter.

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 Principle of Nutrient Recycling

Plants Herbivores Lower Higher Carnivores

(Producers) Carnivores
Primary Consumers)
Cows & Goats. Secondary
Tertiary Consumers)
Elephants, hoppers Consumers) Cats,
Sharks, Vultures,
locusts Mongoose, Lions,
Predators of other
Cheetahs.
carnivores.

Decomposers

This arrow shows the return of nutrients

from the decomposers back to the plants
to restart the cycle all over again.

The plants will use the nutrients to synthesize, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and other
organic compounds. The decomposers will have broken down the synthesized materials into
their elemental state for recycling or depository into the exchange pool or reservoir.

Anthropogenic: Certain human activities do affect / impact on nutrient cycling. Quantities and
rates – between the organic and inorganic reservoirs pools. These activities include:-

- Overuse of inorganic fertilizers in agriculture leading to the death of soil

micro-organisms and hence slowing down decompositions rates.
- Overharvesting and translocation of crops and animal resources, thus leading
to the decline in organic matter or decomposable matter.
- Increase of Carbon dioxide from industrial & transport activities in the
atmosphere
- Deforestation may lead to loss of biodiversity and ultimately the decline of
organic matter in an area.
- Sporadic fires may cause the death of microbiota and other organisms that
play a major role in decomposition.

Principles of Trophic / Feeding levels in an ecosystem

- Living things require food that will supply them with energy and nutrients
for growth and development. Just like in the Principle of Nutrient, recycling,

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 organisms in this trophic principle are found at different levels in an
ecosystems i.e:
(a) Plant Procedures – These will photosynthesis and synthesize organic
compounds using sunlight energy and inorganic raw materials.
(b) Primary Consumers – Animals that feed directly on the Primary
Producers (Plants) e.g. elephants, locusts.
(c) Secondary consumers – Animals that feed on other animals flesh – lions,
hawks, fleas etc.
(d) Tertiary Consumers – These are singularly the higher carnivores that feed
on other carnivore’s e.g Python, Sharks, Vultures, King Cobra, Hawk, and
Hyena.
(e) Reducers – Animals that feed on dead organic matter e.g termites,
worms, crabs etc.
(f) Decomposers – Including fungi, bacteria and that break the dead organic
matter from dead animals and dead plants into inorganic compounds
that can be used again by plants. In this feeding /trophic process, food
nutrients are transferred from one trophic or feeding level to the next in
the food chain. Hazardous chemicals also pass through the same
pathways in the food chain but do undergo some biological magnification
or amplification along with food chain. This process involves the
accumulation of chemicals in organisms in increasing higher
concentrations at successive trophic levels so that the higher feeding level
ends up acquiring a high content of toxic chemicals in the body tissues.

The storage of these chemicals in organisms at higher levels of concentrations and as they are
found in the environment is known as bio-accumulation.

Trophic Levels
3rd Level 4th Level
1st Level 2nd Level

Plant Grain Mouse Snake Hawk

A diagram of a single food chain in a grassland ecosystem

In any given ecosystem, many food chains are inter-linked to form what ecologists call a food
web. The more complex the food web in, the more stable the ecosystem will be. Each organism
will have more than one alternative sources of food.

It is worth noting that in a simple food web, the disappearance of one predator will impact
negatively / positively on the other predating in habitants of the ecosystem.

(iv) The Principle of limiting factors in an ecosystems

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These factors in the form of nutrients that are both chemicals & non-chemical; and are factors
that can limit the growth, development, abundance, distribution and even survival of an
organism in an ecosystem.

Both animals and plants require certain amounts of chemical nutrients in order to grow healthy,
reproduce survive, colonize etc. in the ecosystem. Chemical nutrients intakes should be within
the range of tolerance – not too much (becomes toxic) and not too little (leads to malfunction or
demise). Different organisms have different ranges of tolerance to the same chemical nutrients.
This tolerance factor determines the distribution and the availability of organisms in different
ecosystems – the factor of level tolerance.

The non-chemical limiting factors are basically in the Physical environment and include
temperature, water availability, sunlight, fire, deforestation, competition, wind, heavy grazing
pressure, diseases etc. and they do also determine the carrying capacity of a given ecosystem

(v) The Principle of Change in an ecosystem

Various changes are given / bound apt to take place in one ecosystem or the other. Changes in
population size, ageing, geographical features as in erosion, deposition etc. are all good
examples. Some changes take hundreds or thousands of years to be accomplished eg succession
change (Succession refers to an orderly and predictable change in an ecosystem)

Plants do change in composition and in structure; animals also do undergo certain changes as a
result of the limiting factors. And with time (a long time) these changes will give rise to a new
crop of plants and animals that will succeed the older crop / generations. There is both primary
and secondary succession.

- Primary succession starts from a bare rock. Micro organisms like linchen,
colonize the rocky areas and continue to modify the rocky environment for
plants like moss to grow and colonize. They are later successively replaced
by herbs brushes, shrubs, and finally climax vegetation that is mainly forest.
- Secondary succession takes place on previously forested area. Colonize in
this case will include grass, herbs, shrubs and finally climax vegetation which
again is mainly a forest. Secondary succession takes place within a relatively
shorter time die to soil availability than in the primary succession which has
to withstand long periods of rock weathering and degeneration into soil that
can support vegetation. Weeding in agriculture is an attempt to stop
secondary succession from taking plane. The climax vegetation depends
entirely on the geographical locations of different ecosystems eg tropical
forests, grasslands.

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 (vi) The ecological Niche – This refers to a species’ function or occupation
within a community / society. It is determined by all physical,
chemical and biological factors a species requires in order to
reproduce, survive and remain healthy. CF. An organisms natural
habitat is the ‘species’ address while the species occupation in that
habitat is what is known as the ecological niche. Some organizes will
live in a wide variety of ecosystems (habitat) (ie generalized niche)
while a few other organisms can tolerate only a narrow range of
environmental changes (specialized niche). Such species are normally
endemically endangered by human activity that may even change
their habitat.

Carrying capacity of an ecosystem:

This refers to the number of individuals of the same species that can be sustained indefinitely in
a given ecosystem without causing, environmental degradation or overloading. The carrying /
holding capacity is determined by the limiting factors that act jointly to limit the population
growth of given species. Wetlands have higher holding capacities than most other ecosystems.

Organization / classification of organisms in an ecosystem:

This is in the form of species, population, community, ecosystem and ecosphere (biosphere)

(a) Species – The distinct organisms that can interbreed and give rise to fertile offspring –
procreate.
(b) Population – The individuals of the same species living in a particular geographical area
in time and space.
(c) Community – The total populations of all species living in a particular habitat
(ecosystem)
(d) Ecosystems – The community of different species interacting with each other & their
non-living environment.
(e) Ecosphere – The sum total of the collection of all planet earth’s ecosystems. Also
referred to as the biosphere.

It is the natural environment that supports life on planet earth by providing systems that are
necessary for organisms to grow & develop procreate and even to colonize . These life support
systems occur in layers viz atmosphere, hydrosphere lithosphere and the biosphere.

1. Atmosphere – Comprises of gases such as nitrogen (78%) Oxygen (21%) Carbon Dioxide
(0.03%) neon, helium and some water vapour. This gaseous life support system is
further divided into:
(i) Troposphere (0.8KM) and is next to the earth’s surface and does hold most of the
gases. Weather activities occur here.

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 (ii) Stratosphere is the second layer (20-50km) us rich ub Ozone (O3) which filters
out most of the sun’s harmful ultra-violet rays that can cause skin cancer and eye
cataracts.
(iii) Mesosphere is the third layer over 50 KM contains less air mass, little water
vapour and only a few clouds.
(iv) Thermosphere (above 80 KM) from earth’s surface and contains very little ozone.
It is cooler in this layer.
2. Hydrosphere – includes water in rivers, oceans and lakes underground, frozen water
determines the very existence of life, its density and its distribution.
3. Lithosphere – the upper part of the earth’s crust. It contains minerals such as the fossil
fuels, gold copper and iron. Apart of it is subject to weathering so as to produce soils
and nutrients needed to support plant growth and development.
4. Biosphere – also referred to as Ecosphere. The thin film around the earth (ecosystems)
that supports life. It is the intersection in between all the other layers stated above. The
biosphere is about 10KMs from above the earth’s surface and about 10kms deep into the
earth’s surface oceans. It is of great importance to Environmental Educationists to
understand how human activities do affect the quality of all these spheres as parts of the
entire global ecosystems.

HUMAN INTERACTIONS WITH THE ENVIROMENT

Human interactions with the environment include such activities as (i) In agriculture (ii) In
industries & mining, fishing and in (iii) Settlements (habitations)

Resources for food and raw materials for the industries all come from the environment. All
living things (organisms) require food, air and water for their survival; growth and
development. Human beings in particular will also require shelter as part of the basic needs of
life in addition to those other three stated above. Any other need(s) will be secondary to these
four.

In their struggle for survival, human beings obtain raw materials from the environment and
then process the materials into finished goods that are eventually dumped back into the
environment as waste matter after use. When the entire processing if (being done) in progress,
certain impacts on the environment, quite often negative impacts, are realized. At times these
negative impacts may have effects that are permanent in nature and hence irreversible. The
sufferers without doubt will be human beings themselves as they will no longer extract the
essential commodities for their survival. Such negative impacts on the environment must be
discouraged in total.

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 A. AGRICULTURE & ITS IMPACTS
- Domestication of wild plants and wild animals precede (came before) the
massive deforestation and overgrazing that exposed the soil to other vagaries
of nature. Soil is a very rich natural resource but also a very fragile living
ecosystem. Organisms found in the soil include bacteria, fungi, invertebrates
and other small mammals that play a major role in breaking down litter and
other dead wastes; thus helping in the soil formulation process that ensures
fertility and the continuous recycling of food nutrients (refer to previous
notes). Formation of soils is a very gradual process and takes very many
years for one centimeter of soil to be formed. And in contrast, soil is lost
forever after it is blown away by wind, washed away by rain water, poisoned
by toxic chemicals, sterilized by salts, leached off its nutrients etc.
- Kenya depends more on agriculture for its economic upkeep, wealth,
strength and national food production (30%) it accounts for a large
percentage of employment (self and wage) in s majority of the rural areas.
The rapid expansion of the population demands that more arable land and
more grazing land for livestock will be required to support the growing
populations in the form of food, raw materials and employment. In Kenya
today, the most serious threats being experienced include the encroachment
by the semi-arid and arid lands (about 80% of land surface area), food
insecurity, malnutrition and drought.

1.0 AGRICULTURE’S HARM ON ENVIRONMENT

The harm inflicted on the environment by Agricultural activities is largely influenced by (i) the
size of the land cleared for agriculture and (ii) the management of the farming practices
undertaken in the cleared areas.

Some of the harmful agricultural impacts are:-

(i) Soil erosion and the resultant soil infertility caused by poor farming practices;
deforestation and overgrazing in arid and semi-arid lands.
(ii) Pollution of surface water caused by farm inorganic fertilizers and chemicals,
pesticides, insecticides and organic manure transported by run off from the
farmlands.
(iii) Air pollution caused by dust blown by the wind from crop lands and the overgrazed
lands.
(iv) Loss of wildlife and other biodiversity through habitat destruction by clearing
forests and grasslands for farming.
(v) Siltation of surface water reservoirs e.g dams and lakes caused by water run offs
from farms and over grazed lands.

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 (vi) Pollution of ground water caused by leaching of water soluble inorganic fertilizers
e.g nitrates; and pesticides.
(vii) Salinization of water and water clogging of heavily irrigated soils.
(viii) Reduction of essential micro-organisms in soils caused by heavy use of pesticides
and inorganic fertilizers.

1.1 SOLUTIONS TO AGRICULTURAL RELATED PROBLEMS

(a) Develop, promote and apply land farming methods that reduce soil erosion.
(b) Provide advice on optimal land use practices in agricultural lands in the Country.
(c) Intensify crop yields by using inter-cropping, agroforestry and organic fertilizers in
agriculture.
(d) Provide farmers with high yield crop seeds.
(e) Use of integrated pest management methods.
(f) Promote research in agricultural and adoption of appropriate land use systems and
technology.
(g) Reduce population growth by planning & reducing family sizes
(h) Promote indigenous food crops
(i) Promote educational programmes on environment land use and development.
(j) Promote alternative forms of livelihood in arid and semi-arid lands.
(k) Introduce economic incentives and penalties to promote soil conservation practices.

Question – How can we ensure sustainable food production with minimum negative environmental
impact?

2.0 INDUSTRY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Industries are an essential presence in the environment, for the production of manufactured
goods for people to use. The raw materials are obtained from the environment. The finished
goods must be transported to the consumers (the people). Processing of these goods and their
transportation creates employment to a lot of people. The economic situation of the country is
improved through industrial undertaking.

Although industries are necessary for development and economic growth, they nevertheless
may negatively impact on the environment.

These impacts include:-

(i) They cause air, water and land pollution through indiscriminate emission of gases
and fumes into the atmosphere. They also release hazardous liquid wastes
(effluents) into the water medium which in turn pollutes the soil.
(ii) Exploitation of non-renewable and renewable resources such as the forest covers in
the gazetted forests.

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 (iii) Industries expand most of the geothermal energy generated in the Country.
(iv) Inefficiency in production leading to much wastage.
(v) Industrial accidents that leave a lot of people maimed
(vi) Damage to aesthetic quality of the environment by emitting smoke, chemical fumes,
dust, noise, abandoned ruins etc.

2.1 OVERCOMING ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS CAUSED BY INDUSTRIES

(i) Installing energy saving and recycling technologies

(ii) Industries to adhere to standards of environmental protection with regard to energy
and water conservation.
(iii) Adhering to recommended waste recycling and disposal practices.
(iv) Application of the polluter pays principle where the polluting industries are made to
pay the cost of cleaning up the environment.
(v) Tax exceptions for industries using environmentally friendly technologies.
(vi) Involving industries in finding solutions (through research) to challenging
environmental problems.
(vii) Formulating a comprehensive industrial policy (involving issues of environment.
(viii) Enforcing the policy on environmental impact assessment e.g playing unnecessarily
loud music and noisy night praise & worship sessions that disturbs the peace and
tranquility of other people in the environment.

2.2 HUMAN SETTLEMENTS AND THEIR IMPACTS ON ENVIROMENT

- These are areas where a community’s social, political, cultural, religious and
economic activities take place; either in urban or rural areas.
- The construction of these settlements involves the alteration of the natural
state of the environment e.g.
(a) Construction of housing estates or even houses.
(b) Construction of housing office blocks &
(c) Construction of housing other commercial buildings.
(d) Provision of recreation centres and facilities.
(e) Provision of energy, water, sewerage and transportation networks etc.

About 80% of the populations have their settlements in the rural areas while the remaining 20%
have their habitats in urban centres. Apparently urban Centres are growing very rapidly as a
result of:-

(i) Rural-Urban migration – jobs incentives

(ii) Natural population growth through reproduction

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 (iii) Influx of refugees from other politically unstable Countries
(iv) Urban areas boundary expansions – the Nairobi (Consmo/metro) politan Ministry.
(v) Creation of new Urban Centres in response to population growth and demand for
accessible services.

Where rapid urbanization is not accompanied by a corresponding economic growth, and

increase in cases of unemployment and poverty will be observed. The Urban Centres will
normally depend on rural areas for raw food, energy, raw materials, water resources and
human power requirements. So, Urbanization has effects on both Rural and urban
environments a like positively or negatively. Production of food and other raw materials in the
rural areas to satisfy the demands of the urban populations may at times impact the rural
environment negatively e.g over use of inorganic fertilizers and harmful pesticides.

Rural – Urban migrations deprive the rural populations’ knowledgeable experts who flock into
towns looking for jobs and other lucrative opportunities. Industries that manufacture goods for
use in both urban and rural areas are mainly located in urban Centres. Most workers in urban
areas leave their families back in the rural areas this making it necessary to always travel back
home to spend their earnings there.

2.3 ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN URBAN CENTRES

Urban Centres do generate a lot of wastes that pollute air and water as they transform raw
materials into manufactured goods. They also degrade renewable natural resources e.g air,
water, soil e.t.c.

2.4 ENVIROMENTAL ISSUES RELATED TO URBAN CENTRES INCLUDE:-

(i) Inadequate housing and

(ii) Poor sanitation in slum settlements
(iii) Management of solid waste that leads to accumulation of large heaps of garbage.
(iv) Social problems like rise in crime and commercial sex
(v) Rural – Urban migration in more lucrative job opportunities
(vi) Pollution of air, waters, lands from industrial wastes.
(vii) Poor inadequate, haphazard urban planning.
(viii) Shortage of clean water for domestic and industrial use.
(ix) Shortage of energy for domestic, commercial and industrial purpose.
(x) Problem of street children and street families.
(xi) Unemployment & underemployment rates are high leading to high levels of
poverty.

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 (xii) Social stress caused by lack of leisure and open spaces for recreational activities.

It should be observed that poverty in Urban Centres has given rise to poor settlements (slums)
in towns. The environment in slums is seriously deplorable.

- Overcrowding
- Rapid population growth and high influx of refugees into the Centres
(Urban)
- Increase of environmental diseases e.g typhoid, dysentery, malaria,
meningitis, HIV &AIDS.
- Dilapidated shelters poorly designed constructed shanties
- Shortage of basic requirements e.g water, sanitation, roads, electricity,
hospitals, social recreation places etc.
- Most slums mushroom in areas that are almost not habitable under normal
considerations.

2.5 Environmental issues that need to addressed if life in urban centres has to
improve include:-
- Slum upgrading and provision of essential services.
- Planning and building by-laws should be enforced strictly
- Providing incentives and opportunities for MSE, Micro & Small Scale
Enterprises so as to generate employment and reduce poverty.
- Provide sewerage services for all Urban Centres and improve all informal
settlements.
- Encourage Public and Private Co-operation sector to boost entrepreneurship.
- Assisting groups & Community Micro-enterprises etc.

3.0 Environmental Status in Rural Settlements

About 80% of Kenya’s populations live in rural settlements which have their own
environmental problems that are mainly influenced by such factors as:-

Cultural practices, available natural resources; climate, terrain & economy. Much of the
cooking energy in rural settlements comes from wood. Rural occupations include agriculture,
dairy farming, fishing, subsistence cropping etc. Practices in these activities may at times
degrade the environment.

3.1 Environmental Issues in Rural Settlements

These issues include:-

- Improved life expectancy and medical facilities (Health Care) have given rise
to high populations in rural areas.

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 - There has been over exploitation of certain natural resources such as fish,
soil, wildlife, forests and rangelands; wetlands etc.
- Poverty level is also getting high due some antisocial behaviors like
overconsumption of alcohol.
- Inadequate or lack of basic needs such as drinking water, quality shelter,
social amenities and infrastructure.
- Migration of qualified human labour to urban Centres.
- Causes of malnutrition are also rising
- Land degradation that causes reduced crop production.
- Deforestation; and inadequate educational and health facilities e.g use of the
bush toilets by some communities.

Theses rural environmental challenges require adequate attention because these are areas that
produce resources that support both rural & Urban populations.

- A human settlement policy for rural areas should be developed to ensure

sustainable development.
- Environmental impact assessment (E.I.A) should be carried out before any
development project is put in place.
- Improvement of access roads in and to rural areas.
- Develop and promote use of alternation forms of energy e.g use of biogas.
- Promote community participation in all stages of innovative environmental
projects.
- Designs and implement environmental programmes on management of
resources in all existing ecosystems.
- Extend rural electrification network to places where light industries can set-
up.
- Promote research on environmental issues in the rural areas.
- Improve on the existing educational facilities while promoting access to these
facilities at the same time.

4.0 Natural Resources for Sustainable Development

There exists certain natural resource within the environment that indeed serves everybody but
owned by nobody and therefore exposed to great danger of degradation / depletion because
nobody is accountable for them. A natural resource is any form of matter; objector energy
found existing in the environment and are useful to human beings. These include forests, soils,
wildlife air, winds water, wetlands, rangelands etc.

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 Material

Resources

Non-Renewable
Perpetual

Fossil Metallic Non-

Direct Winds
Fuels Mineral Metallic
Solar Flowing
s Mineral

Potentially Renewable

Fresh Fresh Fertile Plants &

Air Water Soil Animals
(Biodiversity)

The above diagram represents the major types of material resources.

The potentially renewable resources are capable of replacing themselves or regenerating

themselves if the rate of harvesting them does not exceed the rate of regeneration. If however,
the rate of regeneration is exceeded by the rate of harvesting, then the danger of depletion and
hence environmental degradation will be the consequence e.g.

Deforestation; lack of proper farming methods; soil management and careless draining of
wetlands (swamps) are some of the human activities that can lead to the shrinking of renewable
natural resources.

Others will include such activities as in overgrazing in grasslands; exploitation of underground

water at a faster rate than replacement by the natural process; poaching and commercial
hunting, covering very productive arable lands with concrete constructions at the expense of
plant growth and wildlife habitation; polluting renewable air, water, soils making them
unusable by the organisms that need them etc.

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 4.01 The Tragedy of the Commons:-

This is a reference made to the category of natural resources that no one can claim ownership. It
is the use of these resources that Biologist Garrant Hardin (Miller 1994) referred to as the
“tragedy of the commons”, since they are a property that is communally owned. They include
air, water, salt in the sea; fish in the open ocean, migratory birds, community owned
rangelands.

The user of common-property resources has three basic but erroneous assumptions:-

(i) That if one does not make use of the resource, someone else will;
(ii) That the very little of the resources one uses or pollutes does not really matter and
(iii) That no one out there has the obligation of caring for the natural resource; and hence
the tragedy.

When several users are caught in this webnet of assumptions, the resultant phenomena will be
either exhaustion of the natural resource or its destruction altogether. The common property
resource can only be salvaged by involving the local community in regulating its usage /
exploitation. Alternatively, the principle of multiple users where all users of the resource are
regarded as being equal can be employed. All stakeholders upholding the workability of this
principle must this be in total agreement. We are now in agreement that the resources found
within our environment are used by human beings, individuals, communities, corporations and
the County for development purposes.

4.11 The Forest Resource

The forest is a whole ecosystem in itself. It is the have of many organisms in addition to trees
plants and wildlife e.g herbs, fungi, micro-organisms, soils numerous plant species etc. today,
forests cover about only 3-7% of Kenya’s land surface. The forest resource is one of the most
important natural assets and plays the following roles:-

(i) They form a major habitat for wildlife

(ii) They supply forest products such as timber, building poles, fuel wood fum, charcoal
etc.
(iii) Provide recreational areas for people who love nature walks and bird watching &
beautiful scenery.
(iv) They are water catchment areas from where water for use in both Urban and Rural
areas is tapped.

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 (v) They provide food to some communities, pulp for the paper industry; conventional
and traditional medicines besides influencing national, regional continental and
global climate patterns.
(vi) Ecologically, forests absorb excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, infact that
helps to offset the global warming trends.
(vii) They also provide cover for the soils thus keeping away high rates of erosion.
(viii) Some forests are preserved for cultural ceremonial functions.
(ix) They are also sources of revenue to individuals, local counties authorities and even
the Central Government etc.

Where trees in indigenous forests have been harvested for purposes of development, fresh tree
plantations should be planted to replace them. Woodlands and Mangroves are also forms of
forest cover. Some small forest covers are owned by individuals as Private property.

Inspite of the rapid shrinking of the forest cover in the country, government’s Policy is still
mainly directed towards reserving land for more forests; protecting and conserving existing
forest resource and promoting tree planting for Private use, commercial use, Public amenities
and wildlife protection / habitation. The same Policy endeavors to monitor to monitor
vegetative cover changes in the arid and semi-arid (ASALS) lands in addition to establishing
forest estates using germ plasma (grafting) for this purpose. (Exotic indigenous = New Species)

4.111 Threat to the Forest Resource

- Deforestation and poor forest management practices.

- Cleaning forest stretches for food production and to a lesser extent to earn foreign
exchange income e.g Nyayo Tea Zones.
- Logging in forest plantations (for paper pulp) and in indigenous forests for other
purposes.
- Clearing forests for industries, roads, human settlements and development projects.
- Continues excision to settle the landless and wanton land grabbers.
- Cutting of trees anyhow to satisfy the increased urban and rural energy demanding
cutting trees for charcoal.

4.112 The impact of forest loss on Environment & Human life

- severe situation of rivers, dams and lakes due to excess erosion

- Increase severity in global warming.
- Loss of biodiversity and nutrients obtained from plans.
- Reduced water catchment capacity and drying up of springs leading to water shortage.
- Tourism industry may be reduced / shrink if the natural habitat of animals to see /
watch is depleted.

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4.113 Measures to Protect Forest Resource

- All citizens should be provided with environmental education whenever there is a

chance to do so.
- Identify for protection all important water catchment areas.
- Promote afforestation and re-afforestation.
- Concerted efforts to protect indigenous forests, which are very rich in biodiversity,
should be encouraged.
- Provide agroforestry technology while at the same time creating some level of
environmental awareness.
- Energy saving technologies should be embraced by all.
- Environmental impact assessment (E.I.A) should be made mandatory where
developmental projects will affect the forest resource.
- Local Communities should be sensitized on the need to conserve the forest resource e.t.c.

4.02 The Soil Resource

What is soil?

This is a very complex mixture of inorganic materials in the form of clay, silt, pebbles and sand;
decaying organic matter, water, air and billions of living organisms most of which microscopic.
The soil is the medium used by plants to take in nutrients for them to grow and develop.
Without soil, the food chains and the food webs mentioned earlier, cannot be sustained;
domesticated crops will only give high yields if the condition of the soil is fertile.

Soil does develop continuously and this growth is influenced by the interaction of soil
formulation processes and other factors within the biosphere / ecosphere. Man is also a factor
in the developing / degradation of soil in the manner he interacts with it while trying to grow
foodstuff in it.

The 20% of Kenya’s land surface area that comprises of arable land will require proper
nurturing and high level management for it to continue to support the Country’s ever
increasing population (estimated at 45 million) and the production of raw materials for the
industries.

NB: Soil degradation is occasioned by the continued deterioration of Physical, biological and Chemical
properties found in the soil.

Physical deterioration is the unfavorable rearrangement of soil particles due to the washing
down (erosion) of the finer particles found on the surface. Biological degradation on the other
hand is the reduction of the quantity and quality of organic matter (humus); while chemical
degradation has to do with the increase of saline (salts) leach and texius. When saline is in

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excess, plants will have difficulties taking in water / nutrients from the death of the plants.
Leaching happens when minerals such as nitrates (nitrogen gas) and potassium are washed out
from the top layer of the soil. Toxicity is as a result of the industrial chemical effluence and
certain agricultural chemicals poisoning the soil properties found on the surface.

Soil, whose characteristics are as a result of the balancing of its particles and the living
organisms, is a renewable natural resource. Terms as in texture, porosity, permeability,
exchange capacity, potential and oxygen availability have all been used to describe the soil
concept.

4.21 Causes of Soil Erosion

i. Gradient of the land (the nature of the land terrain)

ii. Excess deforestation
iii. Deterioration of soil physical properties.
iv. Rainfall regime (too heavy)
v. The structure of the soil.
vi. Cultivation of same crop in all seasons (monoculture)
vii. Lack of erosion control mechanisms e.g. gabions& trenches; structures that are physical
or biological e.g Re-afforestation and agroforestry can greatly reduce but not eliminate
soil erosion.

NB: Wind erosion occurs in flat areas where there is no vegetation (or it’s scarce) e.g in arid and
semiarid lands. Winds erosion can be prevented through windbreaks in the shamba; suitable cropping
including cover crops and through agroforestry e.t.c.

4.22 Suggested methods for soil conservation

- use of organic manure to improve on the soil structure

- Mixed cropping to include nitrogen fixing crops.
- Strip – cropping, contour farming & cut-off drains (terraces)
- Planting trees to serve as windbreakers.
- Use of mulching on the farm.
- Construction of biological structures & other forms of gabions.
- Environmental education to create awareness; research and training on soil conservation
and regular monitoring and assessment of levels of soil degradation.

4.30 The Wildlife Resource Animals in the Environment

Wildlife is a resource that has substantial socio-economic, cultural, scientific, aesthetic

educational, ethical and environmental values and should be jealously guarded & protected.
Wildlife protection is the responsibility of Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) and whose objectives
state as follows:-

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 (i) To conserve the natural environment of Kenya and its fauna (animals) and flora
(plants) for the benefit of present and future generations as a world heritage.
(ii) To use wildlife resources of the Country sustainably for the economic development
of the nation and for the benefit of people living in wildlife areas.
(iii) To protect people and property from injury or damage from wildlife.
(iv) To create awareness on wildlife conservation to young people and adults alike.

Point to note: There are about 1741 known species of animals and about 6500 known species of
plants in Kenya. The already gazette as endangered species include about 29 animal species
and about 100 plant species

4.31 Issues with wildlife conservation include:

a) Human – wildlife conflicts around game reserves and game parks.

b) Some important wildlife habitats in arid and semi-arid lands are not
protected.
c) Poor management of wildlife population leading to habitat degradation
(overgrazing by the animals)
d) Land to hold wildlife being claimed for human settlements and expansion of
agriculture.
e) Communities living with or close to the animals are not properly sensitized
on matters of conservation and hence poaching.
f) Destruction of habitats through deforestation and degradation of rangelands.

4.32 Ways of solving wildlife problems include:-

i. Better wildlife management and conservation in protected and unprotected areas using
tactics as cropping, licensed hunting and fencing off some wildlife areas where wildlife-
human conflict is a serious problem e.g the Aberdares forest are.
ii. Involvement of the local community in the conservation measures and by sharing the
income generated from gate collections. Encourage life with animals in the game
reserves.
iii. Creation of awareness of the need to conserve the natural resources through
environmental education – both formal and informal.
iv. Monitoring wildlife habitats prepare management plans and put in place everything
necessary.
v. Constant review of wildlife policy and legislation.
vi. Strengthen research capacities and the use of appropriate technology to manage wildlife
in both the parks and the reserves. Discourage all manners of wildlife poaching if this is
environmental destruction.

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4.40 The water natural resource

- Water is one of the Primary needs for life in all organisms. Development agriculture and
industry tourism & human settlements is dependent on water. In some places water is fetched
from distant places scooped from sand excavations and eventually consumed when not treated
(untreated).

Availability of water will determine the location and distribution of plant and animal resources
especially in places of high rainfall. Water availability is low in the arid and semi-arid lands of
the Country and animals and plants found in these zones have to adopt themselves to this
reality.

The issues that face the water resource include:-

(i) Use of untreated contaminated water what raises the incidences of cholera,
dysentery, typhoid, amoeba e.t.c.
(ii) Over extraction of ground water where flowing water is scarce.
(iii) Mismanagement of water catchment areas leading to drying up of springs.
(iv) Shortage of water especially in urban slum areas.
(v) Pollution of underground water through industrial effluent, agricultural run-offs,
solid wastes and sewerage e.t.c.
(vi) Pollution of ocean and lake waters from oil spillage and dumped toxic waste.

To ensure that there’s a constant supply of clean water, there is need to:-

(a) Protect water catchment areas through law and proper management.
(b) Provide technology and incentives to harvesting rain water.
(c) Introduction of legal provisions for the intervention in waste dumping and oil spillage
into water and to save marine life.
(d) Involve local communities in water projects that benefit them.
(e) Local authorities to provide affordable water sewerage rates to attract more users.
(f) Priotising water supplies according to user sectors viz domestic, industrial, commercial,
agricultural and at all the times emphasizing the need to use the resource with thrift.
Environmental Education should be a continuous / mandatory process in all these
matters.

4.50 Wetlands natural Resource

These are areas of marsh and water, natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, static or
flowing, fresh, blackish or salty including areas of marine water that does not exceed 6 metres
deep. Wetlands are disliked because they serve as breeding places for mosquitoes and bacteria
for typhoid & dysentery e.t.c.

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According to the National Environment Action Plan (NEAP) (1994) a substantial proportion of
Kenya’s water resource is found in wetlands, about 2-3% of total land surface.

4.51 Important Functions of wetlands include:-

- Ground water recharge and discharge to springs

- Water purification by removing pollutants.
- Sediments trapping and water reservoirs (storage)
- A habitat for a diverse aquatic animal & birds life.
- Provides fodder for wildlife and livestock; thatch grass, materials for basket making,
roofing, walls e.t.c.
- Plants with herbal medicinal value can also be found here.
- Tourism attraction and sport fishing e.g lakes Nakuru and Naivasha e.t.c
- Cultural activities by the local communities are discharged around wetlands.

4.52 Main Threats to wetlands resources

- Over-fishing as in Lakes Victoria and Naivasha

- Industrial release effluent into the lakes e.g Naivasha, Nakuru and Victoria.
- Drainage of farming & settlement activities e.g Yala swamp.
- Destruction of coral reefs and the mangrove forests at the Coast.
- Situation of wetlands from rain water run offs during the rainy seasons.

If we as a people can take the following steps and do so urgently, Kenya can continue to benefit
from the wetlands resource:-

(a) Strengthen the study of the ecological functions of wetlands.

(b) Promote community participation in wetland conservation and management. Educate
the masses also.
(c) Establish an inventory of wetlands awareness day.
(d) Promote and support the wetlands awareness day.
(e) Integrate sustainable and multiple use of wetlands.
(f) Harmonise the government departments that are relevant to wetlands management.

4.60 Rangeland Resources:-

Arid and semiarid lands are essentially range land resources. They receive very scanty and
unreliable rainfall. These are very delicate ecosystems and they require sound management
strategies to ensure sustainable productivity. Livestock keeping and production is the main
occupation in these lands. Some wildlife is also found roaming in the rangelands as their
natural habitats.

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Rangelands Characteristics:-

- They carry over 25% of the total human population.

- Most of the livestock population in Kenya is found in the rangelands.
- Overstocking of livestock and the increase of wildlife populations have led to
degradation of the rangelands.
- Degradation gives rise to exposure of soils & erosion which may trigger
desertification.
- There is reduced water recharge as a result of vegetation cover destruction.
- Conflict from land use practices such as agriculture, wildlife and human
settlements.

Part of the rangelands management strategies / policy is the introduction of group ranches and
communal grazing lands. Some group ranches, however, have been subdivided and various
other land uses, including cultivation & afforestation, have been introduced. Some wildlife /
game reserves have also been curved out of rangelands for better management.

4.70 Conservation and Management of Natural Resources:-

Other forms of natural resources not mentioned above include solar energy, fossil fuels,
minerals, wind and air. For the natural resources to continue serving mankind, they require to
be conserved; where conservation is the art of wise careful and sensible use mindful and skilful
management of the resources in order to achieve what is desirable. This art of conservation
involves:-

(i) The best services that can be offered by people.

(ii) The services should be of long-lasting nature.
(iii) The services should benefit majority or all members of the community
(iv) Depletion of the resources
(v) These services should be accompanied by proper planning , proper decision making
in order to avoid:-
(a) Overuse or overexploitation of the resources.
(b) Careless misuse of the natural resources.
(c) Wastage pf these resources
(d) Depletion of the resources
(e) Degradation of the resources

4.71 What is the origin of Natural Resources?

Most of the resources are as a result of biological processes. These resources are as results of
biological processes include plants and animals. Fossil fuels petroleum, coal, natural gases are
resources as a result of the interaction between living and non-living things (biotics & abiotics).

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Other resources are found in the earth’s crust but do not originate from living organisms e.g
minerals such as gold, copper, iron, tin, uranium, diamonds etc.

- The current rapid growth in population put pressure on the demand for
natural resources.
- Developed Countries make about 20% of World population yet they consume
about 80% of the natural resources available.
- Advanced Technology today enables very fast consumption of the natural
resources e.g the power saw and forest trees. Competition over the scarce
resources can also pose a serious threat to mankind that can be stemmed if
conservation can be taken seriously.

Natural resources conservation agencies include:-

(i) World conservation strategy (WCS) 1975 (mooted) but was launched worldwide in
March 1980 in over 30 Countries (Kinya included)
(ii) The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and located at Gigiri Nairobi.
(iii) International Union of conservation of nature and natural Resources (World
Conservation Union) with the advice from the Worldwide Fund for Nature (UWFN)
funded the strategy project. They goals of the World conservation strategy include:
- To link conservation with development to present extinction of biological
resources mainly.
- To determine and priotize sustainable utilization of living resources and
unique sites or areas to be conserved.
- The Govt of Kenya adopted the World Conservation strategy (WCS) and
launched it formally in March 1980, for the conservation of the Country’s
most valuable resources e.g soil, wildlife, water, forest etc.

NB:- Management of Natural resources is a process of integrating/mobilizing the available resources

and actions towards achieving the set out goals for the sustainable utilization of these resources. This
often translates into setting out the goals and trying to achieve them through the utilization of human,
financial legal and material resources. Environmental conservation and management is not meant for
progeny (generations to come) but rather for us here and now. Resources utilization and conservation
should e contemporaneous and should go hand in hand.

5.0 EMERGING ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES:-

Environmental issues keep emerging from time to time thus confirming the need to make
environmental education a life long process that makes it possible for people to look for
workable solutions whenever these issues arise. The areas with special issues of concern
includes:-

(i) Loss of biodiversity

(ii) Climate change(s)

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 (iii) Ozone layer depletion
(iv) Fuel wood crisis and
(v) Environmental Health.

5.1 LOSS OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY (BIODIVERSITY)

Biodiversity includes / consists of all plants, animals, micro-organisms, the genes they contain
and the ecosystems / habitats of which they are part and parcel. Biodiversity as a phenomenon
manifests itself at three levels:-

(i) Genetic diversity (Variation within the same species and is found both in animals
and plants)
(ii) Species diversity (variation of plant and animal species)
(iii) Ecosystem diversity (variation of ecosystems in the Biosphere / Ecosphere)

Kenya is said to have more than 35,000 species of plants, animals and microorganisms that have
already been identified and classified. The value of Biodiversity to the lives of human beings
cannot be gainsaid. The conversion of the natural ecosystems for use as human settlements and
agriculture degrade habitats that normally shelter unique plants and unique animals & micro-
organisms leading to the loss of diversity.

Some of the values biodiversity to human kind are:-

(a) Provision of foods, fuels and building materials.

(b) Ecological roles such as food chains, conservation of soil, soil fertility, climatic
modification etc.
(c) Educational values – Botany Zoology, geography, Agriculture etc are all biodiversity
related / oriented disciplines.
(d) Economic value as in ecotourism.
(e) Aesthetic value as in the beauty of our animals (fauna) and plants (flora),
(f) Scientific value as in sites for conducting research and biotechnology etc. Ethically every
organism is entitled to live / exist in the ecosystems naturally designed for them.

The greatest concerns over the loss of or degrading medicinal value of biodiversity the World
over are:-

(i) Some of the biodiversity disappears even before its actual worth has been
determined eg. Perhaps the cure for some of the pandemics like HIV & AIDS existed
in some lost bio-diversity that cannot be reclaimed.
(ii) The loss of biodiversity is higher in the areas with high potentials (with high
rainfalls) than in Arid and Semi-Arid lands (ASAL) and this trend is very alarming.

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 (iii) Population continues to increase in both areas of high and low biodiversity
potentials and consequently bio-diversity continues to get lost. Bold steps at
conservation should be taken before these populations deplete what there is.

NB:- Resource conservation is in itself development oriented. Conservation of resources today does not
necessarily mean preserving resources for future generations. Far from that; resources existing now
should be used for the present generation but this use should go alongside with some well calculated
conservation strategies. However, loss of biodiversity is to some extent, a natural process. But there are
certain human activities that do promote its loss. These includes:-

(a) Clearance of forests to give way to human habitation and settlements (deforestation)
(b) Draining of wetlands for crop cultivation.
(c) Poaching of mainly the large game such elephants and the rhino.
(d) Commercialized agriculture that emphasizes on monoculture.
(e) Overharvesting resources such as fish and other marine organisms
(f) Inefficient management of the protected areas such as National Parks and Game
Reserves.
(g) Introduction of exotic species which compete with the indigenous species in a new
environment without natural predators e.g the hyacinth and the “Mathenge” tree in the
arid lands.
(h) Pollution of habitats and the emission of gases leading to depletion of the ozone layer.
(i) Allowing siltation of water bodies with the soil that has been eroded from the
highlands.

The Government of Kenya ensures conservation of biodiversity in the following ways:-

i. Implementation of international Policies regulating trade in threatened animal & plant

species.
ii. Drawing an inventory that determines the existing biological diversity in terms of
animals and plants.
iii. Implementation of the resolutions of the convention on Biological diversity and Ramsar
convention which protect biodiversity.
iv. Establishment of new areas for purposes of conserving biodiversity – re-afforestation of
the Bamburi natural trade.
v. Creation of environmental awareness through institutionalizing Environmental
Education in the Education System.
vi. Strict observance of Environmental law that dealing with biodiversity.

5.2 CLIMATE CHANGE:-

There is certainly an element of climate change as a result of human activity that leads to some
unpredictable weather patterns e.g. lengthy droughts and abnormally excess rainfall in parts of
the globe climate change follows the following pattern:-

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 (i) Industrial and fossil fuel gases e.g. carbon, methane, nitrous, chlorofluora carbons
etc.
(ii) These gases allow the sun’s radiation to reach the earth’s surface
(iii) These gases in the atmosphere do trap the heat reflected into the atmosphere from
the earth’s surface.
(iv) The heat in turn accumulates around the earth and this leads to “trapped heat”
called the Green House effect 9in the fashion of the flower farms in Green houses)
(v) The trapped heat causes global warming which in turn causing the global ice to melt
and to the rise of ocean levels etc.

The probable consequences of global warming and climate change are a warmer planet earth.
The warmer temperatures therefore may cause:-

(i) Increase in water evaporation

(ii) More forest and bush fires will be experienced.

A note on Food Security as advanced by Prof. Ratemo Miolieka on 1st October 2010 during a
lecture meeting at MKU – Thika. “Food Security exists when all people and at all times, have
physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs
and food preferences for an active and healthy life”.

(iii) Some areas will become drier while others become wetter.
(iv) Food production will increase in some areas and decrease in others.
(v) Loss of biodiversity as a result of changing habitats.
(vi) The sea levels are likely to rise as a result of heating the waters (expansion).
(vii) Warmer climates will favour pests’ re-production which may result in the spread
of diseases that will affect millions of people.

The solution to climate change is to reduce the rate of release of harmful gases into the
atmosphere.

NATURAL ENVIROMENTAL HAZARDS

What’s a Natural Hazard? There are two ways of defining a natural hazard:

(i) A situation resulting from an environmental phenomenon or some armed

conflict which produces stress, personal injury, physical damage and economic
disruption of great magnitude.
(ii) An event concentrated in time and space in which a community or society
undergoes severe danger and incurs such losses to its members and the
infrastructure is disrupted and fulfilment of all or some of the essential functions
of the society are prevented (Mbaka 1989 Conference Lecture Notes) this maybe
as a result of lightening, tornardo, flood or a volcanic action. A natural hazard
can be double faced e.g. a flood may destroy a farm but fertilize the land at the

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 same time with alluvial soil as is the case in Egypt. Carry forward lightening
kills & starts fires.

Some hazards are as a result of the interaction between the natural and the social systems.
People can cause hazards also through exploitation of the natural resources. Basically, there are
two types of hazards viz natural and man-made or anthropogenic. Natural hazards include the
Geophysical such as droughts, floods, lightening, earthquakes, and volcanos (geological &
geomorphic in nature). Weeds, pests and diseases are biological hazards in nature and can be a
threat to human activities e.g. salvimia molesta weed on Lake Naivasha can be a threat to the
fishing industry.

1.0 FLOODS:-

Floods are common in many parts of the World. A food is a body of water which rises to
overflow land that is normally not submerged.

Natural Hazards and their Principal causal Agents:-

Droughts
Floods
Tropical Cyclones Examples:-
Tsunamis
Tornadoes; Katerina
(i) Geophysical (a) Climate Hurricans

Hail storms

Lightening e.t.c

Earth Quakes
Examples:-
(b) Geomorphic Vulcanism Murang’a
Landslides
Landslides
Avalanch etc

Fungal Disease Destruction of

e.g Wheat stem trees & food
rust Dutch Elm Plants

(ii) Biological (a) Floral

Infestation e.g Lake Victoria
Kariba Dam
Weed & Water
hyacinth

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 Bacterial & Viral
Diseases:
- Malaria
- Aids
- Plague
(b)Fauna
- Polio
- Ebola etc

Infestation:-
- Rabbits
- Locusts
- Tsetse fly
- Armywor
ms
- Aphid
- Birds (Rice
fields)

Accidents - Human Error

(iii) Man-made
Industry – Disposal of wastes

Agriculture - Irrigation

• Source: UNEP, 1792 – Saving our planet; Burton I et & I 1978

(a) Measures of reducing / controlling floods:-

(i) Maintain a vegetation cover especially in the water catchment areas.

(ii) Create storage pans (basins) or reservoirs to hold surplus water albeit temporarily.
(iii) Build barrages to hold water back until it can be directed downstream gradually
over time.
(iv) Construct concrete channels to drain the water into lakes and away from the plains.
(v) Occasionally dredge and deepen these drainage channels to rid of siltation.
(vi) Build artificial levees or even heighten the natural ones.
(vii) Construction of several multi-purpose projects for the production of Hydro Electric
Power (HEP) and irrigation.
(viii) Educating populations in flood prone areas on matters of floods and preparedness
etc Ganges.

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 (b) Droughts:-

A continuous period of dry weather. An abnormal deficiency below the usual requirements
for an economic activity.

Types:-

(i) Permanent drought – experienced when moisture (water) precipitation is never

adequate to offset the high rates of evaporation (ii) If this precipitation variation is year
in year out it becomes a contingent drought. Seasonal precipitation variations cause (iii)
seasonal droughts. When the precipitation variation is monthly, then we have the (iv)
invisible drought and results in continuous low food yields.

Causes of Drought:-

(i) Unplanned development and interference with the water cycle.

(ii) Expansion of cash crop acreage at the expense of food crops.
(iii) Inappropriate use of technology and the changing of long standing traditions e.g.
inter-cropping cultivation.
(iv) Unsuitable land use practices e.g. overgrazing & deforestation.

Effects of Drought:-

Long periods of drought can lead to desertification. It can also promote outbreaks of plant
eating fungi and insects. Droughts also cause famine leading to loss of people’s life’s and
livestock long spells of drought can lead to environmental refugees.

Combating Drought:-

- Protection of biophysical environment especially vegetation and the water

resources.
- Growing of drought resistance crops e.g. sorghum, cassava, millet.
- Adjusting to drought situations without resorting to hopelessness.
- Appropriate use of land in relation to its carrying capacity.
- Practicing active soil conservation and afforestation activities.
- Initiating specific drought resistant projects in drought prone areas to enable
people to cope with drought situations.

NB:- Sustainable utilization of resources – making use of, maintaining, modifying and facilitating
development of environment and its biophysical resources in a manner that can continue for present
(now) and future generations.

EIA – This is a formal study process study process used to predict the environmental
consequences of a proposed major development “project” or “a study of the effects of a
proposed action on the environment which may include flora and fauna, soil erosion, human

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health, urban irrigation or employment in other words all physical, biological, social economic,
Political and other forms of impact or “An activity designed to predict interpret and
communicate information about the effects of an action and to ensure ecological and
sociological information is included together with physical and economic aspects as the basis
for making decisions “All these definitions point at EIA as a planning (Institution)s for
environmental management.

Questions to be addressed by EIA team:-

(i) What changes will the project cause on the environment?

(ii) Will these identified changes really matter?
(iii) What can be done to these changes should they appear?
(iv) How can decision makers be informed about the changes and what needs to be
done.

The possible impact on the environment is known as “scoping” while the impact evaluation is
known as “quantification” which is an attempt the determine magnitude of changes to be
caused by a project.

POPULATION EDUCATION AND ENVIRONMENT:-

- World population grew very rapidly within the 2nd half of the 20th Century, a
phenomenon dubbed as “Population Explosion”. This explosion has
continued unabated well into the 21st Century and instances of doubling
features observed even within 30 years. World population has already
crossed the trillion thresholds presently.

Factors influencing rapid growth in population:-

(a) Birthrates have increased dramatically while infant death rates have reduced drastically
especially in the developing Countries.
(b) Improved feeding habits and living styles in most Countries of the World; improved
sanitation & hygiene.
(c) Reduced mortality / death rates of people due to increased and improved health care
services.
(d) Social – cultural beliefs in most developing economics.
(e) Life expectancy at birth figures have also per every 1000 births have also increased.
(f) Most people in Global populations are today educated.

NB:- It is important for individuals, especially, to understand, appreciate and accept their responsibility
towards the enhancement of environmental quality. Individuals need to be aware of the interaction
between the population phenomena and the natural social and economic reality. This interaction
influences the quality of life of the individual, the family, the community, the nation and the World. All
people therefore should understand how the size of populations, population growth rate, age

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structure and spatial distribution impact on both the natural environment and the social services and
available facilities. All said and done, population has the potential of being a Country’s greatest resource
and must therefore be managed carefully and properly; hence the need for population education.

Population Education will have three basic objectives:-

i. To impart knowledge on population characteristics, basic demographic concepts,

processes, methodology and the National and International Population Policies and
Programmes
ii. To help the student of population studies to develop skills to analyze population –
related issues and problems, give him / her practice in decision making regarding
alternative population situations appropriate utilization of natural and natural resources
and population policy formulation.
iii. To help or inculcate in the student the ability to develop responsible attitudes towards
the well-being of the family, national population programmes, use of natural resources
and improvement of the environment in particular.

Content areas essential for population Education include such features as the following:-

i. Population:- Including the number of people that require services and who need to be
planned for decision making will normally revolves around these figures. Population
data is obtained from “population Census” conducted by governments of the world. A
population census on its part refers to the total process of collecting, compiling and
publishing demographic, economic and social data pertaining to a defined territory at a
specific time e.g Kenya conducts its population survey at an interval of every ten (10)
years. Computed population census raw data provides information on the population in
terms of size, density structure growth rate, trends and socio-economic status of a
people. The data analysis will also provide information useful in determing the effects
of a particular population on the environment and the appropriate measures to ensure
the well-being of all including the environment itself. Other essential components of
population education are:-
ii. Fertility:- Actual reproductive performance of an individual, couple or a population as
manifested in crude birth rate (CBR) general fertility rate (of women between 15-49
years in a given year) child: women ration (No. of children under 5 years per 1000 child
bearing women in a given year); Age specific fertility rate (fertility rates for specific age
groups); and total fertility rate (TFR) (Average number of children an average women
should have if current age – specific fertility rate remains constant during her
reproductive years)
iii. Mortality:- this is the frequency of deaths in a population as manifested in Crude Death
Rate (CDR). The number of deaths per every 1000 live births in a given year); Life
expectancy at birth the average number of additional years a person can expect to live at
birth based on the age specific death rates for a given year.

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 iv. Migrations:- This is the movement of people from one village, city, Country to another
settlement as manifested in Immigration Rate (the number of people moving into a
Country per 1000 population in a given year); Emigration rate (the number of people
moving out of an area of origin per 1000 population of that area in a given year); Net
migration Rate (NMR) The net effect of both immigration and emigration on an areas
population expressed as increase or decrease per 1000 population of that area in a given
year.
v. Population Change:- This is the interplay of fertility, mortality and migration of persons
in a given area per a given year. This is manifested in the (i) Rate of natural increase (the
rate at which a population is increasing or decreasing the rate at which population is
increasing in a given year due to a natural increase and net migration expressed as a
percentage of base population.(ii) Growth Rate or rate of population change the rate at
which a population is increasing in a given year due to a natural increase and net
migration expressed as a percentage of base population. (iii) Doubling time:- This is
the time it would take a population to double its size at its present annual growth rate.
vi. Population Structure:- This is manifested in:-
(a) Age and sex structure in the population pyramid – the composition of a population
as determined by the number and proportion of males and females in each age group.
(b) Sex Ration:- (The ratio of males to frmales in a given population expressed as the
number of males per 1000 females.
(c) Labour Force:- Active population of people between 15 and 64 years.
(d) Age Dependency Ratio (DP) – This is the ratio of persons in the dependent ages
(under 15 years and above 64 years) and persons in the economically productive ages of
between 15 years – 64 years)
(e) Essential Labour Force – This comprises of 85% of all the available labour force in a
population.

(vii) Population Distribution:- This manifests itself in the patterns of settlements and disposal
of population density will show the number of people per unit area of land available;
cultivatable land or the average number of persons per household or per room.

NB:- Population composition refers to age and sex structure occupation, education, rural-urban and
ethnic make-up etc.

THE DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION THEORY (A Houpt & Kane 1982 et al)

This theory on population change states that both fertility and mortality rates will fall as a
response to social and economic developmental forces. The transition theory has four stages,
viz i, ii, iii& iv.

Stage i:- A period of both high birth and death rates resulting in little or no population increase
at all. Life expectancy at birth is low as was the experience in Western Europe before mid-18th
Century.

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Stage ii:- A period of both high rate and declining death rate resulting in high population
growth rate as was the experience in Western Europe after the mind 18th Century with the onset
of Agricultural, Scientific and Industrial revolutions; urbanization and improvements in health.
The death rate decreased with no corresponding decrease in birth rate.

Stage iii:- This is a stage of decreasing birth rate and relatively low death rate resulting in
slowed population growth. However, the totals population achieved at stage II was still large
and remained so far a long time. Europe experiences this stage throughout the 20th Century
when technology contributed to reducing the number of deaths.

Stage iv:- This is stage of low birth rate and low death rate resulting in very low population
growth. Western Europe has been going through this experience since 1950 (mid-20th Century)
total population remained large but the families became small. Some Countries are already
posting negative figures in population growth.

THE DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION

Birth Rate
Natural Increase
High

Death
Medium Rate

how

Period Period Period Period

A B C D
(i) (ii) (iii) (iv)

TIME
FRAME

Source: Thomlinson (1995) Population dynamics, random House, New York USA.

NB: Rapid population growth directly affects the environment and the quality of life terms of food, goods,
services, energy, land (space) and even pollution. Satisfaction for the increased demands results in the
degradation and depletion of natural resources both in quality and quantity. Pollution especially lowers
the quality of life.

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Population Management:-

i. Population should be stabilized through some special population programmes and

Policies e.g. use of contraceptives to plan families.
ii. Efforts should be made to have the available resources equitability distributed across the
global populations.
iii. There is need for a better resource management and improved environmental quality
through better utilization of natural resources in a manner that will maintain ecological
balance between the people’s needs and nature’s ability to sustain them.
iv. Environmental laws should be enacted and enforced on all aspects of improving
environmental quality such as in air pollution control, water treatment and purification
management industrial and other forms of water etc.
v. Developing Countries should place more emphasis on the economic expansions of their
rural areas to attract more people; thus reducing congestion in urban Centres.
vi. Improving such sectors as water supply, nutrition, agriculture, functional literacy and
shelter etc.
vii. Management of human resources through explicit / implicit Policies (documented)
should not be overlooked but enforced.

The ultimate aim of all Government population management Policies and programmes is to
improve the quality of life among the people.

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