It may appear unintuitive that special toilets could benefit hippos and other wetland species, but the Center for Rural Empowerment and the Environment (CREE) has proven the unique benefits of new toilets in the Dunga Wetlands on Lake Victoria's Kenyan side. By building ecologically-sanitary (eco-san) toilets, CREE has managed to alleviate some of the conflict that has cropped up between hippos and humans for space.
With extreme population and land pressures in the region, people have moved into the Dunga Wetlands to exploit its rich, though quickly exhaustible, soils for agriculture. However the resulting habitat loss has hurt many native species, besides the common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), which is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List, the wetlands are also home to the sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekii) and the spotted-necked otter (Lutra maculicollis). In addition the Dunga Wetlands are listed as an International Bird Area (IBA), including sporting populations of the papyrus gonolek (Laniarius mufumbiri), listed as Near Threatened, and the papyrus yellow warbler (Chloropeta gracilirostris), listed as Vulnerable, and a number of other key African wetland birds. Eco-san toilets are being used to stem the destruction of further habitat.
Read more:http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0104-hance_ecosan_cree.html#ixzz1isaeHp3e
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!