Land reclamation efforts in Haller Park, Mombasa

Stanford M. Siachoono

Copperbelt Museum, Ndola, Zambia. E-mail: misomo@zamtel.zm.

Accepted 1 December, 2009

Abstract

Land reclamation of derelict landscapes, until in recent times, was a rare experience, especially in developing countries. This has however changed with the adoption of environmental policies and legislative frameworks in most countries in the world. This drive was mainly inspired by the conservation strategies developed and promoted by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). This article is a presentation of the findings and observations that led to successful land reclamation by the cement factory. Steps taken for this reclamation effort were of prime interest to the author and were retraced resulting in this position paper. A comparative approach is used, given the conventional methods that most projects of this nature employ. Most of the environmental and land degradation are caused by profit motivated industries who do nothing or very little to repair the damage caused in the course of their work. The Haller Park at the Bamburi Cement factory in Mombasa, Kenya is a rare success of land reclamation in Africa. The common approach in land reclamation in the past 20 years has been through the use of economic valuation techniques such as the contingent valuation method (CVM) to put a value on public goods such as land. This technique is done through the employment questionnaires that solicit for the willingness to pay (WTP) or the willingness to accept (WTA) from the affected respondents. This technique may be used together with a travel cost method (TCM) that is an indirect method that attempts to find the price for an environmental good. In this case no such method was used, but the result is a big success perhaps owing largely to workable strategies by the cement factory. The steps taken, using selected plant species, to reclaim the derelict landscape, resulting from excavation for limestone required for the cement factory are traced to give the perfect park for tourists, both local and foreign.

Key words: CVM – contingent valuation method, TCM- travel cost method, WTP- willingness to pay, WTA- willingness to accept.