"Kenya: Biodiversity fades as coral bleaches"

From Africa-News.net

Synonymous with big game and rolling savannahs, Kenya has also garnered fame for a part of its natural heritage that is found off shore, in the form of coral reefs. But, officials warn that higher sea temperatures -- ascribed to climate change -- are taking a toll on these reefs, as well as the diverse marine life they play host to.

"Climate change may not have sunk in with the common man or woman, but everyone realises the transformation that is taking place in the water. Fish are disappearing. Coral reefs, which are like the rainforest of the sea, have been seriously affected," said Ali Mohammed, deputy director of Coastal and Marine Programmes at the National Environment Management Authority.

"It is the industrialised world that needs to minimise its emission of greenhouse gases. Africa's contribution to climate change is insignificant, yet it is greatly affected (by this change)," he told IPS, in reference to gases such as carbon dioxide and methane which enter the atmosphere partly through the burning of fossil fuels.

These emissions absorb and trap the sun's energy. Many scientists argue that higher concentrations of greenhouse gases are prompting a rise in the earth's temperature -- which in turn is leading to climate change.

Under normal circumstances, reefs are sustained by the algae they contain: these miniscule creatures use sunlight and carbon dioxide from coral to produce substances rich in energy that feed the coral and other marine life forms.

But, higher sea temperatures disrupt this symbiosis. They cause the algae, which also give reefs colour, to be expelled -- leading to bleached coral that cannot produce energy, and which often starves as a result.

The destructive potential of widespread algae loss was illustrated in 1998, when a severe instance of the El Niño weather pattern caused 80 percent of Kenya's reefs to be affected by bleaching, according to Mohammed.

The name El Niño -- Spanish for "Christ child" -- was given to the pattern because it tends to occur near Christmas. El Niño are linked to changing temperatures in the waters of the Pacific that acutely affect the climate in other parts of the world, such as increasing the temperature of Kenyan waters to some of their highest levels ever. While there are indications that El Niño have been taking place for many years, scientists are said to be investigating whether global warming has sparked an increased incidence or intensity of this phenomenon.

Over 90 percent of reefs in certain Kenyan waters died in the 1998 El Niño, prompting knock-on casualties amongst various species of fish as their environment became compromised.

This loss of biological diversity was ultimately felt by Kenyans when the reduced number of fish translated into lower catches for coastal communities -- some 70 percent of which rely extensively on fishing for their livelihood, says the U.S-based Wildlife Conservation Society.

As Mohammed describes it, these communities didn't have the resources to escape their changed circumstances: "The Kenyan marine fisheries are dominated by small scale (fishermen) with limited capacity to fish. They have no means to go beyond the mangroves and corals, and cannot venture into the open seas where there are more fish."

He claims the losses sustained by fisheries were significant, but could not give figures in this regard. Remarks by Tanzanian fisherman Rajab Mohammed Sosele indicate that coastal communities in East Africa continue to feel the brunt of rising sea temperatures.

"The reduction in fish catch has seriously affected my business. While…supply is going down, the price of fish goes up. The people I usually sell fish to cannot afford these high prices, so these circumstances are making it increasingly difficult for me to make a living," he is quoted as saying, in a 2006 publication of the WorldWide Fund for Nature that highlights how people in East Africa are experiencing climate change.

The destruction of reefs is also a threat to marine-based tourism in Kenya, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the sector as a whole, according to government figures. "Most of the tourists come because of the beauty and diversity of our marine life," said Mohammed.

Tourism is Kenya's second-largest foreign income earner after agriculture. The effects of climate change on biodiversity will be coming to the fore Tuesday during the International Day for Biological Diversity, which is focusing on this issue...