Flower farmers in Naivasha have been urged to use part of their income in supporting initiatives aimed at protecting the environment in the area.
Speaking on Thursday at a consultative meeting between National Environment Managing Authority (NEMA) and flower farms in Naivasha, George Bogonga, from NEMA's South Rift regional offices said that the amount of pollution caused to the environment by flower farms is immense.
“The only way the farms could offer mitigation is by fully supporting environment conservation efforts by both the government and non-governmental organisations,” said Bogonga.
Bogonga said that Naivasha was among areas affected most by chemicals used in commercial farms such as flower farms.
“The chemicals being used in flower farms in Naivasha have a lot of effects to animals, the soil, water in rivers and the lake, the atmosphere and even on the people working in those farms. The best the farms can do is to help us protect our environment by allocating part of their income to support environment conservation efforts,” notes Bogonga.
“In the next 50 years if the effects of chemicals used in flower farms are not mitigated then we might as well forget about these lakes we have here. This is due to siltation and contamination of the water due to the dirty water and chemicals being directed into the lakes from flower farms,” he added.