Under Part VII of the Environmental Management and
Coordination Act (1999), all permanent tourism
accommodation facilities in the MMNR are required
to carry out an annual environmental audit. These
audits
are designed to provide “a systematic
evaluation of activities … to determine how far these
activities and programmes
conform with the approved environmental
management plan of that specific project [developed as
part
of the initial EIA] and sound
environmental management practices”. Except for the
initial annual audit,
which is carried out by environmental audit
experts registered by NEMA, all subsequent annual audits
are
carried out by the proponent or an environmental
audit expert, and the reports subsequently submitted
to
NEMA. However, as is common in many protected
areas, MMNR management has usually not had
access
to the environmental management plans for
individual facilities, or the subsequent annual
environmental
audit reports (where they are carried out), and as
a result they are unable to ensure that each facility
takes
appropriate steps to improve their environmental
performance.
Under this management plan, MMNR management will
in future require all facility operators within
the
MMNR to undertake annual environmental audits in
accordance with their legal obligations.
Management
will also require facility operators to provide
them with copies of all such environmental audit reports,
so
that the managers can keep informed of pertinent
environmental issues and mitigation measures, and to
enable
follow-up to ensure that outstanding issues are
addressed. In addition, under the accommodation
prescriptions
(set out in the Visitor Use and Zonation Scheme)
all facilities within the MMNR are required to
secure Ecotourism Kenya certification (a minimum
standard of gold eco-rating for ecocamps, silver
for
ecolodges and bronze for lodges). MMNR management
will also raise awareness of the importance of
achieving
this certification, and encourage operators to
apply for certification and to comply with the
subsequent
audits every two years.
