By Duncan Mboyah
Climate change, sub-division of land and ongoing infrastructure development threaten Kenya’s biodiversity, a 2024 study conducted by Nature Kenya reveals.
The study, ‘The State of Kenya’s Key Biodiversity Areas’ undertaken from 2023 looked into 68 of the country’s biodiversity hotspots.
Paul Gacheru, sites and species expert at Nature Kenya said that the majority of key biodiversity areas in Kenya are under threat due to pressures from drought, infrastructure, land use changes and deforestation.
“There is a growing trend of degazetting critical biodiversity hotspots, poor management plans of forests and lack of enforcement of policies to protect these sites,” he said during the launch of the report in Kenya’s capital of Nairobi.
The report shows that even though the status of the majority of these sites have remained stable since 2004, pressure has continued to mount while response has been on the decline.
Of the 56 sites assessed, in 2023 only three – Lake Bogoria National Reserve, Mau Forest Complex and Mrima Hill Forest, were ranked as ‘favourable’, a decline from 2022 where five sites ranked under a similar category.
“This is a decline from five in 2022. Of the three sites, only Lake Bogoria National Reserve retained the favourable score. Forty-seven sites had ‘unfavourable’ state score while six (6) had ‘very unfavourable’ state score,” the report notes.
“Game snaring in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, Dakatcha Woodland, and Tsavo East National Park in the coastal region is rampant and causing a big threat to species,” it adds.
The report also raises concern with continued water pollution trends in sites such as Lakes Nakuru and Naivasha.
Salt manufacturing factories have also been flagged in the report as part of the cause of degradation of many key biodiversity areas along the coast.
It states that some of the factories dispose of highly concentrated waste, which ends up affecting mangrove forests by killing trees due to an increase in water salinity.
It also notes the increase of unregulated livestock numbers, increasing pressure on pasture and competition with wildlife, in Amboseli, Masai Mara, and Samburu-Laikipia landscapes being among the most affected.
Additionally, the report found that land use changes- conversion of grasslands to croplands -in Kinangop highland grassland in central Kenya are resulting in a loss of habitat for an endangered bird known as Sharpe’s Longclaw, which is endemic in Kenya.
The report also documents collision and electrocution of birds by energy infrastructure such as power lines and wind turbines, as of concern.
The report notes that Lake Ol’ Bolossat has experienced poaching of grey-crowned crane chicks and eggs.
The Nature Kenya report says that pressure has continued to mount in the country’s biodiversity sites since 2004, with a steady increase documented since 2015.
The report names Kianyaga Valleys, Lake Naivasha, Lake Nakuru National Park, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Mukurweini Valleys and Tana River Delta as sites that are facing immense threats.
The report recommends the restoration of forests and landscapes as well as the integration of biodiversity considerations across all sectors.
Kenya accounts for 109 key biodiversity area sites of different taxa, including 68 sites identified as bird bases.
