Author: John Mwacharo

 In 2022, Nature Kenya rolled out its Strategic Plan for the next decade. The 2022 – 2032 Strategic Plan refocuses Nature Kenya’s conservation efforts under five pillars: Save Species & Sites, Foster Sustainability, Build Support, Act on Science and Consolidate Structures. The implementation of the new strategic plan will continue in 2023. 

Work on saving species and conserving their habitats at various sites continues countrywide. Vulture conservation activities in the Maasai Mara, Mosiro, Amboseli and Kwenia landscapes are ongoing. Nature Kenya will engage 64 community volunteers to monitor vulture populations, look out for wildlife poisoning incidents and create awareness at these sites. Our site support groups (SSGs) at 26 Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) will continue to play a critical role in biodiversity monitoring and habitat restoration. 

The annual waterbird counts will take place in January-February 2023 at the Great Rift Valley lakes and other wetlands within the country, including Nairobi and its environs. 

On March 31, we will hold our Lungs for Kenya charity golf tournament at the Karen Country Club. This year’s tournament seeks to raise funds to catalyze the restoration of degraded forest landscapes in Mt. Kenya and the Aberdares. We encourage members to support this tournament by sponsoring, donating auction or raffle items or registering to play. 

Engagement with partners to scale-up conservation actions continue. We will maintain existing partnerships with corporates and pursue new ones to further our work to restore degraded landscapes and empower local communities. 

In 2023, Nature Kenya will continue to address drivers of biodiversity loss through policy reform, advocacy, promoting mainstreaming of biodiversity in economic decision-making processes and promoting nature-based solutions and models. Top on the agenda is blocking the controversial allocation of Yala Swamp for sugarcane growing by the National Land Commission (NLC). Working with like-minded organizations, we will use all channels available to push for the sustainable use of Yala Swamp resources to benefit local communities and biodiversity. 

Our advocacy team will keep tabs on calls for comments for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports, more so for development projects near ecologically sensitive areas. We kindly request members to submit comments whenever asked to do so. 

Our weekly bird walks in Nairobi and Malindi will continue in 2023. Other membership engagement activities, such as monthly talks and Ask Our Nature Expert Q&A sessions, are also lined up for the year. Two Global Big Days will be held on May 13 and October 14. On these days, bird watchers worldwide will go out to enjoy birds and submit their observations through the eBird mobile app. We urge members to mark these days on their calendars and plan to participate in these engaging citizen-science events. 

The road ahead is tough, and we look forward to your continued support to achieve the desired conservation impacts. Together, we can make our world better for us and future generations. 

Happy 2023! 

In November 2022, the National Land Commission (NLC) made a determination in favour of allocating 6,763.74 Ha of Yala Swamp to Lake Agro Kenya Limited. This, together with land originally held by the collapsed Dominion Farm, will lead to over 50% of Yala Swamp allocated for destruction through planting sugar cane. This is contrary to the wishes of the people of Yala. This allocation will compromise the ability of Yala Swamp to provide fish for food, water for food crops, filtration of water before entering Lake Victoria, carbon sequestration by the papyrus, flood regulation, tourism and biodiversity. It also threatens the livelihoods of over 250,000 people who depend on Yala Swamp, including papyrus harvesting and basketry, fishing, small-scale irrigation and tour guiding. The allocation is a gross violation of the land rights of Yala’s indigenous communities.

Nature Kenya, local communities and other human rights and conservation stakeholders objected to the allocation. Through their representatives, the communities made clear submissions to the National Land Commission detailing their reasons for rejection. Other stakeholders, including government agencies – Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) – also objected.

The National Land Commission seems to be stage-managing the consultation process in order to promote sugarcane, and thus condemning Yala Swamp and the invaluable ecosystem services that the Yala community and national and global stakeholders depend on. In November, Nature Kenya was able to review a report detailing how the NLC plans to ignore the views of the stakeholders and instead subvert their rights and allocate the land to Lake Agro Kenya Limited. Nature Kenya, representing the voiceless unique fish and other biodiversity, the poor Yala communities and the national and global community, will continue to lobby the Government of Kenya to reverse NLC’s decision and instead foster the implementation of the Yala Land Use plan. We count on the power of many. Reach out to your leaders and let them know that Yala Swamp matters to all of us!

Birdwatchers in Kenya joined the rest of the world in participating in the October Big Day on October 8. On this day, birders from around the world go out to enjoy birds and submit their observations through the eBird mobile app. The day is also celebrated as the World Migratory Bird Day.

Fifteen Site Support Groups (SSGs) affiliated to Nature Kenya took part in the event in Maasai Mara, South Nandi Forest, Lake Elmenteita, Tana River Delta, Mida Creek, Dakatcha Woodland, Dunga Swamp, Mumoni Hill Forest, Mutitu Hill Forest, Taita Hills, Kikuyu Escarpment, Mt. Kenya, Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, Sabaki Estuary and Kinangop Grasslands Key Biodiversity Areas.

Kenya was ranked 10th in the world with 703 species and 236 checklists completed. Top Kenyan eBirder was Albert Baya from Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Guides Association and also a member of Nature Kenya Site Support Group for Arabuko-Sokoke Forest KBA, with 222 species. The country’s top hotspot was Lewa Wildlife Conservancy with 210 species.

The prevailing drought continues to pile pressure on ecologically sensitive habitats across Kenya. In Taita Hills, scarcity of fodder is driving residents into the fragile forest fragments in search of feed for their cattle. This latest trend, according to local community conservation volunteers, poses a threat to bird nesting sites in Chawia and Ngangao forests. The most sought alternative fodder plants are the Dracaena and wild bananas that naturally occur in the highland forest fragments.

“Our monitoring data indicate that seventy per cent of the Cabanis’s Greenbul’s nests in Chawia forest are on Dracaena plants. We fear that if the uncontrolled harvesting of these plants persists, the Cabanis’s Greenbul’s breeding will be affected,’’ says John Maganga, a member of the monitoring team from the Dawida Biodiversity Conservation (DaBiCo) Community-based Organization. DaBiCo is the Site Support Group (SSG) for the Taita Hills forests Key Biodiversity Area (KBA).

The Cabanis’s Greenbul is a dull-coloured mid-sized greenbul with a long bill and tail. It is found in the Taita Hills forest fragments, occurring in thick undergrowth and mid-story sections of the forests, usually in small groups.

In August and September, the SSG carried out common bird and detailed monitoring within the KBA. It is during these monitoring activities that SSG members noticed the illegal harvesting of forest plants for fodder amid the biting drought. Chawia and Ngangao forests recorded the highest cases of the practice.

To dissuade community members from engaging in destructive forest activities, the SSG plans to hold public sensitization meetings in the affected areas. The SSG also intends to increase forest surveillance at the sites.

Another notable observation made during the monitoring exercises include the unusual increase in the sighting of some birds. “The sighting frequency of species such as the Yellow-bellied Greenbul and Grey-headed Bush-shrike was abnormally high in the forest fragments compared to previous monitoring,” says Nathaniel Mkombola, another member of the SSG monitoring team.

DaBiCo conducts common bird monitoring twice annually, in February (when there are migrant birds) and August. Information about changes in bird population levels across various habitats, within and outside the KBA, is obtained during this monitoring. Detailed monitoring, on the other hand, focuses on establishing the abundance of the target species – Taita Apalis and Taita Thrush – and changes in their habitat.

Fifteen volunteers from DaBiCo participated in the August-September monitoring exercises, which also engaged pupils from Iyale Primary School. A total of 28 species were recorded within the forest landscapes. These included the threatened Taita Apalis and Taita Thrush, only found in Taita Hills forest remnants, and the magnificent Crowned Eagle. In the forest-adjacent agricultural areas, 49 bird species were recorded, including the Crowned Eagle and Usambara Double-collared Sunbird.

The Taita Hills comprise two main mountain massifs, Mbololo and Dawida, rising from the dryland below. The forests that remain on the hilltops are extensively fragmented. Taita Hills forests are part of the Eastern Arc mountains, one of 34 global biodiversity hotspots, and are one of Kenya’s KBAs. Over the years, Taita Hills forests have been undergoing massive degradation. More than ninety per cent of the indigenous forests have been cleared for agriculture and forest plantations, putting at risk the survival of the Taita endemics – birds, amphibians and insects found only in the Taita Hills.

Nature Kenya in partnership with DOF – the BirdLife Partner in Denmark – through funding from the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) through CISU (Civil Society in Development), has been running the ‘People Partner with Nature’ program in the Taita Hills. The program seeks to support communities living adjacent to the Taita Hills forests to engage in income-generating activities, such as butterfly farming, beekeeping, eco-tourism, and climate-smart agriculture, among others, that reduce pressure on the environment. This program is also running in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest and Dakatcha Woodland in Kilifi county. The long-term objective of the program is to reduce the destruction of forested KBAs and contribute to the realization of the best participatory forest management practices for the benefit of all.