Tag: community engagement

By Richard Kipngeno

July’s Sunday Birdwatch destination – Gatamaiyu Forest – caught the attention of many of our readers. This was a new site since the resumption of our bird walks after the Covid pandemic.  As we approached Limuru junction on July 16, heavy fog engulfed the road. One could hardly see what lay a few meters ahead!

We were met by Ann Njeri Githua, a member of Kijabe Environment Volunteers (KENVO) – our Site Support Group (SSG) for Kikuyu Escarpment Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) and our host for the bird walk. Elizabeth Njeri, the chairperson of Lake Elmenteita Community-based Organization (LECBO) – our SSG for the Lake Elmenteita KBA – was also in our midst, as well as the Nature Kenya Chairman, Rupert Watson.

With gloomy weather and high canopies in the forest, it was difficult to get a good view of birds. Songs and calls came in handy in identifying bird species. Hunter’s Cisticolas were the first to make it into our bird list. Eastern Double-collared Sunbirds were all over flowering trees. Yellow-whiskered and Cabanis’s Greenbuls chirruped from the forest. Further into the forest, a White-starred Robin stared at us. A Hartlaub’s Turaco could be heard calling from the valley. Brown-chested Alethe perched silently on the climbers just above the ground. Our path was littered with Safari ants and occasionally you would hear “watch out” warnings from the ones in front.

The skies eventually cleared, letting warm sun rays peek into the forest. Insects were flying all over, triggering some bird activity. African Paradise Flycatchers, Chinspot Batis, White-bellied Tits, Chestnut-throated Apalis, and Brown Woodland-Warblers all seem to be in a feeding frenzy. Calls from a Crowned Hornbill could be heard coming from tree tops. An African Goshawk was comfortably perched on a dead tree.

We made our way down to the Thaba waterfall, tucked in the middle of nowhere. Down the stream, we saw Mountain Wagtails, African Black Ducks and Black Crakes. A Black-tailed (Mountain) Oriole, White-tailed Crested-Flycatcher and Mountain Grey Woodpecker were spotted as we exited the forest. What a great way to spend the Sunday outdoors connecting with nature!

By Francis Kagema

Arabuko-Sokoke Forest in Kilifi County is a miracle of resilience. Despite being surrounded by over 135,000 resource-needy local people, the 420km² coastal lowland forest ecosystem has survived, remaining more or less unchanged over the years.

A cost-benefit assessment conducted in 2007 concluded that from a community perspective, Arabuko-Sokoke Forest only offers ‘marginal’ benefits.  The lack of a valuation system for ecosystem services and their contribution to the community can explain the marginal value capture in the forest cost-benefit matrix. At the national level, the GDP ignores most of the value and benefits ecosystem services contribute to our well-being. It is not surprising that the same applies to Arabuko-Sokoke Forest’s case. By breaking down one item at a time, this postulation becomes clear.

For instance, butterfly farming income was valued at Ksh 19 million in 2019, while beekeeping stood at Ksh 1.6 million. The two enterprises have proper records though most of the honey was sold through undocumented channels. Other monetized benefits summed up contributed over Ksh 18 million during the same period.

Hundreds of community members enter the forest every day for one reason or another. Many of these visits are illegal and detrimental to the forest. Non-timber products sought from the forest include breeding stock for butterfly farming, edible mushrooms, herbal medicines and wild fruits. Harvesting of timber forest products like firewood, timber and poles in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest is illegal. However, the majority of households adjacent to the forest use fuelwood for their cooking needs, and about 70 per cent of this fuelwood comes from Arabuko-Sokoke Forest and Mida Creek. Fuelwood collected from the forest annually is estimated to be worth over Ksh 383 million. Data on poles harvested and charcoal produced from the forest is missing. A conservative value of Ksh 10 million can be appropriated to these two products obtained illegally.

All these streams together sum up to Ksh. 422 million! This value distributed across a population of 135,557 living within 5km from the forest edge gives Ksh. 3,116 per capita – 3.8 per cent of Kilifi County’s GDP per capita. Comparing this value with the gross landscape produce of adjacent communities living up to 5km away from the forest edge, Arabuko-Sokoke Forest accounts for about 4 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and possibly 10 per cent of all income.  Several other items, however, remain unaccounted for in this calculation: ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, water storage, soil protection, climate regulation, and maintenance of a gene pool for the future.

What does all this mean? Arabuko- Sokoke Forest contributes significant regulating ecosystem services like carbon sequestration and climate regulation,  as well as provisioning ecosystem services such as medicines and food, which if valued and monetized appropriately and fairly, have substantial input to the lives of the people and their livelihoods. All this presents a strong case for conservation of the forest and its biodiversity.

By Joshua Sese

Kaya forests are sacred sites revered and cherished by the Mijikenda community living on the Kenyan Coast. Kaya forests served as important social and spiritual centres for the community, where they conducted rituals, ceremonies, and communal gatherings, while also using them as burial grounds for esteemed ancestors. One such site is the Kaya Gandini Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) in Kasemeni ward, Kinango Sub County, in the vast Kwale County. The KBA is of great cultural and historical significance to the Duruma ethnic group of the Mijikenda community.

Kaya Gandini is a designated Important Bird Area (IBA) and a national monument listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It hosts organisms of conservation concern, such as the endangered Sokoke Pipit, the vulnerable Spotted Ground Thrush and the near-threatened and CITES-listed Fischer’s Turaco, among others. The habitat is characterized by semi-arid conditions with mixed lowland vegetation of woodland, forest and scrub vegetation on sandy, loam to clay soils.

Despite its biodiversity and cultural importance, Kaya Gandini faces threats to its existence. These include overexploitation through logging, poor land use practices, encroachment, and climate change-induced adversities such as prolonged severe droughts. These threats contribute to biodiversity loss, forest habitat degradation and food insecurity. Further, there is a significant decline in respect for conventional Kaya management systems and practices and a lack of awareness regarding the significance and values of Kaya forests. Lack of knowledge about cultural and traditional practices, especially among young people, is alarming. Many perceive these practices as outdated, increasing the Kaya’s vulnerability to biodiversity loss, habitat destruction and cultural erosion.

In efforts to address the challenges, in the year 2021-2022, Nature Kenya implemented a project funded by GEF Small Grants Program (SGP), aimed at enhancing the capacity of grantees to effectively deliver projects towards the conservation of the Mijikenda Kaya Forest landscapes. Fifty-two individuals from 16 organizations based in Kilifi and Kwale counties were trained. The 52 trainees then trained 95 individuals from 10 additional SGP grantees. Among those trained were community members from the Kaya Gandini KBA.

To further the conservation actions, a biodiversity survey in the neighbouring Kaya Mtswakara was recommended. This will support the delineating the Kaya as a new KBA, or extending the current KBA boundary to include the two Kaya forests as one KBA. Nature Kenya looks forward to directly engaging the local community in the area to enhance their capacity to continue safeguarding this invaluable relict as its custodians.

Ruma National Park lies in Lambwe River Valley between the Kanyamwa Escarpment and the Gwasi Hills, 10 km east of Lake Victoria in Homa Bay County. The park, 120 square kilometers in area, is a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA). It is characterized by a mosaic of landscapes, ranging from riverine woodland and rolling savannah to magnificent escarpments and towering cliffs offering stunning views of Lake Victoria and the surrounding landscape.

Ruma’s pristine nature makes it a suitable home for many animal species. It is the last remaining sanctuary for the nationally endangered Roan antelope (Hippotragus equinus). The park is a popular bird-watching destination with more than 400 bird species. It is the only protected area in Kenya where Blue Swallow (Hirundo atrocaerulea), a globally vulnerable and scarce intra-African migrant, is regularly recorded.

Despite its ecological significance, Ruma National Park faces several threats. These include habitat loss and degradation due to the clearance of forests and grasslands adjacent to the park for agriculture, settlements, and infrastructural development. Other include human-wildlife conflict, forest fires, and poaching, which is a major concern, particularly for large mammals such as the Roan antelope. Climate change also affects the KBA in various ways, including unpredictable rainfall and other weather patterns. Ruma National Park is reportedly a breeding ground for tsetse flies, increasing the prevalence of the Trypanosoma parasites that cause sleeping sickness in cattle and humans.

Efforts are being made to address these threats to ensure the long-term survival of Ruma National Park, currently under the management of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). In 2020 KWS launched the Roan Antelope Species Recovery Plan to address the steady decline in the species’ population. An electric fence has been installed around the park to prevent wildlife from straying outside, protect its vegetation from degradation caused by domestic animals and help prevent human-wildlife conflicts. Other initiatives to conserve the KBA include the involvement of local communities in conservation and ecotourism activities, habitat restoration, and education and awareness campaigns. Ruma Site Support Group (SSG) is the local community organization undertaking conservation initiatives at the park. Comprising of individuals living adjacent to the park, the SSG plays a critical role in ensuring its well-being.

The SSG conducts biodiversity monitoring, environmental education and awareness creation, and habitat restoration, among other conservation activities. Ruma SSG is also promoting the uptake of nature-based community livelihood options such as beekeeping and the establishment of fruit tree nurseries. To help boost community resilience to climate change, the Ruma SSG is championing for climate-smart agriculture and agroforestry. The SSG’s broad membership base has enabled them to advocate for the restoration of heavily degraded neighbouring habitats like Gwasi Hills and Lambwe forest, which are important water catchment areas.