Nature Blog

Naretunoi Conservancy

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In October Nature Kenya’s Sunday Birdwatch spent a delightful day at The Wildlife Foundation on Naretunoi Conservancy – across the Mbagathi River from Hippo Pools in Nairobi National Park. We drove in from Kitengela town, watched birds in the acacia woodland, and ate our picnic in the cool of The Wildlife Foundation centre on the site of the former School for Field Studies.

Naretnoi Conservancy is a group of households who may be farming or herding livestock, but commit to allow mammals to migrate in and out of the National Park. The Wildlife Foundation looks forward to establishing joint studies with museum scientists or Nature Kenya members. In particular, they would like to record the traditional Maasai names of birds. If you are interested, please contact Jacob Tukai <miliatukai@gmail.com>

The bird we ringed is back from North

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A single bird can “make the day” for ringers at the ringing exercise at the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) Nairobi. This might be through re-trapping an exceptionally old bird or having an unusual visitor or even having a migratory bird using the same site over years. Last month the ringing group welcomed back a Common Nightingale which was ringed at the National Museums on March 2018 and was re-caught on 11th November at the same ringing location.

Common Nightingale is an insectivorous species that breeds in forest and scrub in Europe and in Asia as far as north-west China. Assuming this bird didn’t go further south and that it went to breed at its nearest breeding grounds in Turkey, moving in a straight line through the well-known migratory route for passerine birds through Egypt, then it would have travelled a journey of at least 4500 kilometers one way and 4500 km back to Nairobi.

Bird ringing entails tagging of birds using individually numbered metal or plastic ring to the leg. The exercise is done every Tuesday at the museum ground by the Nairobi Ringing Group under the leadership of the Ornithology Section staff through the support of Nature Kenya. The birds are caught using specialized nets called mist nets, measured, ringed and released to continue their life, hoping they will be caught again.

Birds migrate to escape harsh winters in the North, and go back to their breeding grounds in summer. It’s phenomenal for tiny birds like a Common Nightingale to travel thousands of kilometers and find its way back into the same nets months later. As the threats to birds including loss of habitat, climate change, poisoning and illegal trapping increases, we hope our Common Nightingale will be able to make more journeys back and forth. We wish the Nightingale an enjoyable stay here at the tropics.

Informed communities to protect vultures and wildlife

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Vultures and other scavenging birds play a critical role in maintaining healthy ecosystems. Their decline can have serious unforeseen effects on other species and the many benefits provided by nature. The main cause of the drop in African vulture populations is poisoning. When predators kill livestock, herders may take revenge by lacing the carcass with poison. Vultures are particularly sensitive, and may die in large numbers after feeding on a poisoned carcass.

While it is difficult to prevent wildlife poisoning, rapid response and immediate action can significantly reduce resultant wildlife deaths and environmental contamination.

In Maasai Mara ecosystem, Nature Kenya, the Peregrine Fund, BirdLife International and the Kenya Bird of Prey Trust, under the ‘Preventing Poisoning to Save Africa’s Vultures’ project, have been testing various approaches aimed at reducing poisoning related wildlife deaths. One such approach is sensitizing the community about the negative impacts of wildlife poisoning. Community meetings at villages and manyattas within the Greater Mara ecosystem have been taking place to raise awareness on the plight of vultures and the impacts of illegal wildlife poisoning. The meetings seek to ensure that the public is aware of the value of vultures, threats facing them and the need for their conservation.

Most wildlife poisoning incidences are retaliatory in nature. The poisoning mainly occurs after pastoralists lose their cattle to predator attacks. The pastoralists then lace cattle carcasses with poisonous substances such as pesticides. The poison not only ends up killing the targeted predator but also scavenging animals such as hyenas and vultures. A single poisoned cow carcass can end up killing 150 vultures! It is therefore extremely important for communities to understand the dangers posed by wildlife poisoning.

In October, 10 community meetings were conducted within Maji Moto and Olkinyei areas which border Olarro and Olkinyei conservancies respectively. Continued interaction with the communities has helped to identify conflict prone areas, leading to directing more efforts to such areas. During such interactions, community members are engaged and the effects of poisoning are discussed. Focus is directed to the poisoning cycle where a single poisoned carcass may affect many other species within an ecosystem, including humans. Measures to mitigate human-wildlife conflict are also discussed. The emphasis here is the importance of maintaining a healthy ecosystem in which all species can thrive.

Actions that have been agreed upon by the communities in these meetings include stopping the baiting of livestock carcasses with poison. Instead, community members agreed to report predator invasions to village elders to help mobilize local support for affected households, and to take such cases to the relevant authorities.

So far 20 large villages and 16 large manyattas have been reached out to, in addition to 15 market outreaches across Maasai Mara, reaching up to 30,000 community members.

Other initiatives undertaken to reduce wildlife poisoning include training of rangers from the Maasai Mara National Reserve on how to respond to poisoning incidents. Sixteen rangers have been trained. Another 45 rangers from 15 community conservancies have also undergone the training.

One notable impact of the anti-poisoning campaign is a recorded increase of Critically Endangered White-backed Vultures’ nests in Maasai Mara.

‘Preventing Poisoning to Save Africa’s Vultures’ is financed by Band Foundation. This initiative in Kenya is also supported as part of a program to tackle vulture poisoning running jointly across Kenya, Botswana and Zimbabwe, funded by Fondation Segré.

Wind energy projects in Kenya to factor in biodiversity needs

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Wind power is considered to be a clean, low cost and sustainable source of energy. It is also one of the fastest growing electricity sources around the globe. Kenya’s potential for wind generation is amongst the highest in Africa, with the 310 megawatt Lake Turkana Wind Power project set to become the largest wind farm in Africa once operational.

Compared to fossil fuels, wind power is relatively more environmentally friendly. However, wind turbines and their associated infrastructure, notably power lines and towers, pose a threat to birds and bats. Spinning blades of wind turbines are potentially dangerous to migrating birds, placing them at risk of colliding with the turbines. The location of wind farms is therefore a serious consideration when it comes to wind power. Risks greatly increase when wind turbines are located in or near major migratory routes, stopover sites or key breeding or foraging areas for birds and bats.

A recent analysis placed Kenya among countries with the highest concentrations of bird species vulnerable to wind power impacts. While bird ‘sensitivity maps’ have been produced for countries along the Rift Valley flyway to the north, no comprehensive assessment has been carried out in Kenya. Basically, wind power developers in Kenya have been operating in the dark in respect to biodiversity impacts owing to the lack of reliable information. This information gap for biodiversity and wind power has presented a significant obstacle to realizing wind energy potential in Kenya.

To address this, the Ministry of Energy is carrying out a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) for wind power and biodiversity in Kenya. The national SEA for wind and biodiversity is envisaged as a tool for decision making by government and private sector on placement of wind farms, with special consideration on migratory soaring birds, saving time and money. Information provided by the SEA will help to inform decisions on the safe siting of new wind power developments, ensuring that negative impacts on important migration routes, stopover sites or breeding areas are minimized.

An expert technical consortium (dubbed the Kenya Bird Conservation Consortium) comprising of Nature Kenya, The Peregrine Fund Kenya and BirdLife International, working in partnership with The Biodiversity Consultancy (TBC), is conducting the SEA. The process is supported by USAID through its program implemented by Tetra Tech. Tetra Tech has contracted The Biodiversity Consultancy (TBC) to lead the SEA process. The Kenya Bird Conservation Consortium, TBC, Tetra Tech and USAID/Power Africa effectively lobbied the Ministry of Energy to own the national wind power SEA process.

As part of the process, the Ministry of Energy convened a meeting in August to deliberate on the SEA. The meeting sought to create awareness on the SEA among energy and conservation stakeholders to promote understanding, consensus building and buy in. It also sought to get the sector players’ input on the proposed SEA.

Key outcomes of the meeting included:

  • The national wind power SEA should not be construed as a barrier to projects. Its primary goal is not to designate no-go areas, but to highlight critical biodiversity-related issues that wind power developers in Kenya should bear in mind to avoid adverse impacts and reduce risks to their projects and investments.
  • The SEA will follow procedures that are laid out in national legislation. To effect this, a meeting will be held among key stakeholders, including the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and the Ministry of Energy for further discussion.
  • The SEA process shall strive to be as inclusive as possible including the involvement of as many stakeholders as possible but with considerations of time, financial and other resources.

Site-specific actions will be addressed during environmental impact assessments for specific projects.

Participants in the meeting were drawn from the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, USAID/Power Africa, the Energy Regulatory Commission, the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), NEMA, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), the Council of Governors, Lake Turkana Wind Power, Kenya Power Institute of Energy and Research, the World Bank, The Biodiversity Consultancy, BirdLife International and Nature Kenya, among others.

Consultations between the Kenya Bird Conservation Consortium and wind farm developers started in early 2017. Over time, wind power project proponents demonstrated to the Kenya Bird Conservation Consortium that a wind farm could achieve a net gain for populations of the critically endangered vultures. This was based on in-depth analysis and a business case.

In addition, the project proponents effectively influenced USAID, through their Power Africa Transactions and Reforms Program (PATRP), to support a national strategic environmental assessment (SEA) for wind power in Kenya.

 

Nature Champions: Mt. Kenya Biodiversity Conservation Group (Mt. Kebio)

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Important Bird Areas (IBAs) are now part of a new, broader definition of sites critically important for the conservation of biodiversity: Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs). All 67 IBAs in Kenya qualify as KBAs. Local environmental groups play a key role in protecting Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) when they become a site support group (SSG).

Mt. Kenya Biodiversity Conservation Group (Mt. Kebio) is the Mt. Kenya forest KBA site support group. Formed in 1999, Mt. Kebio was registered by the Department of Social Services as a community based organization (CBO) in 2004. The need to conserve the environment from which group members earned a living from was the main force behind its registration, with deforestation, solid waste pollution, poaching and charcoal burning as some of the group’s immediate concerns. Most Mt. Kebio members are registered mountain guides, porters and cooks operating within Mt. Kenya. These members earn a living from the mountain, by providing their services to visitors and mountaineers.

The group has been engaged in a number of activities geared towards fulfilling its conservation agenda, including tree planting, environmental awareness, ecotourism and garbage collection. Mt. Kebio organizes bird watching trips every last Saturday of the month, drawing local and international bird enthusiasts. The group holds annual clean ups exercises in towns in the Mt. Kenya area, and distributes environmental reading material provided by Nature Kenya to the local people.

Mt. Kebio manages the Mt. Kenya eco-resource centre located at Naro Moru. The centre has a library, a mini museum, conference facilities, binoculars and guidebooks, and camping ground for ecotourism.

Visting Mt. Kenya? Contact Mt. Kebio at mtkebio@yahoo.com

or Martin Njogu martinnjogu87@gmail.com

Mobile: 0724 690121