Kenya consists of varied regions from the coastline of the Indian Ocean, to savannah plains, tropical rainforests and high mountain ranges of elevations over 3,000m, with Mount Kenya at 5,199m held sacred by the local Kikuaya tribe.1 The Kenyan Highlands are one of the most successful agricultural regions within Africa, and also support abundant and varied wildlife. The Great Rift Valley straddles the length of the country, with each of its lakes supporting their own unique ecosystem. The country is divided into two almost equal parts by the Equator. The northern region is hot and receives comparatively little rain, and is home to nomadic tribes. In contrast the southern region is made up of three different climatic zones: the coast is humid, the highlands are relatively temperate, and the Lake Victoria region is tropical.2 This southern area encompasses the famous Masai Mara Reserve and its people, and supports all the large, iconic wildlife species of Africa.
Despite 99 percent of the population being African, there are at least 47 distinct ethnic groups that developed along linguistic lines, and while all of them are Kenyans, there are still ethnic conflicts.2 The official languages of Kenya are English and Kiswahili, a major East African trading language. The country achieved independence in 1963, but political turmoil, conflicts and struggles marred the country until early in the 21st century, and hindered its development, profitable tourist industry and had negative impacts on its wildlife. However, since 2006 tourism has been the country’s main earner, ahead of both horticulture and tea production. The country still continues to face many problems though, with an estimated 50% of Kenyans living below the poverty line1, and frequent droughts that threaten millions of lives.
Community- and privately-conserved areas have proved far more successful at conserving Kenya’s valuable wildlife populations than the country’s protected areas.3 However for much of the post-independence era, policy and legal statutes excluded local communities from natural resource management.4 Instead National Parks and Reserves have dominated the government’s conservation efforts and collectively cover 8% of Kenya’s surface area.5 Only in recent decades have the benefits of indigenous and community engagement in conservation in Kenya begun to be recognised.
These engagements vary significantly from the community-based conservation of particular species, such as medicinal plants through the indigenous management of forest ecosystems to a landscape preserved by multiple indigenous communities.6
Forests
Kenya’s forests are of significant environmental importance, containing 50% of the nation’s tree species, 40% of the larger mammals and 30% of the birds.7 The majority of these are situated within government-administered reserves, but some local communities continue to traditionally manage a small number of forests for a variety of economic, cultural and social reasons. The Loita and Purko Maasai control the 33,000ha Loita/Purko Naimina Enkiyio Forest for seasonal grazing, traditional ceremonies and for water catchement, whilst the Turkana pastoralists of northern Kenya have maintained the 10,000ha Loima Forest as a dry season grazing refuge.4 Since the 1980s the Turkana have also initiated a process of regeneration and management of patches of acacia woodland known as ‘Ekwar’, in order to provide seasonal grazing for their livestock.3 These indigenous and local communities are therefore intimately aware of the imperative of conserving these forest ecosystems in order to secure the sustainable provision of resources essential to their livelihoods.
Kayas
By contrast the spiritual beliefs and traditional ceremonies of the Mijikenda have underpinned their preservation of patches of rich coastal forests. These sacred groves, known as ‘Kayas’, are all that is left of the once extensive diverse Zanzibar-Inhambane Regional Mosaic.8 Roughly 70 Kayas have been identified in Kilifi, Kwale, Malindi and Mombasa Districts, though their historical origins are somewhat shrouded in mythical tales of migratory ancestors.4 Traditionally the most important part of the forest was a central clearing that could only be approached from specific paths. Access to the forest and its contents was regulated by customary governance and any infringement such as wandering freely in the forest, cutting trees or extracting other resources – activities that would disrupt the local vegetation and disturb the sacred sites – was met with hostility from the inhabitants of the Kaya.8 The fact that many of the sacred Kayas have withstood significant land use changes in the surrounding areas is testament to the strength of the Mijikenda spiritual beliefs.
Group Ranches
The most recent form of indigenous and community conserved area are Group Ranches. Since the mid 1990s Kenya’s state agencies, including the Kenya Wildlife Service, conservation organisations and tourism operators have begun to collaborate with local communities in order to set an estimated 270,000ha aside in community wildlife conservancies.4
Forole Mountain
The Galbo camel nomads of northern Kenya hold Forole – a mountain just north of the Kenyan-Ethiopian border – to be sacred, and regularly journey to the mountain to hold the jila galana ceremonies. Customary regulations protect the trees of the mountain and restrict access to the upper slopes to a select few during the Sacrifice to the Sacred Python. Both the Galbo and the Borana pastoralists of Ethiopia use Forole’s pastoral resources, such as permanent water and grazing areas.9 Although tensions inevitably emerge between the two groups, particularly during periods of resource scarcity, the Borana fully respect the sacredness of the mountain and the Galbo’s customary regulations.10
Despite the variety of ICCAs in Kenya there is limited scope within the current national legislation for collective land tenure and communal natural resource management. Instead almost 74% of Kenyan land is trust land which is managed by district councils on behalf of the district’s inhabitants. Although the Forest Act of 2006 was a step in the right direction towards local participation in natural resource management, the government nevertheless retains the authority to prescribe rights and tenure over these resources.
Lacking sufficient recognition many of Kenya’s ICCAs face significant external pressures from those eager to appropriate the land and exploit its valuable natural resources. This is particularly true of Kenya’s forests.4 Furthermore within these communities economic, social and cultural changes threaten the maintenance of the traditional values that underpin the preservation of Kenyan ICCAs.8,11 There is thus an urgent need to co-operate with Kenya’s indigenous peoples and local communities to legally recognise their management capacities and rights to ensure the conservation of Kenya’s rich biodiversity heritage.
1. World Fact Book (2010) Africa: Kenya. Central Intelligence Agency. Accessed 02/02/2010. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ke.html
2. Dixon-Box, S. (2002) About Kenya. Cambridge University Kenya Project. Accessed 02/02/2010. http://www.societies.cam.ac.uk/kenyap/kenya
3. Barrow, E., Clarke, J., Grundy, I., Jones, K.-R. and Tessema, Y. (2002) Analysis of Stakeholder Power and Responsibilities in Community Involvement in Forest Management in Eastern and Southern Africa, IUCN Eastern Africa Programme - Forest and Social Perspectives in Conservation No.9.
4. Blomley, R., Nelson, F., Martin, A. and Ngobo, M. (2007) Community Conserved Areas: A review of status and needs in selected countries of central and eastern Africa. Draft Report for Comments. IUCN. Web link
5. Western, D., Russell, S. and Cuthill, I. (2009) The Status of Wildlife in Protected Areas Compared to Non-Protected Areas of Kenya. PLoS One 4.7, 1-6.
6. Kariuki, P. (2000) Allachy project: Building capacity for community-based conservation of medicinal plants in Kenya. http://plantlife.org.uk/international/plantlife-med-plants-projects-allachy-kenya.htm
7. Karanja, F., Tessema, Y. and Barrow, E. (2002) Equity in the Loita/Purko Naimina Enkiyio Forest in Kenya: Securing Maasai Rights to and Responsibilities for the Forest, IUCN Eastern Africa Programme – Forest and Social Perspectives in Conservation No.11, vi. Web link
8. Githitho, A. N., (2003) ‘The Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forest of Coastal Kenya and Biodiversity Conservation’, in Cathy Lee, Thomas Schaaf and Samantha Wauchope (eds.), International Workshop on the Importance of Sacred Natural Sites for Biodiversity Conservation. Kunming and Xishuanbanna Biosphere Reserve, People's Republic of China, 17-20 February 2003. Proceedings, UNESCO 2003, 27-35. Web link
9. Pathak, N., Bhatt, S., Tasneem, B., Kothari, A. and Borrini-Feyerabend, G. (2004) Community Conserved Areas: A Bold Frontier for Conservation. Briefing note 5: 1-8. IUCN. Web link
10. Borrini-Feyerabend, G., Kothari, A. & Oviedo, G. (eds.) (2004) Indigenous and Local Communities and Protected Areas: Towards Equity and Enhanced Conservation. World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) Best Practice Protected Area Guidelines Series No.11, IUCN – The World Conservation Union, 63.
11. Kibet, S. and Nyamweru, C. (2008) ‘Cultural and Biological Heritage at Risk; The Case of the Rabai Kaya Forests in Coastal Kenya’, Journal of Human Ecology 24.4, 287-295. Web link