TABLE OF CONTENT

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………….3

Land Act……………………………………………………………………………………..3

Water Act…………………………………………………………………………………….4

Forest Act…………………………………………………………………………………….5

International Convention of Environment……………………………………………………6

References…………………………………………………………………………………….9

INTRODUCTION

Environmental Laws are the standards that governments establish to manage natural resources and environmental quality. The broad categories of ‘natural resources” and “environment quality” include such areas as air and water pollution, forest and wildlife, hazardous waste, agricultural practices, wetlands, and land use planning.

The promulgation of the Kenya Constitution, 2010 marked an important chapter in Kenya environmental policy development. Hailed as a green Constitution, it embodies elaborate provisions with considerable implications for sustainable development. These range from environmental principles and implications of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) to the right to clean and healthy environment enshrined in the Bill of Rights. This paper will highlight on the Water Act, Land Act, Forest Act and International Convention of environment (Mohammed,2012).
LAND ACT
Land resources are finite, fragile and non-renewable. Land is considered a capital and asset that provides the essential services for development and human well being. Consequently, the demand and pressure on land is ever increasing. The main driving force leading to pressure on land resources is the increasing rate of population growth; hence demand for more food and shelter(Mohammed,2012)..
Policy Statements according to (Mohammed, 2012)
The Government will: • Ensure implementation of the Constitution and the National Land Policy in a way that that will take into account sustainable conservation and management of the environment and land resources. • Promote and enhance best practices for sustainable land use. • Promote and support the establishment of environmentally significant areas for purposes of enhancing the protection and conservation of the environmental resources. • Promote sustainable urban agriculture.

WATER ACT

• Water Quality Regulations apply to water used for domestic, industrial, agricultural, and recreational purposes; water used for fisheries and wildlife purposes, and water used for any other purposes. Different standards apply to different modes of usage. These regulations provide for the protection of lakes, rivers, streams, springs, wells and other water sources (Nema, 2012).

• The objective of the regulations is to protect human health and the environment. The effective enforcement of the water quality regulations will lead to a marked reduction of water-borne diseases and hence a reduction in the health budget (Nema, 2012)..

• The regulations also provide guidelines and standards for the discharge of poisons, toxins, noxious, radioactive waste or other pollutants into the aquatic environment in line with the Third Schedule of the regulations. The regulations have standards for discharge of effluent into the sewer and aquatic environment. While it is the responsibility of the sewerage service providers to regulate discharges into sewer lines based on the given specifications, NEMA regulates discharge of all effluent into the aquatic environment (Nema, 2012).

• The regulations provide for the creation of a buffer zone for irrigation schemes of at least fifty (50) metres in width between the irrigation scheme and the natural water body. Standards for irrigation water are given in schedule nine of the regulations.

• All firms or persons discharging effluent into the aquatic environment are required to submit quarterly discharge monitoring records to NEMA based on prescribed procedures of sampling and analysis.

• Everyone is required to refrain from any actions, which directly or indirectly cause water pollution, whether or not the water resource was polluted before the enactment of the Environmental Management and Coordination Act (EMCA) gazetted in 1999. It is an offence to contravene the provisions of these regulations with a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand shillings.

FOREST ECOSYSTEMS
The conservation and sustainable development of forest ecosystems and their associated resources is essential for lasting poverty reduction and sustainable development. Forest ecosystems are important in conservation of soil, water and biodiversity as well as in moderation of climate. They are the richest terrestrial habitats for biodiversity. Maintaining forest biodiversity protects the economic potential of future opportunities for new non-timber products, such as foods and medicines, as well as social sustainability by offering aesthetic, spiritual and recreational settings for people.

Kenya forests are being subjected to considerable pressure from competing user-groups. Agriculture, industry, human settlement and development of infrastructure affect them the most. In addition to extraction of forest products, there has been immense pressure for conversion of forest land to other uses, especially to agriculture and settlements. Further, illegal logging, cutting trees for fuel wood and charcoal, and grazing cattle and goats, have all degraded forests. These competing land uses have adverse environmental effects on long term sustainability of forest ecosystems (Mohammed, 2012).
Policy Statements National Environment Policy, 2012
The Government will: • Formulate an innovative strategy to increase forest and tree cover from the current to at least 10% as required under the Constitution. • Develop and implement a National Strategy for Rehabilitation and Restoration of degraded forest ecosystems. • Protect and conserve forests located in key water catchment areas. • Support effective implementation of the Forests Act, 2005. • Develop and implement cost-effective, objective and measurable national standards, principles and criteria of sustainable forest management. • Develop and support appropriate forest-based development mechanisms in the emerging carbon markets

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS ON ENVIRONMENT
1971: Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat ("Ramsar Convention") • The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i.e. to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scientific, and recreational value ( Ronald,2002).
1985: Vienna Convention on the Protection of the Ozone Layer • Its important legal basis for taking international action to protect the Earth’s stratospheric ozone layer. Among the objectives set out in the Convention is for Parties to promote cooperation by means of systematic observations, research and information exchange on the effects of human activities on the ozone layer and to adopt legislative or administrative measures against activities likely to have adverse effects on the ozone layer (Ronald,2002)..
1987: Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer • It’s an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of a number of substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion. The treaty is structured around several groups of halogenated hydrocarbons that have been shown to play a role in ozone depletion. All of these ozone depleting substances contain either chlorine or bromine (substances containing fluorine-only do not harm the ozone layer).
1987: Our Common Future: Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development • The concept of 'sustainable development' was crystallized and popularized in the 1987 report of the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development - the Brundtland Commission - which drew upon long established lines of thought that had developed substantially over the previous 20 years. The Brundtland Commission's shorthand characterization of 'sustainable development' is "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". The prominence given to 'needs' reflects a concern to eradicate poverty and meet basic human needs, broadly understood. The concept of sustainable development focused attention on finding strategies to promote economic and social development in ways that avoided environmental degradation, over-exploitation or pollution, and sidelined less productive debates about whether to prioritize development or the environment. A variety of important constituencies could support this concept. The emphasis on 'development' could be widely endorsed, and was particularly welcomed by representatives from poorer countries, development agencies, and groups primarily concerned about poverty and social deprivation. The link with 'sustainability' satisfied a variety of environmental constituencies( Ronald,2002)..
1989: Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal ("Basel Convention") • It was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations, and specifically to prevent transfer of hazardous waste from countries from the global North to countries from the global South. It does not, however, address the movement of radioactive waste. The Convention is also intended to minimize the amount and toxicity of wastes generated, to ensure their environmentally sound management as closely as possible to the source of generation, and to assist countries from the global South in environmentally sound management of the hazardous and other wastes they generate.
1992: Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) • It aims at reducing emissions of greenhouse gas in order to combat global warming. Its stated objective is "to achieve stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a low enough level to prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system." The treaty as originally framed set no mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions for individual nations and contained no enforcement provisions; it is therefore considered legally non-binding. Rather, the treaty included provisions for updates (called "protocols") that would set mandatory emission limits. The principal update is the Kyoto Protocol, which has become much better known than the UNFCCC itself. The treaty was opened for signature in 1992 and entered into force in 1994.
1992: Convention on the Protection and Use of Trans-boundary Watercourses and International Lakes ("Water Convention") • The Water Convention is intended to strengthen national measures for the protection and ecologically sound management of trans-boundary surface waters and groundwater. The Convention obliges Parties to prevent, control and reduce water pollution from point and non-point sources. The Convention also includes provisions for monitoring, research and development, consultations, warning and alarm systems, mutual assistance, institutional arrangements, and the exchange and protection of information, as well as public access to information. Under the Convention, the Protocol on Water and Health was adopted in London in 1999, and the Protocol on Civil Liability was adopted in Kiev in 2003.

REFERENCES
NEMA, Natural Resource Management 2012
Mohamed A. (2012) Environmental Policy. Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources. Nairobi
Ronald B. M. (2002). International Environmental Agreements http://iea.uoregon.edu/