ASSESSMENT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ON INDUSTRIAL WASTE MANAGEMENT WITHIN LAKE NATIONAL PARK AND ITS ENVIRONS

Lake Nakuru National Park is choking of solid and liquid waste pollutants emanating from upstream more so during the windy and rainy seasons. Due to the nature of terrains, most of the flashflood water and the drainage system find its way to the lake. The strong winds from the upper area of the town collect waste which ends up on top of the forest trees around the lake. Further, at times the sewer system bursts and discharges the raw sewer to the park. These unfortunate incidences lead to damage or destruction of the ecosystem that has been protected over the years. The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of Corporate Social Responsibility on Industrial Waste Management within Nakuru Environs and Lake National Park. The study adopted Stakeholders and Institutional theories for its study. A sample of 55 employees of Lake Nakuru National Park and 15 Community Business Leaders were used for the study. Primary data was collected using questionnaires and interview schedule. It was established that an effective industrial waste management practices on the environment has positive economic effects for businesses prosperity, flora and fauna conservation as well as a sustainable environmental. Environmental conservation awareness trainings for most businesses had been undertaken. Most of the business people held some sense of responsibility on managing waste as they conduct their businesses but the issue mainly lies on the part of the consumer’s disposal of packaging materials. Consumers were also becoming increasingly aware, sensitive and alive to the fact that a clean and safe environment is important. The emerging model shows the need to shift from the traditional 3Rs to 5Rs, owing to changes in national environmental policies, which emphasis on the use of Repackaging of products in terms of quality management, and reduce as additional waste management practices, thus, a shift from the 3Rs to 5Rs. The study recommended that the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources should mobilize financial, technical and physical resources for building the capacity of the local community, and the business community towards effective industrial waste management. There should be strict compliance to industrial waste management policies by all stakeholders. Emphasis on the 5R’S from the marketing perspective was also recommended. This way, waste will be minimized and the environment will be conserved. The recommendations will be beneficial to the County Government, the Business Community as well as the Park Management. It can also assist the National government in formulating policies that can assist in addressing issues to do with environmental concerns and management. KEY WORDS: Corporate Social Responsibility, Industrial Waste Management, Environmental Education Programs, Waste Management Infrastructure, Recycling

Examining Drivers of Divergence in Recorded and Perceived Human-Carnivore Conflict Hotspots by Integrating Participatory and Ecological Data

Human-carnivore conflict is a global challenge with complex and context-specific causes and consequences. While spatial analyses can use ecological principles to predict patterns of conflict, solutions to mitigate conflict must also be locally adaptable, sustainable, and culturally-sensitive. In Nakuru County, Kenya, rapid development and land subdivision have exacerbated conflict by isolating wildlife in protected areas that are increasingly adjacent to human settlements. In an effort to understand local perspectives on carnivore conflict, and to apply this information toward locally-based conservations actions, we conducted gender-stratified interviews and participatory mapping sessions with 378 people in 16 villages near two ecologically isolated protected areas in Kenya: Lake Nakuru National Park and Soysambu Conservancy. Specifically, we developed a method for associating interview responses and demographic information with spatial participatory data to examine how local perceptions of conflict compared to spatially-explicit records of livestock depredation in the region from 2010 to 2018. We mapped kernel densities of recorded and perceived risk of human-carnivore conflict and then tested for potential social and ecological predictors of divergences found between the two datasets. Mismatched hotspots of observed and perceived risk of conflict were correlated with several ecological and socioeconomic factors. Regions with higher NDVI exhibited more perceived conflict, while the opposite held true for verified conflict. Road density was positively correlated with both types of conflict, and both types of conflict increased closer to protected areas. Livestock ownership, visitation to Lake Nakuru National Park, if the participant's child walked to school, and male gender identity were associated with more perceived conflict reports. Education level and national park visitation were associated with more positive attitudes toward carnivores. Our results show that while observed and perceived conflict may ultimately be equally important for understanding and managing human-carnivore conflict, they may be driven by markedly different social and ecological processes. We suggest that integrating the spatially explicit experiences and perspectives of local communities with more traditional ecological methods is critical to identifying lasting and socially just forms of conflict mitigation.

OBJECT-BASED CHANGE DETECTION ON ACACIA XANTHOPHLOEA SPECIES DEGRADATION ALONG LAKE NAKURU RIPARIAN RESERVE

Automated mapping of heterogeneous riparian landscape is of high interest to assess our planet. Still, it remains a challenging task due to the occurrence of flooded vegetation. While both optical and radar images can be exploited, the latter has the advantage of being independent acquisition conditions. However, and despite their popularity, the threshold-based approaches commonly used present some drawbacks such as not taking into account the spatial context and providing mixed pixels within class boundaries. In this study, we propose a novel methodology to avoid such issues by using an object-based image analysis approach on polarimetric radar data. We use our workflow to map the degrading Acacia x. species along lake Nakuru Riparian reserve, and obtain highly-accurate results.

Impact of Sedimentation on Water Seepage Capacity in Lake Nakuru, Kenya

Accumulation and deposition of sediments in waterbody affect the seepage capacity that could lead to improper water balance and results in the water level rise. This study analysed the influence of sedimentation on seepage capacity in Lake Nakuru and the impact of sediment characteristics to the water seepage and the flow rate formation at the lake bed level. The study was performed by sampling and analysing the sediment cores from two locations in the lake. The sediment hydraulic properties, i.e., moisture and porosity, particle sizes, and hydraulic conductivity, were determined using the oven-drying method, sieve analysis, hydrometer analysis, and falling head tests, respectively. The results showed that the lake sediment sample from location P1 had an average ratio of 39.38% for silty soil, 34.00% for clayey sediment, and 26.63% for fine-sand sediment particles with the maximum permeability coefficient of 3.37 ∗ 10 − 5 cm/s, while the one from location P2 had an average ratio of 63.17% for sand, 20.17% for fine particles, and 16.67% for gravels with the maximum permeability coefficient of 0.010793 cm/s. The hydraulic conductivity of sediment sample from location P1 and P2 increased along the core depth. This could lead to the rise of water level due to the decreases of water movement induced from the sediment cementation in the top layers under the waterbody. Sedimentation affects Lake Nakuru water volume and water balance; hence, there is a need to control the inflow of sediment resulting from anthropogenic activities in the watershed.

Water Erosion Risk Assessment in the Kenya Great Rift Valley Region

The Kenya Great Rift Valley (KGRV) region unique landscape comprises of mountainous terrain, large valley-floor lakes, and agricultural lands bordered by extensive Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs). The East Africa (EA) region has received high amounts of rainfall in the recent past as evidenced by the rising lake levels in the GRV lakes. In Kenya, few studies have quantified soil loss at national scales and erosion rates information on these GRV lakes’ regional basins within the ASALs is lacking. This study used the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model to estimate soil erosion rates between 1990 and 2015 in the Great Rift Valley region of Kenya which is approximately 84.5% ASAL. The mean erosion rates for both periods was estimated to be tolerable (6.26 t ha−1 yr−1 and 7.14 t ha−1 yr−1 in 1990 and 2015 respectively) resulting in total soil loss of 116 Mt yr−1 and 132 Mt yr−1 in 1990 and 2015 respectively. Approximately 83% and 81% of the erosive lands in KGRV fell under the low risk category (<10 t ha−1 yr−1) in 1990 and 2015 respectively while about 10% were classified under the top three conservation priority levels in 2015. Lake Nakuru basin had the highest erosion rate net change (4.19 t ha−1 yr−1) among the GRV lake basins with Lake Bogoria-Baringo recording annual soil loss rates >10 t ha−1 yr−1 in both years. The mountainous central parts of the KGRV with Andosol/Nitisols soils and high rainfall experienced a large change of land uses to croplands thus had highest soil loss net change (4.34 t ha−1 yr−1). In both years, forests recorded the lowest annual soil loss rates (<3.0 t ha−1 yr−1) while most of the ASAL districts presented erosion rates (<8 t ha−1 yr−1). Only 34% of all the protected areas were found to have erosion rates <10 t ha−1 yr−1 highlighting the need for effective anti-erosive measures.

Towards a symbiotic wildlife tourism destination attractiveness and sustainability framework for national parks in Kenya.

This chapter presents a wildlife tourism destination attractiveness and sustainability framework based on relevant destination attractiveness attributes and sustainability indicators. The framework was tested at Lake Nakuru National Park (LNNP) in Kenya. Attractiveness was categorized into four dimensions that included wildlife resources, park accessibility, cost of attractions and park image. As the findings indicated, there was direct positive effect of all four dimensions. A relatively low effect was recorded with regard to park image, which is likely to have contributed to low satisfaction experience, future behavioural intentions and park ecological value. In addition, among the repeat visitors' responses, the majority agreed there was increased wildlife disappearance, increased difficulty in sightseeing key wildlife attractions at LNNP, invasive new species within the park, changes in wildlife grazing grounds, infrastructure damage and increased visibility of litter inside the park.

An Evaluation of Wildlife Tourism Destinations’ Attributes, Overall Satisfaction and Revisit Intentions: A Tourist Guides’ Perspective

This study developed and tested a model integrating associations of tourist guides, wildlife tourism destination attributes, overall satisfaction and revisit intentions. The study is based on a cross-sectional research survey of tourist guides visiting Lake Nakuru National Park (LNNP) in Kenya, where no such investigation has been conducted before. It was grounded on expectation/disconfirmation theory using attitudinal approach to destination loyalty. Data collection was done through self-administered structured questionnaires. Simple random sampling was used to select the sample size of 298 tourist guides during the study period. Data on socio-demographic characteristics was analysed descriptively while the evaluation of the measurement model was done through exploratory factor analysis and path analysis. The results showed a stronger positive association between wildlife resources and satisfaction, followed by cost of attractions, park image and park accessibility. There was a positive but weak relationship between satisfaction and revisit intention. Therefore, wildlife resources, park accessibility, cost of attractions, and park image dimensions are indicators of satisfaction, but satisfaction was not a good indicator for revisit intentions.