Julia Roberts Knows About Lake Naivasha. Do You?

As a member of the international team at Food & Water Watch, I am responsible for our work in Africa. I recently spent time at Lake Naivasha, Kenya with Josphat Ngonyo and Dr. Daniel Maingi of the Africa Network for Animal Welfare, who are working on a sustainability management plan for the lake. This region, 62 miles northwest of Nairobi, produces 70% of Kenya’s horticultural revenue and is facing environmental problems of tragic proportion. In the 1970s and ’80s, due in part to neoliberal advice from international financial institutions like the World Bank, the Kenyan government began encouraging development of crops for export markets. As a result, the lakefront property surrounding Naivasha was turned into flower farms that have grown to be the largest supplier of flowers to the European market, and have left only a small sliver of access for local Maasai pastoralists to gather water for both their families and their herds. Scientists have concluded that the lake’s level is now 10 feet below a healthy level. And while there was once an abundance of fish, lions, antelopes, leopards, giraffes, hippopotamuses and birds, the hippo population alone has decreased by more than 25 percent.

Local population swelled as workers were lured from around the country in spite of tough labor conditions. In 2006, workers rioted over low wages, poor working conditions and mass firings. Tragically, as the lake is being polluted by pesticide-laden farm runoff, farm owners are already relocating to healthier lakes in Ethiopia. To learn more about Lake Naivasha, check out our report, Lake Naivasha: Withering Under the Assault of International Flower Vendors.

Lake Naivasha’s plight is soon set to gain international attention. In January 2006, Joan Root, a famed conservation filmmaker who lived on Lake Naivasha and dedicated her time and money to protecting the lake, was murdered at night in her home by those who wanted to stop her work. Joan, 69 at the time of her death, knew her conservation work put her life at risk; she had full-time security staff , though clearly it wasn’t enough. Set to film on location at the end of 2008, Julia Roberts will produce and star in a movie about Joan Root’s life, and Robert Redford will direct. While making movies is a great way to bring attention to important issues, celebrities have a great opportunity to do even more. I hope Julia Roberts takes every chance she gets to not only highlight the great works of a great woman, but to honor Joan Root’s memory by talking about what’s happening today at Lake Naivasha and working to advance her cause.