Nakuru County government, in collaboration with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) have conducted data collection on lesser and greater flamingoes at Lakes Nakuru and Elementaita to establish factors fanning the reported alarming decline of the birds' population.
The exercise, under a project dubbed "Safeguarding the Unique Ecological Gem of the Kenya Lake System in Lake Nakuru and Lake Elementaita," comes at a time when scientists have expressed concern over the rising water levels, climate change and habitat degradation which they claimed were driving flamingos in alkaline Rift Valley lakes to the brink of extinction.
Nakuru County Secretary, Dr Samuel Mwaura, said the exercise, which was part of the implementation of the UNESCO/Netherlands Funds-in-Trust (NFiT) project, involved identification of the challenges contributing to their decline, investigation into environmental degradation and assessment efforts aimed at maintaining and restoring the lakes' ecosystems.
Dr Mwaura disclosed that the data collected during the visits will be analyzed during an in-house workshop for UNESCO, KWS and the County Government's officials to be held before the end of May 2025.
