Kenya’s coastal forests bear the brunt of climate change

Unpredictable rainfall threatens community livelihoods and rare species that need forests for breeding

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In the blazing midday sun, the heat radiating up the feet through the shoes is unnerving. From a distance, the heat dances from the red soil, forming a mirage.

This is Baricho, Magarini, inKilifi County on Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast. For a newcomer, it might feel like a furnace, but for residents of Dakatcha Woodland, this has been the norm for the past two years, a situation they say has been rampant compared to countable rainy days.

“The rains are hard to come by. It has been hot, unlike years ago when we used to have rain and the farms were green. It is so dry that even the drought-tolerant crops like cassava cannot grow because they require some little water,” Mr Patrick Changawa, a resident, says.

Mr Changawa, who also doubles up as the secretary for Dakatcha Conservation Group that brings together more than 10 grassroots conservation entities within the Dakatcha Woodland, believes it is the disappearing forest cover that has intensified drought.

“Unlike before, we had the forests. Dakatcha was still intact and we had food. We grew almost everything, but close to two years now, we are yet to receive sustainable rains and we have resorted to other ventures to survive,” he tells Planet Action.

With the region dependent on rain-fed agriculture, other income-earning activities like beekeeping have also suffered the same fate.

In areas such as Kamale, beehives that had been colonised remain empty as a result of failure by plants to flower and sustain their source of nectar.

“When bees disappear, it is an indication that things are not good. The bees leave their hives because they have to move elsewhere in search of flowers and water to make food, a reason why most beehives here are empty,” Mr Alfred Kahindi, chairperson of Kamale Mazingira Community Based Organisation, says.

Mr Kahindi says that with the disappearing bees, the community is staring at a bigger challenge in productivity, even if it rains.

“Bees are key pollinators; their absence means pollination will be a challenge even if it rains,” Kahindi says.

And while the climatic conditions are fast changing in Dakatcha Woodland, Kaya Kauma, one of the sacred Mijikenda forests in Kilifi, is no better. The butterfly-for-export project, too, is on a halt.

Dakatcha Woodland and Kaya Kauma, together with the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest form part of the coastal forests located in southeast Kenya, and are distributed mainly in four counties - Kwale, Kilifi, Lamu and Tana River.

The forests have, over the years, undergone fragmentation, with some like the Kayas only remaining as island pockets.

“Even the forest itself is dry. If something bad happens and fire breaks out, then everything will be in ashes. It is too dry that even the butterfly project we started to sustain our livelihoods is on hold. Butterflies, too, need flowers and water but it has been too dry and the plants cannot flower,” says Mr Hillary Kalama, a community elder at Kaya Kauma Forest.

For Mr Kalama, the unpredictable weather is causing the degradation of the forests that once “brought rain”.

“Unlike years ago, when we could use indigenous knowledge to predict the rains, it is no longer applicable. We used to study the sky and star formations at night to tell when it was likely to rain. We also used to tell using some plants in Kaya forests, but they take a really long time to flower now, meaning the rains are becoming rare,” he says.

While Mr Kalama predicts that trends might worsen, with the rampant degradation of forests, he feels the traditional rules that once protected the sacred forests are no longer binding. He blames laxity in implementing conservation laws for the degradation.

“I grew up at a time when Kaya forests were thick; when elders’ words were law and anyone found destroying the forests was fined heavily. Today nobody listens to the elders. We are becoming old and too weak to go about tackling illegal activities in forests again,” Mr Kalama says.

Kenya's coastal forests form part of the Eastern Africa forests that extend, along the coast, from Somalia through Kenya and Tanzania to Mozambique, are ranked among the priority biodiversity hot-spots in the world. But the threats they face remain high.

“These pockets of forests are small and far apart, and the population of species in each pocket is an island population that faces a population of size, a situation that presents a lack of genetic diversity to sustain populations. The risk of extinction of these species is very high,” Nature Kenya Coast Regional Coordinator Mr Francis Kagema says.

Besides rampant destruction that includes logging, Coastal forests, he says, also face threats from growing populations and expansion of agriculture near forests and along water sources.

“With the continued drought, farming activities along the water sources emanating from these forests are increasing. This is a problem that authorities should look into,” Mr Kagema says.

Arabuko-Sokoke is currently the largest fragment of the forests that once covered much of the East African coast. The forest exceptionally has a high degree of endemism and is a designated Centre for Endemism. This means that the forest is among the few areas that have a larger concentration of species that are not found anywhere else.

Together with the neighbouring Dakatcha Woodland, the forest hosts some of the world’s rarest species, including the golden-rumped sengi (also known as the Golden-rumped elephant shrew), Sokoke Scops-owl, Clarke’s Weaver and Sokoke pipit.

Arabuko-Sokoke is also known for its butterflies, hosting more than 250 species alongside Ader’s Duiker, only found in Sokoke and Zanzibar. Distinctive Sokoke bushy-tailed mongoose and African golden cat, alongside unusual reptiles like Green Keel-bellied lizard and Bunty’s dwarf toad are also found in Arabuko.

“Despite being home to some of the world’s rarest species, whose existence depends on them, there is need for more research and different approaches towards conserving them. These forests require more than just laws in place; they need proper implementation and protection,” Mr Kagema says.

And while Dakatcha remains a key breeding zone for Clarke’s weaver, one of the world’s rarest birds, it has no formal protection and communities have teamed up in some areas to set up Community Conserved areas. In some critical areas that serve as breeding sites, conservation organisations like Nature Kenya and A Rocha Kenya have purchased parcels to act as nature reserves.

“By around 2016, there was a rush for large parcels of land in Dakatcha where large parcels were subdivided and sold out. This led to clearing and sale of large swathes of land that had been originally set aside for conservation,” Edwin Utumbi, an officer working with communities in Dakatcha Woodland said.

With the ‘land rush’ in Dakatcha leading to the clearing of critical breeding areas, conservation organisations mobilised funding to purchase land that would remain as a Nature Reserve given that the area lacks official protection.

“The challenge is that when these forests are cleared, Clarke’s weaver and other species dependent on the woodland will no longer have places to breed, a reason why it is key to secure nature reserves. Kenya has an obligation to take care of these species,” Utumbi said.

This article is reproduced here as part of the Space for Giants African Conservation Journalism Programme, supported by the major shareholder of ESI Media, which includes independent.co.uk. It aims to expand the reach of conservation and environmental journalism in Africa, and bring more African voices into the international conservation debate.  Read the original story here: