May 31, 20268:24 AM ET barren, rocky slopes of Komote Island off the shore of Lake Turkana in northern Kenya, Alfred Lenkutuk sits in the meager shelter of his hut, gazing out over the village where he was born and remembering better times. As little as 10 years ago, the village wasn't on an island at all. But the lake has steadily expanded, swallowing homes, grazing lands, schools, roads and the burial grounds where Lenkutuk's ancestors were laid to rest. Today, the village is separated from the mainland 660 yards of shimmering turquoise water where fishermen paddle on homemade rafts.
Growing up, the 71-year-old remembers going on regular communal hippo hunts around the lakeshore, and fishermen coming home with catches of more than 250 pounds. Now the hippos are virtually wiped out and fishermen are lucky if they come home with even 10 pounds of fish. Families have been divided Anyone with livestock has been forced to leave. "Now we depend on the government," says Lenkutuk, a member of the El Molo people, one of Africa's smallest and most marginalized indigenous groups, whose lives have revolved around the lake for centuries.
"We're not able to support ourselves." The government sends supplies of rice and beans every few months, and recently provided the island with a reverse osmosis plant to give them access to fresh water. Lenkutuk says it's not nearly enough. Lake Turkana is the world's largest permanent desert lake, and its waters have long sustained hundreds of thousands of people in one of the most isolated and neglected parts of Kenya. But now the lake is facing multiple, concurrent threats.
Rising water levels — attributed to a combination of climatic and tectonic factors — have displaced thousands, damaged infrastructure and services, and disrupted fishing. At the same time, persistent drought across northern Kenya has forced thousands of herders to take up fishing, putting even greater pressure on an already delicate ecosystem and fueling intense competition. toggle caption Tommy Trenchard for NPR "We used to be able to fish all the way from here to Moitie," says Lenkutuk, referring to a town about 44 miles northwest. "There are too many people fishing now." In 2018, Lake Turkana was placed on UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger.
Since then, residents say, conditions have only deteriorated. In Kalokol, a major fishing community on the lake's western shore, many have now been displaced three times as the waters continue to encroach. Teenagers bathe in the floodwaters, and fishermen string their nets between submerged bushes amid the remains of flooded villages. toggle caption Tommy Trenchard for NPR A few miles to the south, a lodge that was once a mainstay of Turkana's fledgling tourist industry has lost 95% of its land.