fAJVHSfiuO**. JO / Ovtemtor 2000 
28 
3 . ‘Nan/re Kenya's views 
ami position on biodiversity 
priorities recognised and 
respected by decision-makers 
and the general public' 
I have mentioned the general public; 
l»ow about thr decision-maker*' Out 
philosophy could be summed up as gull* 
(uiul tufiJrm: dripping water hollows 
out a stone Those involved in Society 
advocacy mav not much appreciate 
being likened to drips, bill that’* thr 
way it works by putting forward our 
case steadily, objectively and. most ol 
all, persistently, eventually wr make an 
impact This effect is dillicult to 
measure, but wr have undoubtedly 
gained a lot of ground ilns year Nature 
Kenya has made substantial input to ihr 
L n v i ron men t Co-ordination and 
Management Ait. which became law 
earlier this year, to the forthcoming 
Forests Bill, and to the National 
Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 
In July l ‘>99 wr held a major seminar 
and workshop to inform Krnvans about 
i hr Alrican-F.urasian Waterbird 
Agreement lAEWA>. This treated 
considerable awareness ahnur 
watrr birds. wetlands and the 
Convention on Migratory Species that 
provides thr framework for ALWA Thr 
meeting was no doubt a major stimulus 
tor Kenya's accession, which has hern 
agreed by Cabinet. 
Wr also had thr unusual chance of 
sending delegations to two other big 
international meetings, the Conferences 
of Parties lor Convention on 
Internal innal Trade in Endangered 
Spesies and ilie Convention on 
Biological Diversity, both held in 
Nairobi hi 2000 Thrsr proved a 
valuable learning experience as wrll as 
an excrllrnt chanre to develop both 
loial and intrrnational contact*. At 
CBD the joint Nature Kenya Birdl.de 
International srand wav very 
attracusely laiJ out and visited by a 
large number of delegates W‘c also 
produced • set ol tree Nature Krnya 
hirdl.de postcards on threatened birds 
that wrrr given Irec to all delegates, 
and v«r> well received; and wr helped 
to organise a sue. cssful side-event on 
i hr I BA programme 
Thr Important Bird Areas National 
Liaison < ommurer remains a key body 
• or networking and advocacy 
concerning IB A conservation 
Attendance at NLC mrrting* has been 
excellent over ihr past year, and we arc 
delighted with ihr arrive involvement 
of many frprcst-nt.il ives. 
All this advocacy work is very time 
consuming, and w» are luck) to have u 
number ol members who have rhe 
interest an. I 'hr know-how to involve 
themselves. It is. though, paying 
substantia! dividends in raising and 
improving our profilr and crrdihility. 
and ensuring ihar our views are at f ually 
tukrn inrn account. These dividends 
should im tease Mill further in future 
