ISSN 2073-5111(Print)
nature net
August 2018
naturekenya.org
Working to safeguard Nature undertaken by Nature Kenya in South Nandi and North Nandi, Kakamega and Cherengani Hills forests KBAs. These projects have enhanced community participation in conservation of forests through the CFAs.
Compiled by J. Mwacharo
Members of the Yala Swamp site support group give bird watching lessons to school children in at Lake Kanyaboli in Siaya County. PHOTO: EMILY MATECHE
At the AGM in May, a member asked the question: What do Nature Kenya’s projects do? A summary of major project activities is given below:
N
ature Kenya’s work to conserve biodiversity focuses on Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs). Key Biodiversity Areas in Kenya were first identified as IBAs (Important Bird Areas). Nature Kenya takes practical action by working with and for people – to improve their quality of life as they conserve nature. Nature Kenya collaborates with others wherever possible, at local, national, regional or global levels, linking with community groups, governments, businesses, universities and civil society groups to maximize conservation impacts. Habitat Conservation In Tana River Delta and Yala Swamp, two of Kenya’s most important wetlands at opposite ends of the country, Nature Kenya has been championing for better planning of developments in the wetlands to minimize biodiversity loss. The Tana River Delta KBA is designated as a wetland of international importance
(Ramsar site) and is one of the most important wetlands in Africa. In 2011, Nature Kenya led a collaborative effort of various stakeholders in the development of a Tana River Delta Land Use Plan (LUP) that was guided by a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). The process was concluded in 2015. The land use plan has since been approved and adopted as a policy by the Lamu County government. The land use plan is now in its implementation phase. Nature Kenya has also been promoting the community conservation areas (CCAs) approach. Community Conservation Areas are biodiversityrich areas partially or largely managed by local communities. Nature Kenya, in collaboration with partners including the national government, County Governments of Siaya and Busia, non-government organizations and local communities, has been working to put Yala Swamp KBA, Kenya’s largest papyrus wetland, on
a sustainable footing. The Siaya and Busia County governments, through Nature Kenya facilitation, have formulated a land use plan for the Yala Swamp informed by a Strategic Environmental Assessment. The Yala Swamp land use plan is a negotiated document which provides a framework on how land within the swamp and the surrounding areas will be used – for small-scale and large-scale agriculture, livestock rearing, nature-based industries and protected conservation areas. In Mt. Kenya, Nature Kenya has partnered with the private sector and community forest associations (CFAs) to plant 100,000 indigenous trees to restore degraded sections of Mt. Kenya Forest KBA. This initiative seeks strategic commitment and support from the business sector to enhance the quantity and quality of water flowing from Mt. Kenya. The concept is that water consumers should help pay for protecting the sources of water. Other forest conservation initiatives have been
Saving Species In Taita Hills forests KBA, Nature Kenya has leased a 6-hectare piece of land at Msidunyi for the conservation and protection of the Critically Endangered Taita Apalis. This small forest fragment is expected to provide habitat for six per cent of the world’s Taita Apalis population. The Taita Apalis is on the verge of extinction with only an estimated 150 individuals remaining in the wild, in the Taita Hills. In 2010, Nature Kenya also secured the purchase of 20 hectares of land at the Kinangop grasslands KBA to protect the Endangered Sharpe’s Longclaw’s habitat. In Maasai Mara KBA, Nature Kenya together with partner organizations in collaboration with Narok County Government and Kenya Wildlife Service, have been actively involved in vulture conservation activities. Currently the main effort is to reduce poisoning of wildlife through awareness creation, identification of poisoning hotspots and engagement of local communities to appreciate the key role that vultures play in the ecosystem. Empowering Local Communities Nature Kenya has been empowering local people to promote conservation with development at key priority sites. There are now 23 local conservation groups that serve as Site Support Groups (SSGs) for Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, especially those that are without official protection. Site Support Groups are communitybased organizations of local people working for conservation and sustainable development in and around a KBA. Site support groups help Nature Kenya to engage with communities living adjacent to KBAs. Contd. on pg. 2
Contd. from pg. 1
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Dawida Biodiversity Conservation Group Taita Hills forests KBA Mida Creek Conservation and Awareness Group - Mida Creek KBA Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Adjacent Dwellers Association - Arabuko-Sokoke Forest KBA Sabaki River Baobab Group Sabaki River Mouth KBA Dakatcha Woodland Conservation Group Dakatcha Woodland KBA Tana Delta Conservation Network Tana River Delta KBA Mumoni Site Support Group Mumoni Hills Forest KBA Mutitu Site Support Group Mutitu Forest KBA Kijabe Environment Volunteers Organization Kikuyu Escarpment Forest KBA Lake Naivasha Biodiversity Conservation Group - Lake Naivasha KBA Friends of Kinangop Plateau Kinangop Grasslands KBA Mukurwe-ini Environmental Volunteers Organization - Mukurwe-ini valleys KBA Lake Elementaita Ecosystem Group Lake Elementeita KBA Mt. Kenya Biodiversity Conservation Group Mt. Kenya KBA Nyahururu Bird Club - Lake Ol’ Bolossat KBA Friends of Masai Mara - Maasai Mara KBA Ruma Park Site Support Group Ruma National Park KBA Yala Ecosystem Site Support Group Yala Swamp Complex KBA Dunga Swamp Site Support Group Dunga Swamp KBA South Nandi Biodiversity Conservation Group South Nandi Forest KBA Busia Environment Conservation Education Programme - Busia grasslands KBA Kakamega Environmental Education Programme - Kakamega Forest KBA Murguiywet CBO - North Nandi Forest KBA Friends of Nature Bogoria Lake Bogoria KBA Chebororwa Sekemiat Self-help Group Cherangani Hills KBA
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National Reserves National Marine Parks/Reserves
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Through SSGs, Nature Kenya has reached over
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Lakes and rivers
KILIFI MOMBASA
households countrywide *KEY BIODIVERSITY AREAS (KBAs) are sites of global biodiversity conservation importance that are chosen using internationally agreed, objective, quantitative and scientifically defensible criteria.
SITE SUPPORT GROUPS are engaged in various activities for the conservation of biodiversity
BIODIVERSITY MONITORING
HABITAT AND SITE RESTORATION
SPECIES PROTECTION
ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS & EDUCATION
ADVOCACY
To improve livelihoods, Nature Kenya, with financial support from donors, has initiated various nature based enterprises such as:
Butterfly farming
Beekeeping
Ecotourism
Tree nurseries
Fish farming
Wool spinning
Papyrus value addition
These activities offer sustainable sources of income for the Site Support Groups. To find out more about Nature Kenya’s engagement contributions, with communities visitFor www.naturekenya.org Nature-Kenya
Editorial Team
John Mwacharo Norman Kiboi Gloria Waswa Fleur Ng’weno Serah Munguti Layout John Mwacharo Front banner P. Usher
SITE SUPPORT GROUPS IN KENYA’S KBAs
4.
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For updates go to
SITE SUPPORT GROUPS (SSGs) are community-based organisations of local people working for conservation and sustainable development in and around a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA)*. The KBAs in Kenya were first identified as IBAs (Important Bird Areas). Site support groups help Nature Kenya to engage with communities living adjacent to KBAs.
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Advocacy for Ecological Sustainability Advocacy is key to keeping conservation issues on the national priority agenda. Nature Kenya has been enhancing public knowledge of nature’s values, contributing to national environmental policy and legislation processes and collaborating at national and international levels to advocate for conservation of important sites like the Tana River Delta and Dakatcha Woodland KBAs. Nature Kenya’s projects also support building the capacity of local communities to actively participate and positively influence decisions on biodiversity conservation. Nature Kenya has had significant input into national policy and legislation, including the Environmental Management and Co-ordination Act, the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, the Forest Act and Forest Policy and the draft Wetland Policy.
CONSERVATION OF KENYA’S KBAs
I ATH
Resource centres in Mt. Kenya, Dakatcha Woodland, the Kinangop grasslands, Kakamega Forest, South Nandi Forest, the Kikuyu Escarpment and the Taita Hills KBAs serve to educate and inform children and the public, with awareness events reaching 10,000 children annually. The public have been made aware of unsustainable development options. Nature Kenya has been linking livelihoods and biodiversity conservation. Communities living adjacent to the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest KBA in Kilifi now engage in butterfly farming as a source of livelihood. The communities are getting paid for raising butterflies on forest plants. The butterflies are sold (as pupae) to butterfly exhibits at home and abroad. Bee-keeping, handicrafts from local plants, fish farming, tree nurseries and on-farm forestry also raise incomes while reducing pressure on the forests. Eco-tourism and bird-watching tourism in high potential sites that are not well known, such as Kakamega Forest, Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, Kinangop grasslands and Dakatcha Woodland KBAs is another source of income. Nature Kenya has also been championing the use of energy efficient stoves to further reduce dependency on forests for fuel wood.
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naturekenya
EVENING SKIES
SPOTTED
3 Bright Planets
Striped Crake near Nairobi
By F. Ng’weno
By J. Wanyoike
O
n the morning of Sunday, June 24, in Juja while watching birds at a seasonal wetland, I saw a flash of a bird which at first looked like a juvenile Black Crake to me. Looking critically, I realized it was not something I had seen before. The bird had already disappeared into the sedges by the time I reached for my bird book. I looked at my book, checking on the different species of Crakes, and to my amazement the strange bird looked like a Striped Crake. I called my friend Washington Wachira and he suggested I play the species call once to see if it would respond; and indeed it emerged from the sedges. I quickly took some photos and sent them to Washington via WhatsApp, which he checked and confirmed that indeed it was a male Striped Crake. The Striped Crake is an interesting, rare and beautiful species that lives in tall grasses and sedges, often near water. As the name suggests, it has stripes along the body and wings. It is an intra-Africa Migrant present in Kenya between May and November.
BIRDS OF HILLCREST POND
By P. Usher
1 2
3
Three planets light up the evening skies in August 2018. Planets do not produce light; they reflect the light from the sun. Since they are much nearer to Earth, however, the nearest planets look brighter than the stars.
To the west (right) are the bright stars Alpha and Beta Centauri. To the east (left) of the Scorpion’s tail, stars form a shape like a teapot or basket. The ancient Greeks called this constellation Sagittarius, the Archer.
Venus is the brilliant light in the west (over the sunset). Jupiter is high overhead. And Mars, glowing red and brighter than Jupiter, rises in the east and is in the sky almost all night, setting before dawn. (Saturn is there too, between Mars and Jupiter, but not as bright). The moon is near Venus on August 14, near Jupiter on the 17th, near Saturn on the 21st and near Mars on the 23rd.
In the northeast, the bright star Altair is flanked by two smaller stars; Vega, even brighter, is low in the north. The orange star Arcturus is high in the northwest; and the Plough, like a longhandled spoon, is low in the northwest.
Meteor shower Meteors are bright streaks of light formed by rocks and dust from space burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere. The Perseids meteor shower runs from mid-July to August 24, and peaks on the night of August 12 to 13. Best viewing from a dark location with few or no clouds, after midnight. August stars Below Jupiter, constellation of Scorpius, the scorpion, lies across the southern sky. Imagine the reddish star Antares as its fiery eye. A curved line of stars forms the scorpion’s tail, like a huge fishhook, with two stars as the sting.
NEW BOOK! AVAILABLE AT THE NATURE KENYA SHOP Flock of
Clarke’s
Birds of Dakatcha Woodland IBA is an introduction to the birds of Dakatcha Woodland. In the book you will find photos of the birds, and their scientific, English and Giriama names. Weavers
Photo by
These are some of the birds seen during the waterbird count at Hillcrest Dam from Sam Mburu Retreat on July 11. 1. Common Moorhen 2. African Darter 3. An immature Great Cormorant
with one
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The star Spica and the planet Venus appear to draw close together at month’s end (actually they are very far apart). The crescent moon is near Venus on the 14th, near Spica on the 15th, and near Antares on the 19th. Aug ’18 moon Last quarter, Aug 4. New moon, Aug 11. First quarter, Aug 18; Full moon, Aug 26. Websites There is a lot more information on the internet. In particular, see: EarthSky: http:// earthsky.org/ Subscribe to their daily e-mail newsletter! Sky and Telescope: http:// www.skyandtelescope.com/ Sea and Sky: http://www. seasky.org/astronomy/
AUGUST AT A GLIMPSE Aug 1st Morning Bird Walk Aug 4th FoCP Nature Walk Aug 8th Morning Bird Walk Aug 15th Morning Bird Walk Aug 18th FoCP Nature Walk Aug 19th Sunday Bird Watch Aug 22nd Morning Bird Walk Aug 29th Morning Bird Walk Bird ringing every Tuesday morning (check with Ornithology section, National Museums).
Birders Please Note! The Wednesday Morning Birdwalks meet at 8:30 am at the Nairobi National Museum. Transport is on a self-help basis. The group meets in the courtyard of the Nairobi National Museum, past the entrance to the galleries. We normally return at about 12:30 pm. The Sunday Birdwatch on the THIRD Sunday of each month now also meets at 8:30 am, at the same location. It is a day trip; please bring water and lunch. Mombasa Birdwalks On the 3rd Saturday of each month. For meeting time and place, please contact Taibali Hamzali <thamzali@gmail. com> / 0733-980540; or Doris Schaule <dorischaule@gmail.com> / 0722-277752. Or check Facebook page: <https://www.facebook. com/groups/FFJmombasa/> Contact the office for information on other birdwalks in Kakamega, Kisumu, and other sites Ngong Forest walks - 1st and 3rd Saturday at 9.00 am. Contact Simon 0729-840715
WELCOME ON BOARD Nature Kenya (the EANHS) would like to welcome the following members to the East Africa Natural History Society: Corporate Ekorian Ltd GAT Safaris Karirana Estates Ltd Koala Education Consultants Let’s Go Travel Prime Bank Rickshaw Travel (K) Ltd Family Abdirashid Warsame Alice Kinyua Edward Otieno Monica Okwirry Njuki Mate Nelly Gachiku Kamau Peter Muiru Violet Kuria Individual Achesa Ligogo Andrew Sifuma Caleb Toroitich Christine Lammana Cylvia Achieng Didier Allely-Ferme Elaine Allely Frashia Njoroge James Krupa Julie Mutai
Yes! Start my Surname First Name Ms/Mr./Title Address Tel Mobile Email
membership MEMBERSHIP TYPES Ksh Per Year Full 2,000 Sponsor 6,000 Family 2,800 Student 1,200 Schools, 1,500 Clubs Corporates 20,000 30,000
Keziah Itube Martin Muthoni Mary Patrick Maxime Servettaz Natalie Tendwa Philis Kimani Rene Dommain Rupert Partridge Samuel Mambo Stephen Pike Timothy Thairu Institution Born to Shine Academy FCR Ecosystem Student Christina Namalomba Cynthia Mungai Isa Ferrall James Kamau Leonard Motatiro Linda Ondieki Meenakshi Bose Mercy Gathoni Mishael Osano Otieno Nehemiah Nyabwara Philister Karimi Sandra Anzigale Telvin Gachwe
JOIN/RENEW MEMBERSHIP Select ‘Lipa na Mpesa’ Select ‘Pay Bill’ Enter business number 100300 Enter account number (put your lapsed membership number or write new member) Enter the amount, enter your PIN Con�irm details & press OK
For details on associated groups such as Youth Committee, Succulenta, and Friends of Nairobi Arboretum, City Park or Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, contact office@naturekenya.org