Renewed threats call for swift action to save our biodiversity

A section of Taita Hills. [Maureen Odiwuor, Standard]

Kenya has a large diversity of ecological zones and habitats, including lowland and mountain forests, wooded and open grasslands, semi-arid scrubland, dry woodlands, inland aquatic, as well as coastal and marine ecosystems placing it among the mega-biodiverse countries of the world.

In recognition of the important role played by biodiversity to livelihoods and wellbeing, the country has made efforts in conserving biodiversity through protection of areas important for biodiversity as well as ecosystem service provision.

The formal protection include gazettement as forest reserves, parks (national and marine), reserves (national and marine) and national monuments such as the Kaya forests.

In addition, efforts are ongoing to support community conservation which are taking various forms and approaches such as Community and Private forests as provided for under the Forest Conservation and Management Act 2016, and wildlife sanctuaries under the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act 2013.

The country hosts a large variety of plant taxa. Currently, there are 7,004 known plant species with a large proportion found within forests.

More than eight per cent (577) of these species are endemic to the country with the biodiversity hotspots (forests) accounting for more than 80 per cent of these. A total of 356 (five per cent) of vascular plant taxa are categorised under IUCN Redlist as threatened - 24 critically endangered and 111 endangered.

Forests cover more than seven per cent of the country, hosting a large number of species both flora and fauna.

At a global level, they form significant portions of two of the 35 global biodiversity hotspots – the Eastern Afromontane and the Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa as recognised by Conservation International, further demonstrating the countries contribution to global biodiversity.

Biodiversity hotspots are a method to identify those regions of the world where attention is needed to address biodiversity loss and to guide investments in conservation.

They are characterised by exceptional levels of endemism and serious habitat loss. They represent just 2.3 per cent of earth’s land surface, but between them, they contain around 50 per cent of the world’s endemic plant species and 42 per cent of all terrestrial vertebrates and estimated to provide 35 per cent of the ecosystem services, in spite of occupying very small proportion.

Valuable species

Kenya has a remarkable variety of important and valuable animal species globally that include mammals (407 where 14 are endemic), birds (1150 where 11 are endemic), reptiles (261), amphibians (63), fish (314) and invertebrates at 25,000.

In addition to the above-ground biodiversity, there are organisms below the ground. The soil comprises a large proportion of the world’s biodiversity, the below-ground ecosystems that play a central role in nutrient and water capture and recycling—on which plant production depends.

The rich biota includes microbial fauna made up of fungi, bacteria and protozoans; mesofauna made up of taxa such as nematodes, mites, ants and collembolans; macrofauna made up of taxa such as arthropods and earthworms; and megafauna made up of vertebrates such as rodents, moles and lagomorphs—rabbits and hares.

The national biological resources are fundamental to national prosperity in the light of Kenya constitution 2010, Kenya Vision 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals.

They provide Kenyan population with food, medicines, energy, shelter, employment and foreign exchange. Further to offering multiple opportunities for human prosperity, national biological resources are vital to national economic engines such as agriculture, energy, tourism, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, business process outsourcing (BPO) and financial services sectors, which largely depend on these resources in many aspects.

Overexploitation

Kenya’s rich biodiversity is threatened by a number of issues including overexploitation, pollution, invasive alien species, exploration and extraction of minerals, climate change, genetic erosion, poverty, the need for economic growth, political and social instability in neighbouring countries, culture and beliefs, inadequate awareness and knowledge and inadequate policy, legal and institutional response.

The largest threat to ecosystems and species is driven largely by human activity leading to loss from agriculture expansion, settlement, infrastructure and industry.

Species loss risk increases several-fold as habitats shrink and fragment. Habitat fragmentation often results in ecological disruption, leading to loss of productivity as well as resilience, as well as loss of migratory corridors leading to large reductions in the diversity and abundance of animals.

In extreme cases, it leads to high extinction risk due to inbreeding among other factors, well demonstrated in a number of ecosystems in Kenya.

International market demands have also driven species loss such as the decline in rhino, and elephant populations witnessed in the past as well as the east African sandalwood in recent times.