Class 4 - Mara and carbon

Question 1

What is a river basin/watershed?

Answer 1

An area that drains water to a shared destination such as lakes, streams or oceans

Question 2

What does a watershed do?

Answer 2

Captures precipitation, fiilters and stores water, detremines the release. A healthy one releases slowly over time

Question 3

What is watershed management?

Answer 3

Implementing land-use and water management practices to protect the quality of water within a watershed by managing the resources in a holistic manner and concidering upstream and downstream effects

Question 4

Characteristics of the Mara river basin

Answer 4

Part of the Nile river basin, covers 13,000 km2, Mara river is 392 km long, Flows through many biomes, flows into lake Victoria

Question 5

Towns in the Mara basin?

Answer 5

Bomet, Narok, Mulot, Nyamongo, Tarime

Question 6

Problems in the Mara river basin

Answer 6

fencing, charcoal production, mining, evictions, deforestation, tourism, floods, tea plantations, increased population, grazing, climate change

Question 7

What are the two most important greenshouse gasses?

Answer 7

CO2 and Methane

Question 8

Why is carbon interesting

Answer 8

The main building block of all organic molecules, part of all living organisms

Question 9

What is photosynthesis?

Answer 9

Capturing energy and carbon and storing it as organic matter. Carbon dioxide + water + sun = sugars and oxygen

Question 10

Where is methane produced?

Answer 10

Natural processes, fossil fuel burning, rice fields, animals, landfills

Question 11

What are the main greenshouse gasses and what do they do?

Answer 11

CO2, Methane, nitrious oxide, flourocarbon gasses - capture heat and prevents it from escaping intp space

Question 12

What are the 3 pillars of climate-smart-agriculture?

Answer 12

1. Sustainably increase agricultural productivity and increase income of farmers, 2. Build resilience and adaptation to climate change, 3. Reduce greenshouse gas emissions

Question 13

What is the Calliandra?

Answer 13

A tree in the tropics which provides fuelwood, fodder, fibre, honey, shellac and shade, erosion control, weed control, soil improvement, water regulation. It is potentially invasive

Question 14

What is the Faidherbia albida?

Answer 14

A non-invasive tree in Africa which provides a lot of the same services as Calliandra

Question 15

What is agroforestry?

Answer 15

Agriculture with a combination of trees, crops and/or livestock - they mimic natural ecosystems

Question 16

What is conservation farming?

Answer 16

1. Minimum soil disturbance, 2. permanent soil cover, 3. crop diversity and rotation

Question 17

What is permaculture?

Answer 17

Mimicks natural ecosystems, multi-layered, permanent ground cover, no disturbance of soil, energy capture and storage

Question 18

What is biochar and what dows it do?

Answer 18

Charcoal from biomass, improves soil fertility, increases water retention, reduce acidity of soil, stores carbon long term

Question 19

What is the population at the Mara basin?

Answer 19

1.1 million

Question 20

Describe the area where the Mara river starts

Answer 20

• Starts in the wetlands in the montains: Would be forest, but forest has been cut, lots of small scale farming, grazing, some large scale farming like tea plantations, the Mau forest (evergreen tropical mountain forest) where the Ogiek lives (many kicked out to protect the forest, even though they guarded the forest), some plantation forest used for timber production (non-natural forest)