Author: John Mwacharo

By Brian Otiego

Every year, the first Saturday of September marks International Vulture Awareness Day (IVAD), a global event celebrating vultures and highlighting their vital role as nature’s clean-up crew. This year, Nature Kenya observed IVAD, focusing on engaging school children in vulture conservation, specifically in the Maasai Mara, Amboseli and Kwenia landscapes.

Vultures play a crucial role in maintaining healthy ecosystems by scavenging on carcasses, thereby preventing the spread of diseases. Despite their importance, vulture populations across Kenya face significant threats, particularly from wildlife poisoning. Vultures are often unintended victims when they consume poisoned carcasses intended to target predators like hyenas and lions, resulting in their mass deaths. Disturbingly, children have been implicated in some cases of wildlife poisoning, as they may resort to using common household chemicals like dry cell battery components to poison carcasses after livestock losses.

Ongoing education programs have been critical in raising awareness about the dangers of poisoning wildlife, particularly vultures. This year, Nature Kenya took the lead in ensuring that children in key landscapes like Amboseli, Kwenia, and Mosiro in Kajiado County and Maasai Mara in Narok County participated in the anti-wildlife poisoning campaign. To mark IVAD, Nature Kenya held school outreach activities at Oldorko Primary School, Sterling Academy and Olorika Comprehensive School, where children drew and coloured vulture-themed artwork. They also watched an educative vulture video and participated in interactive discussions. The goal was to help them understand the ecological significance of vultures and how their conservation is critical to maintaining balanced ecosystems. Through these engaging activities, over 1,000 children learned more about vultures and how they prevent the spread of diseases by efficiently clearing dead animals from the landscape.

These outreach events fostered knowledge and sparked a sense of responsibility and appreciation for vultures among the younger generation. By introducing children to the world of conservation in such an engaging and imaginative way, Nature Kenya aims to mentor a future generation of conservationists who understand the value of vultures in our ecosystems and are inspired to protect them.

In Nairobi, a significant step forward for vulture conservation was made to commemorate IVAD. Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), in partnership with Nature Kenya and other conservation organisations, launched the “Vulture Multi-species Action Plan for Kenya (2024-2034)” a day before the IVAD celebrations. The action plan aims to address the alarming decline of Kenya’s vulture populations – down by over 70% in recent decades – due to poisoning, collision with energy infrastructure, electrocution and habitat loss.

The multi-species action plan outlines targeted measures to protect and restore populations of critically endangered species like the White-backed Vulture, Rüppell’s Vulture, White-headed Vulture, and Hooded Vulture. The plan seeks to mitigate threats by working with communities, conservation groups, and stakeholders to promote sustainable practices that protect vultures and their habitats.

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).