The United Nations raised concerns over Lake Turkana national parks facing possible extinction.
According to reports, the UN placed the parks on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) revealed that the parks need corrective action to save them from extinction.
The inclusion of Lake Turkana on the list of endangered world heritage sites means that emergency conservation action and international assistance to support severely threatened sites are needed.
[caption caption="Lake Turkana National Parks"]
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In June, the World Heritage Committee added Lake Turkana National Park to the list of 54 endangered sites, citing threats posed to the lake by Ethiopia’s Gibe III dam and Kuraz Sugar project.
The park has over the years been a major breeding ground for migratory birds, crocodiles, hippopotamuses and venomous snakes and became the first heritage site in Kenya to be downgraded to the endangered status.
Unesco stated: “The World Heritage Committee, meeting in Manama, Bahrain, decided to inscribe the Lake on the World Heritage in Danger list, notably because of the impact of a dam on the site.”
The World Heritage Committee noted that Ethiopia’s Gibe III dam disrupted the flow and ecosystem of Lake Turkana and significantly reduced its water levels.
The List of World Heritage in danger is designed by Unesco to inform the international community of conditions which threaten the characteristics for which a site was inscribed on the World Heritage List and to encourage corrective action.
[caption caption="A view of Lake Turkana National Parks near the Ethiopian border"]
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If a site loses the characteristics which determined its inscription on the World Heritage List, the World Heritage Committee may decide to delete it from the list altogether.
