May 11, 2011 - New Fund to conserve all the water towers officially launched
Today, the Water Towers Conservation Fund was officially launched. The event was attended by several Cabinet Ministers, Ambassadors, Permanent Secretaries, representatives of the civil society and the private sector. The objective of the Fund is to provide funding for the restoration, conservation and sustainable management of Kenya water towers, in an equitable, efficient and transparent manner towards securing environmental stability, economic development and human well-being.
The establishment of the Water Towers Conservation Fund is in response to the report of the Mau Task Force that was adopted by the Cabinet and the Parliament. In the report, the Task Force recommended, inter alia, that “to complement Government funding, a Mau Conservation Trust Fund should be established to support mobilization of resources”.
The Water Towers Conservation Fund will complement trust funds established or to be established under existing laws, such as the National Environment Trust Fund and National Environment Restoration Fund (EMCA 1999), Water Service Trust Fund (Water Act 2002) and the Forest Conservation and Management Fund (Forest Act 2005). These trust funds are sectoral whilst the new Water Towers Conservation Trust Fund is cross-sectoral and will cover a whole range of activities related to catchment rehabilitation and sustainable rural development, including water, land and forest resources.
