Month: August 2024

Flamingos on show at Lake Elmenteita

Posted on by John Mwacharo

By Aloise Garvey

The Great Rift Valley is a fantastic place with many habitats like wetlands, woodlands, shrublands, and lakes. The Rift Valley Lakes, stretching from Ethiopia to Malawi, are especially famous for their great concentrations of birds. In Kenya, there are eight Rift Valley lakes, both salty and freshwater, and they are home to many animals.

Lake Elmenteita, for example, is a shallow alkaline lake about 120 kilometres northwest of Nairobi and is fed by rivers, streams, runoffs, and a hot spring. It is interesting because even though water flows in, there’s no way out, so the lake gets salty and full of minerals. This makes it perfect for a cyanobacterium formerly known as the blue-green alga Spirulina, which is the main food for Lesser Flamingos. Over at the nearby and famous Lake Nakuru, the water has risen and become less alkaline and the flamingo population has declined, so Lake Elmenteita has become a hotspot for these pink birds.

This year, there was a sudden influx of Lesser Flamingos at Lake Elmenteita in June, and they have shown signs of breeding, by their vivid plumage and by practicing building nests. In early July 2024, the flamingos began building mud nests along the shores and on islands within the lake. There are potential threats to the nesting flamingos, including predators like hyenas and other carnivores and scavengers like Marabou Storks and Pied Crows. Additionally, many tourists visiting the lake can disturb the nesting birds. Protecting the nesting flamingos is essential because they are sensitive to environmental changes.

But it’s not just flamingos; Lake Elmenteita is also home to many Great White Pelicans. When the water levels go down, the lake’s ‘islands’ pop up, and the pelicans love using them as safe spots to build nests. Because of all the incredible species that rely on Lake Elmenteita, it is a critical area for biodiversity, a Key Biodiversity Area and a World Heritage Site.

KBAs in Focus – Taita Hills Forests

Posted on by John Mwacharo

Located in southeastern Kenya within Taita Taveta County, the Taita Hills forests constitute a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA). Perched high on a series of ancient hills rising above the dryland plain, the Taita Hills forest fragments are like forest islands. These isolated forest fragments are known for their highest levels of endemism globally and form the northern part of the Eastern Arc Mountains. The forests include Ngangao, Iyale, Susu, Mbololo and Fururu, among others, managed by the Kenya Forest Service, while Chawia and Vuria are under the management of the county government of Taita Taveta.

The KBA provides crucial habitat for numerous endemic, endangered, and critically endangered species. Some species are found exclusively within this area, making it an Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) site. Notable species include the Taita Apalis, Taita Hills warty frog, Taita Thrush, Taita Hills purple-glossed snake, Taita Hills caecilian and Taita dwarf shrew.

Other globally threatened species reflecting the KBA’s critical conservation importance include the Taita White-eye, the endangered limbless Sagalla caecilian (which lives in the soil and leaf litter of the forest), the vulnerable small nocturnal primate known as the Taita Mountain dwarf galago (bushbaby), and the Taita blade-horned chameleon, among many others documented or yet to be discovered.

Despite the indisputable uniqueness of the KBA, it faces serious threats. These include rapid forest fires, mainly intentionally caused by community members clearing land for agriculture or due to the myth that forest fires lead to assured rainfall. The intensification of land use around the forest patches, driven by rapid population growth, has increased encroachment on the forests for agricultural production. Other threats include forest fragmentation, forest grazing, and climate change impacts. Additionally, the forests are threatened by an invasive species of dodder plant (Cuscuta sp.), a parasitic vine that grows rapidly, entwining and parasitising host plants, potentially threatening the survival of the forests and their biodiversity.

Conservation efforts that focus on preserving and restoring these diverse forest fragments are essential for ensuring the survival of the unique biodiversity they harbour. Concerted efforts by the national government, county government of Taita Taveta, non-governmental organisations, and local community members are evident. Taita Taveta County was the first to sign an agreement with the national government regarding the devolvement of forestry in 2013/14. The county has been at the forefront of developing forest management plans for Chawia and Vuria forest fragments and is actively formulating the forest and landscape restoration implementation plan (FOLAREP). The community, through a local conservation group known as the Dawida Biodiversity Conservation Group (DABICO), in partnership with Nature Kenya, is sensitising the community about preventing forest fires, discouraging the use of the dodder plant for beautification purposes, and participating in other initiatives such as ‘adopt-a-forest’ to enhance restoration of degraded forest landscapes within the Key Biodiversity Area (KBA).