The Unholy Trinity Killing the Sudd Wetlands and What the Government Should Do in South Sudan
By Mading Gum Mading, Juba, South Sudan
Tuesday, 26 July 2022 (PW) — Our rivers and wetlands are dying. Our rivers and wetlands (Bhar el Jebel Basin, Bhar el Gazal Basin, and Sobat Basin) are being polluted by human activities at rates four times higher than rivers and wetlands in neighbouring countries. In an article published in 2020, two researchers (Boying & Ping) assessed the impact of human activities on the quality of water quality in the river Nile in Juba.
They found that the Nile River is severely polluted, with human activities such as urbanization and industrialization accounting for 78% of the pollutants. The authors concluded that “raw water” from the Nile is unsuitable for drinking without treatment. These findings have implications for communities living within the Bahr el Jebel basin, as their livelihoods and their livestock depend on the Nile water.
Environmentalists are deeply worried about the impact of oil spills in the Bhar el Gazal basin. Pragst et al, in 2017, carried out a hair analysis to determine the toxic exposure of local communities to lead and barium around the Thar Jath oil fields. Scientifically, high concentrations of lead and barium are associated with toxic industrial waste, a problem that increases the salinity of drinking water.
They found increased salinity of drinking water around oil fields, compared to counties, like Rumbek North of Lakes State, which are at a considerable distance from oil fields. This salinity, they argue, is “incompatible” with human health and livestock, because the salinity of drinking leads not only to high mortality in humans but also in livestock.
The Sobat basin also suffers both from oil spills and plastic pollution. In a master’s thesis published in 2017, John Manyok Garang, investigated types and sources of solid waste in Bor town, focusing on how they are generated and handled. His findings give us a hint of the biggest killer of the White Nile and Sobat Basin.
In Bor, half of the solid waste so generated (41% plastic, 29% organic waste, paper 15%, etc.) remains uncollected. And of all that is generated, 62% is openly dumped, immediately finding its way to the River Nile. In a similar piece published by Bullen Panchol in 2019, plastic drowning in the Nile shows that neither humans nor aquatic species are safe from marine litter.
Pollution of rivers has destruction implications for communities, animals, fish species, and nature, especially their health, emotional, psychological, and social development.
Eventually, the unholy trinity of oil spills, marine litter, and the controversial dredging of Nile tributaries (the downsides of dredging are already matters of public knowledge) demand our immediate action to protect the wetlands and the natural environment. The question is whether our government has the wisdom to prioritize environmental protection over natural resources’ exploitation.
This prioritization must include establishing environmental infrastructure_ like legislation, institutions, processes_ necessary for advancing the interest of environment, especially our rivers and wetlands. The choice our leaders make will have a long-term impact (positive or negative) on environment and the people_ current and future generations.
The author, Mading Gum Mading, is a South Sudanese advocate, lecturer (University of Juba School of Law) and doctoral student at the University of Nairobi School of Law. His doctoral research is on the recognition of rights of nature for non-human entities like rivers, wetlands, forests, et cetera in South Sudan. He can be reached at madinggum1@students.uonbi.ac.ke
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