NECSA-K Memorandum on the Draft Environmental Management and Coordination Bill, 2021
- Category: NECSA Memoranda
- Date 22-02-2023
MEMORANDUM ON THE EMCA BILL, 2021
Between the dates of 11th and 12th November 2021, the NECSA-K held a workshop at the Sentrim Elementaita Lodge in Nakuru County sponsored by the WWF-K. The two organizations are aware of the critical role the indigenous peoples of Kenya play in achieving conservation and sustainable development goals and the WWF-K is keen on ensuring the voices of the people on environmental and natural resources management are heard by the office bearers. Through such policy engagement forums, the communities and the relevant stakeholder are offered a platform to share experiences, articulate societal challenges, and appreciate the collective responsibility in ensuring advocacy is amplified for a better policy and legal framework that is a necessary catalyst for sustainable development, environmental conservation and protection of social cultural practices of indigenous people and local communities (IPLCs). The workshop produced a comprehensive memorandum that will be used as an advocacy tool to push for a sustainable policy framework in Kenya. Some of the burning issues raised by the representatives of the council of elders included: Great concerns about the continuous threat of land grabbing that is affecting their vulnerable communities whilst also endangering their livelihoods; A need for enhanced and coordinated support in the planting of indigenous trees on hillsides and around water sources rather than exotic trees for cultural and economic reasons. Furthermore, the elders requested that indigenous knowledge on matters of the environment should be collected and documented for reference purposes by the government and future generations. They also requested the simplification of the bill when it becomes law for the purpose of general understanding. Members suggested that women's empowerment should be advocated for active public participation as they were barely present. Finally, policy engagements forums should be held at the backyard of the affected party to ensure full participation.
The workshop, which brought together civil society organizations working on Land, Wildlife, Water, Forest, and social development with a niche in the Mau complex region; with representation of the IPLCs living in the greater Mau forest Complex including: the Ogiek Council of Elders, Lembus Council of Elders Sengwer Council of Elders, Ilichamus Council of Elders and Endorois Council of elders, had the following objectives:
- Support IPLCs and other non-state actors to jointly participate in a meeting to prepare positions to inform the draft EMCA 2021 Bill.
- Amplify the voices of the IPLCs using different media platforms
- Finally, and most importantly, was for it to be passed by the parliament as an act through the provision of appropriate legal and institutional framework for the management of the environment and for connected purposes.
Some of the outcomes of the workshop are listed below:
- Increased understanding of CSOs regarding Draft EMCA Bill 2021
- Memorandum on the Draft EMCA bill has been submitted by NECSA-K in response to comments from Indigenous people and local communities and other stakeholders.
- Enhanced collaboration between IPLCs and non-state actors in policy formulation and implementation
A memorandum on this was generated and it can be downloaded and read here. The draft EMCA Bill of 2021 that the members based their comments can also be downloaded here.