Potential payment for ecosystem services (pes) scheme in Lake Ol Bolossat Nyandarwa County

Abstract

The state of the world’s waters remains fragile and the need for an integrated and sustainable approach to water resource management is as pressing as ever. Available supplies are under great duress as a result of high population growth, unsustainable consumption patterns, poor management practices, pollution, and inadequate investment in infrastructure and low efficiency in water-use. Wetlands which considered biologically diverse areas are sources of water that are also under threat and Lake Ol Bolossat is one of them-It serves as a catchment for Ewaso Nyiro River, the marshes and swamps that form 85% of the lake ecosystem filter and purify the water. The wetland was noted to have been diminishing due to human encroachment and his subsequent activities. Several initiatives have been undertaken in the past to address these issues. However these initiatives have been largely ineffective due to several factors, which include fragmented and sectorial approach in initiation and implementation, limited scope and objective, weak interagency linkages, inadequate stakeholder involvement and lack of a financial structure that funds conservation. The overall weakness has been lack of a framework that integrates and guides these initiatives to achieve the overall environmental conservation and development targets. Researchers argue that of the five mechanisms available for ensuring the provision of ecosystem services – prescription, penalties, persuasion, property rights and payments – only payments are likely to be effective at the global level. Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES)-is the practice of offering incentives to farmers or landowners in exchange for managing their land to provide some sort of ecological service. These programs promote the conservation of natural resources in the marketplace and the researcher aimed at determining the potential of establishing a Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) Scheme in Lake OL Bolossat. A sample size of 60 people and 30 CBOs officials was taken to represent the entire population in the area using proximate representative estimation. Simple random sampling was then used and snowball sampling was used in CBOs interviews to identify the respondents. Findings were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft excel and represented in the form of bar graphs and pie charts. The study looks forward to giving recommendations on the way forward in the setting up of a PES scheme in the area to help in conserving the ecosystem.