Lake Naivasha, Kenya, invaded by water hyacinth
Water hyacinth, the world’s most widespread invasive species, is spreading to such an extent that it is visible from space. However, there may be a solution to the “serious situation”.
“Sometimes the situation becomes very serious,” he says. Simon Macharia.
The fisherman refers to a problem that has affected the lake I turn it onnorthwest of Nairobi, Kenya. The weed Water hyacinth has covered the entire river, from 150 km2 long, killing fish and stranding people.
It is even: it is the most widespread invasive species in the world.
“There was an incident where The fishermen were trapped by the hyacinth in the lake for three days. We had to ask the government for help, which used a helicopter to save them”, says Macharia to , who describes the hyacinth as an “alien plant”, that is, an invasive one.
The problem also affects fishing activity: Many days, you can’t fish, and when you do, fishermen risk running out of nets, which can get stuck in the grass.
In addition to clogging hydroelectric and irrigation systems, this plant has cost the global economy tens of billions of dollars and, currently, more than US$700 million per year, according to . It is a problem not exclusive to Kenya, which affects the entire African continent.
Therefore, there are many attempts to reverse this evil, and there is even one that aims to harvest water hyacinth and combine it with municipal waste and cow manure to produce biofuel.
Now, there is a new project that began to take shape after the researchers involved spent 5 hours trapped inside a boat stranded in the hyacinth. A, founded by Joseph Nguthiruthen either transform into invasive plant num bioplastic.
Nguthiru bioplastic is biodegradable and made through dry water hyacinth combined with binders and additives, which are then mixed and shaped, explains CNN.
In 2017, Kenya introduced a law banning plastic bags single-use bags, which ended up being sold in 2020. Now, there are those who accuse that there is a smuggling network of these bags in the country.
The researcher then believes that this solution will “kill two birds with one stone”, since “most single-use plastic products tend to have a lifespan of about 10 minutes after they leave supermarket shelves. So why not make them biodegradable?”
Now, fishermen like Macharia are harvesting the invasive plant from Lake Naivasha, drying it and selling it to HyaPak.
Furthermore, the production of this plastic is much more ecological, saving the surrounding biodiversity. “It offsets the carbon emissions that will be produced, uses less water, it adds more nutrients… it’s a win-win situation for communities, the planet and farmers.”
“It’s up to my generation find solutions to the climate crisisbecause if we don’t do it, we won’t do it at all”, he concludes.
