UNESCO launches expedition to Kilimanjaro to draw attention to melting glaciers

NAIROB - The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced on Tuesday that a 50-member expedition to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro is underway to draw attention to the rapid melting of glaciers caused by climate change. Mount Kilimanjaro, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987 and a key source of water for millions of people in Kenya and Tanzania, is losing its glaciers at an alarming rate. 

To draw global attention to the threat, young people from Kenya, Tanzania and the United States, scientists, UN experts and climate change advocates began climbing the mountain on Monday. They are expected to complete their mission on Sunday.  Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, said that climbing to the summit of Kilimanjaro will reinforce the urgency of action against climate-induced glacier melt and the existential threats it poses to livelihoods and ecosystems.

"With science as our compass, the international community must unite to protect our glaciers," Azoulay said in a statement issued in Nairobi, Kenya's capital. "That's what the International Year of Glacier Protection, led by UNESCO and the World Meteorological Organization, is all about." 

The expedition, led by famed polar explorer Borg Ousland and founder of the Kilimanjaro Initiative Tim Challen, linking science and advocacy. Climbers conduct environmental research during the climb, collecting data on water contamination, vegetation stress and ecosystem health. 

The mission also supports UNESCO's Kilimanjaro Transboundary Aquifer Programme, an $8 million initiative funded by the Global Environment Facility to promote sustainable groundwater management and climate resilience in the border region between Kenya and Tanzania. 

According to UNESCO, citing researchers from the University of Dodoma in Tanzania, Kilimanjaro has lost 85 percent of its glacial ice and over 30 percent of its forest cover since 1912. UNESCO warns that the ecological crisis is worsening droughts, degrading ecosystems and increasing water scarcity, especially for women and other vulnerable groups. Bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders is key to highlighting the threats facing this critical water resource and promoting solutions, Challen said.

Xinhua/gnews.cz - GH