By Joshua Sese
Located in Kwale County near the Kenya–Tanzania border, Mrima Hill is one of Kenya’s most important coastal forest Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs). The hill forms part of the Eastern African Coastal Forests biodiversity hotspot, a globally recognised region renowned for its remarkable variety of unique species.
Mrima Hill supports threatened bird species, including Fischer’s Turaco and Spotted Ground Thrush, both of which rely on healthy forest habitats. The site is also home to more than 270 plant species, and small mammals, reptiles, amphibians such as tiny toads, and beautiful butterflies, making it a vital refuge for biodiversity in Kenya’s increasingly fragmented coastal forests.
This natural treasure faces mounting pressure. Mrima Hill contains valuable deposits of rare earth elements and niobium – minerals essential to modern technologies and renewable energy systems. Exploration activities have already disturbed the habitat through excavation pits, vegetation clearance, and increased human activity in sensitive forest areas. Large-scale mining would accelerate forest degradation, habitat fragmentation, soil erosion, and water pollution, while also threatening the sacred Kaya sites of the local Digo community.
Beyond mining pressure, the hill faces illegal logging, charcoal burning, fuelwood collection, and agricultural encroachment, all of which continue to reduce forest cover. Climate change further stresses the fragile ecosystem through shifting rainfall patterns.
Despite these pressures, there is some hope. Mrima Hill is gazetted as a Forest Reserve, and Mrima Hill Kaya is gazetted as a National Monument. The Kenya Forest Service is working with the local Community Forest Association (CFA), Kaya elders, and conservation groups to protect the forest through patrols and community awareness programmes. These efforts include curbing illegal logging and charcoal burning, restoring habitat, planting indigenous trees, monitoring biodiversity, and advocating stricter environmental regulation of mining activities.
Protecting Mrima Hill means safeguarding not just rare species, but also the cultural heritage and ecological services that local communities depend on. The forest’s future rests on balancing mineral exploitation with the conservation of unique species and the needs of those who call this region home.