Death Threat Received by Opponent of Bedford Biofuels Tana Delta Project

We have been reporting on developments in the Kenyan Tana Delta related to a proposed Jatropha plantation by the Canadian company Bedford Biofuels. We stand with our BirdLife partner Nature Kenya in their concerns about the environmental and social impacts of this project. Over a month ago, we wrote to the Canadian government about our concerns, but we have not heard back.

Now, we are even more concerned to hear alarming news that opposition to the project is being met with violence in the form of a death threat, currently under investigation by the Kenyan police. From BirdLife International:

Mr. Hajj Idris Bakero, a religious leader in Garsen Division, received death threats, presumably for his opposition to a jatropha project in the area.

On September 9th 2011, his wife Hamida Kori found a black plastic bag at the main gate to her compound, in it was petrol in a small plastic bag, four rounds of ammunition for an M16 Gun, and a warning note.


Translated, the note warned the cleric not to continue “barking “about the project or else “these four bullets will get into your body, we will burn your wife and children with petrol so that your name disappears forever.” This threat has now been reported to the Kenyan Police.

Find out more here. And stay tuned.

Bedford Biofuels Continue to Threaten Tana Delta

On 7 September we told you about the threats to Kenya’s Tana River Delta Important Bird Area from plans by the Canadian company Bedford Biofuels to establish a jatropha (biofuel) plantation. Since our post Bedford has been in touch to express their disagreement with our criticism of their project (see the comment posted). However, our concerns continue. Nature Canada has written to the Canadian government to bring our concerns to their attention and find out whether the government is supporting this project. We will let you know their response.

In the meantime, here is a summary of the latest information provided by our BirdLife partners at Nature Kenya:

At the start of this week Bedford Biofuels and Nature Kenya met in Nairobi. Bedford was accompanied by their lawyer and more than 20 people from the Delta supporting the Bedford proposal. However unfortunately despite a long (around 5 hour) and at times rather tense meeting Bedford was not prepared to recognize the concerns of Nature Kenya and others from the Delta or willing to respect the land use planning process under way.

In summary, Nature Kenya and others are worried that jatropha is untested, that Kenya has yet to adopt a biofuels policy and that 10,000 ha is too big to be a pilot. Also that the proposed project is within the very sensitive Delta floodplain and that there needs to be a land use plan for the Delta in place to provide a strategic framework before individual large-scale developments proceed. For all these reasons Nature Kenya is maintaining their challenge to the Bedford consent and hoping that the Kenyan Government will act on NEMA (the National Environment Management Authority) advice to cancel the Bedford consent.

It is very encouraging to see the land-use planning process for the Delta now firmly underway. Between 14-17 September around 65 participants took part in a high-level meeting in Malindi to discuss the need for a strategic plan for the Delta. The Kenyan Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) hosted the meeting with NEMA and Nature Kenya jointly providing the Secretariat. It was attended by representatives from key Kenyan government ministries and agencies including NEMA, the Ministries of Finance, Lands, Agriculture, Environment and Mineral Resources, Water and Irrigation, Fisheries, Kenya Forest Services, Kenya Wildlife Service, TARDA (Tana and Athi River Development Authority), together with NGOs, media and international experts in the fields of land use and delta planning and environmental assessment. The meeting included a workshop plus a field visit into the Delta to provide the opportunity for participants to see the Delta and speak to the local people to understand the issues first hand.

The meeting closed by adopting a Communiqué of the Inter-Ministerial Consultative Meeting on the sustainable development of Deltas in Kenya. This confirmed the launch of the Tana Delta planning initiative, including agreement on a road map leading to the long-term sustainable development of the remarkable Tana River Delta in ways that will provide for economic prosperity, stable social conditions and lasting environmental quality.

Specifically the meeting agreed:

• To the establishment of a local Tana Delta planning process which will be steered by a local committee (the Planning Implementation Committee) and will involve a combination of strategic planning and strategic environmental assessment (SEA)


• The output will be a long-term strategic land use plan representing a ‘truly sustainable’ future to the Delta.


• That this process will combine scientific, economic, social and environmental evaluation tools alongside extensive public participation and will be a collaborative exercise involving all relevant government ministries and agencies, counties, districts and communities, Civil Society and NGOs, International Partners and investors


• The process will take place over the next 18 months, with the support of DFID (UKAid).

Things are now moving quickly with the Inter-Ministerial meeting scheduled to meet again on Tuesday 27 September to discuss the terms of reference for the SEA. This is exciting news.

Bedford Biofuels Threatens Kenya's Tana Delta

Aleksey Dorofeev via Flickr

Nature Canada is concerned that a Canadian company – Bedford Biofuels – plans plans to set up a jatropha tree plantation in Kenya's Tana Delta, an area that provides refuge for 350 bird species. When we learned of the Calgary-based company's plans last year, we contacted the company to discuss the potential impacts on biodiversity of the proposed project. The company did not respond to our letter, but recent developments make us hopeful that Bedford Biofuels will abandon this project. The latest news from our BirdLife colleagues in Kenya is as follows:

A Nairobi newspaper reports that, after consideration of the scientific evidence, Kenya’s National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has decided to advise the Kenyan Government to halt the planting of the biofuel crop jatropha within the Coast region of Kenya. Proposed jatropha plantations would do irreparable damage to coastal Important Bird Areas (IBAs), including the Tana Delta and Dakatcha Woodlands.

The reported decision has been applauded by BirdLife Partner NatureKenya, which has been fighting a vigorous campaign against the destruction of woodland and other coastal habitats to make room for biofuel crops. NatureKenya also provided much of the evidence on which NEMA’s decision was based, especially recent research which has cast doubt on the supposed benefits of jatropha as a “green” alternative to fossil fuels. Scientific studies now recommend growing jatropha only as a hedge or living fence.

Even before NEMA’s decision, a company planning to grow oil seed crops on 28,000 hectares of the Tana Delta pulled out after consultations with NatureKenya and other BirdLife Partners, citing concerns over environmental impacts and long-term climate change effects.

In July, two directors of NEMA were suspended after accusations that they had acted irregularly in granting a licence to the Canadian company Bedford Biofuels to grow jatropha on a 10,000 hectare “pilot” site in the Tana Delta. According to the Nairobi press, NEMA’s Chairman, Mr Francis Ole Kaparo, said that the licence had been awarded in spite of mounting scientific evidence which has exposed the claims made for jatropha as false. “There is nothing to prove jatropha is viable. In fact, all evidence shows it has failed,” Mr Kaparo is quoted as saying.

NEMA has advised the Kenyan government to cancel Bedford’s licence, but the company is challenging the cancellation. Bedford’s local representatives have organised demonstrations in favour of the jatropha plantations, which have been described as an attempt to “intimidate” the authorities.

“We congratulate the NEMA Chairman, Mr Francis Ole Kaparo, the NEMA Director General Dr Ayub Macharia, and NEMA technical staff for their wise decision”, said NatureKenya CEO Paul Matiku. “NEMA is on the right path to sustainable development, by using science to avoid irreversible environmental, social and economic costs. We hope the Ministry will follow this advice and cancel Bedford Biofuel’s licence for a ‘pilot’ of 10,000 hectares of jatropha at Tana, and that this wise decision has been made clear to Kenya Jatropha Energy Limited at Dakatcha.”

He added: “Globally, biofuel crops, originally viewed as substitutes for climate-damaging fossil fuels, have replaced food crops and natural habitats, leading to rising food prices and loss of critical wildlife habitats and ecosystem services.”

The Tana Delta has long provided local communities with food and livelihoods. Its value to the nation includes ecosystem services such as water storage, shoreline protection and marine life spawning grounds. It also has huge tourism potential. But as demand for land to grow commodity crops has increased globally, the Tana Delta has become the focus of interest for international speculators and investors.

“Over the last decade, conflicts have been increasing in the Tana Delta as the demands for competing land uses, natural resources, nature conservation and community interests have intensified,” said Paul Matiku. “It is for this reason that NatureKenya and stakeholders, led by the Office of the Prime Minister, are initiating a combination of strategic planning and integrated assessment to develop a long term General Management Plan.”

Bedford Biofuels commented on September 13, 2011:

Recently, articlessuch as this, riddled with misleading errors and false accusations have beencirculating regarding Bedford Biofuels’ 10,000 ha Jatropha biofuel project inthe Tana Delta Region of Eastern Kenya. These articles were published withoutinput from Bedford. Bedford also did not recieve correspondence from NatureCanada before this post was published.

Contrary to what is being reported by Nature Kenya, Bedford’s license to planthas not been revoked. The EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) license wasissued to Bedford on May 25, 2011 by NEMA (National Environment ManagementAuthority)Kenya and remains in effect. Nursery preparations began in July andthe Jatropha seedlings will be transplanted starting in November.

Nature Kenya has also erroneously reported that Bedford intends to plantJatropha in the delta area of the Tana Delta Region, which is causing concernbecause of the delta’s biodiversity and ecological importance. First andforemost, in order to obtain its license from NEMA, Bedford had to complete anEnvironmental Impact Assessment of the Tana Delta Region which includedthorough research pertaining to the wildlife, existing flora and soilconditions. Approval of the EIA License was granted under the condition thatBedford agrees to abstain from planting in the delta.

Second, Jatropha will not grow in flood plains or areas of standing water suchas a delta, it thrives in semi-arid to arid conditions. In order to maximizeour yields, Bedford has engaged the world’s leading experts in Jatropha and hasa team of agronomists experienced in growing Jatropha to advise the optimalgrowing conditions and location for Bedford’s Jatropha project.
Lastly, Bedford is an advocate of conserving the environment and is currentlyworking alongside the Lower Tana Delta Conservation Trust to ensure that thedelta area is preserved and the local community’s standard of living isimproved.

Nature Kenya has also been vocalizing it’s skepticism about the benefits ofJatropha as a “green” alternative to fossil fuels and recommends that Jatrophashould only be grown as a hedge or living fence. This makes sense if you are atrying to prevent a Jatropha project from coming to fruition, but I am certainthe many scientists, multinational organizations and governments around theworld who have invested tens of millions of dollars into the research ofJatropha as a sustainable and viable biofuel feedstock would strongly disagree.NASA, for instance, has flown Jatropha to space to test the impact of zerogravity on its growth; the international airline, Lufthansa, is using Jatrophabased jet fuel on daily commercial flights; China has earmarked 13 millionhectares to grow Jatropha to help reduce their dependence on foreign oil;Jatropha has properties that can be used in the production of pain killers andother medications; and above all, it produces a clean oil that is superior tofossil fuel – an oil that is not derived from a food crop, but from a non-foodbiofuel. This is the evolution of biofuel.

Part of Bedford’s mandate is to educate people about our intentions to employlocals and to bring food security and improved quality of life to the region.We are doing it all by the book and we certainly don’t want to be implicated inallegations of irresponsible management and unfair practices.

Biofuel Crops Raise Invasion Concerns

Concern over invasive biofuel crops has caused the IUCN to look deeper into the potential risks associated with their introduction and impacts on local livelihoods and the environment. Nadine McCormick, IUCN Energy Network Coordinator puts it this way: “Current biofuel production is based on established food crops, and while this raises other sustainability concerns, the risk of invasion is not large. However, this risk will increase exponentially as new plants – that grow fast with many seeds in pretty much any land – are cultivated for more advanced biofuels.”

Not all biofuel crops are invasive, but this new report does push for more precautionary actions to avoid any detrimental impacts on the environment and livelihoods. The invasive nature, which is not inherent, of a biofuel crop depends on the environment in which it is grown as well as the method by which it is grown.

Geoffrey Howard, IUCN Global Invasive Species Coordinator, states that “biological invasions from the introduced species themselves, as well as from the production processes, are real risks to biodiversity and livelihoods,” and goes on to say “the risks can be reduced by following the guidelines we’ve set out.”

The guidelines, a product of cooperation between the IUCN and the Roundtable on Sustainable Energy (RSE), include step-by-step recommendations for reducing the risk of biological invasions by biofuel crops.

The report can be found here:

http://www.iucn.org/?4716

I remember working on an environmental impact assessment project in 2007 for a Jatropha (a biofuel crop) plantation project in southern Egypt; beautiful Luxor and Aswan! We had not listed biological invasions as one of our concerns due to the project’s location – in the middle of nowhere without any signs of life. It would be great to go back and see what has become of this project.