Kaya Waa (6403)
Kenya, Africa

Site overview

KBA status: confirmed

Year of last assessment: 2001

National site name: Kaya Waa

Central coordinates: Latitude: -4.1833, Longitude: 39.6000

System: terrestrial

Elevation (m): 15 to 15

Area of KBA (km²): 0.49354

KBA classification: Global/Regional TBD

Legacy site: Yes

Site details

Site description: The Kayas are small, relict patches of forest that once sheltered the fortified villages of the Mijikenda people on the Kenyan coast. They have spiritual and ceremonial significance and are customarily protected by a Council of Elders. Kaya Waa (sacred to the Digo people) is Cynometra–Drypetes forest on coral rag that covers a level cliff-top just above the ocean, near Waa village. The forest is dense and low, practically a thicket in many places, and difficult to walk through. Under the coral cliffs there is reportedly a large cave, which is of religious significance to the local people. The site was gazetted as a National Monument under the care of the National Museums of Kenya in 1992.

Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance because it meets one or more previously established criteria and thresholds for identifying sites of biodiversity importance (including Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, Alliance for Zero Extinction sites, and Key Biodiversity Areas)

Additional biodiversity: See Box for key species. The habitat structure is very suitable for the threatened Zoothera guttata, which has been recorded here and is likely to occur at relatively high density. The remaining avifauna is impoverished, but Tauraco fischeri (Near Threatened and restricted-range) and Pogoniulus simplex (East African Coast biome) have been recorded. Non-bird biodiversity: The threatened small mammal Rhynchocyon petersi (EN) probably occurs. There is a healthy population of the coastal forest tree Cynometra greenwayi, a rare Kenyan endemic known only from here and the Watamu area.

Habitats

Land use: tourism/recreation

IUCN Habitat	Coverage %	Habitat detail
Forest	100

Threats

Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: The main threat to this sea-front Kaya is of the land being ‘allocated’ to private developers. This Kaya was the centre of a land allocation controversy in 1988, which led, eventually, to a successful Private Member’s Motion in Parliament to gazette the Kayas as National Monuments. Twenty hectares of Kaya Waa was gazetted in 1992, but the forest remains divided into some 57 plots, for which title deeds have apparently been issued, and its fate is uncertain. Pole-cutting for the hotel industry (to build traditional-style Mijikenda huts) has caused considerable damage, and many larger trees have also been removed, often for beehives. Continued degradation will greatly reduce the value of the site for Zoothera guttata, which avoids areas with an open canopy. Fires deliberately set to clear the surrounding agricultural land also pose a threat to the forest. Hunting pressure appears to be very high, with numerous traps and snares, apparently exacerbated by the settlement of Tharaka immigrants in the area during the mid-1980s.

Threat level 1	Threat level 2	Threat level 3	Timing
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching	Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming	Ongoing
Biological resource use	Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Unintentional effects (species being assessed is not the target)	Ongoing
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting	Intentional use: subsistence/small scale (species being assessed is the target) [harvest]	Ongoing
Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases	Named species	Ongoing
Residential & commercial development	Housing & urban areas		Ongoing
Residential & commercial development	Tourism & recreation areas		Ongoing
Energy production & mining	Mining & quarrying		Ongoing
Human intrusions & disturbance	Recreational activities		Ongoing
Pollution	Garbage & solid waste		Ongoing
Climate change & severe weather	Droughts		Only in the future

Additional information