Kusa swamp (6429)
Kenya, Africa

Site overview

KBA status: confirmed

Year of last assessment: 2012

National site name: Kusa swamp

Central coordinates: Latitude: -0.2167, Longitude: 34.9333

System: freshwater, terrestrial

Elevation (m): 1130 to 1130

Area of KBA (km²): 10.30058

KBA classification: Global/Regional TBD

Legacy site: Yes

Site details

Site description: Kusa swamp, at the mouth of River Nyando, is a wetland at the easternmost end of Lake Victoria’s Winam Gulf. Dense stands of papyrus Cyperus papyrus are fringed on the lakeward side by the water grass Vossia cuspidata and along the shore by reeds Phragmites spp.

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 and Table 3 for key species. Kusa includes a substantial stand of papyrus, and the Near Threatened Laniarius mufumbiri is fairly abundant here. Other Lake Victoria Basin biome species include the papyrus endemics Bradypterus carpalis and Cisticola carruthersi, and it is suspected that Serinus koliensis and the globally threatened Chloropeta gracilirostris are likely to occur. Non-bird biodiversity: Little information is available. The ungulate Tragelaphus spekii (LR/nt) occurs but is uncommon, and the snake Python sebae has been recorded. Like other wetlands around the shores of Lake Victoria, Kusa is probably an important refuge for a number of the lake’s endemic haplochromine fish species.

Habitats

Land use: agriculture | fisheries/aquaculture

IUCN Habitat	Coverage %	Habitat detail
Wetlands(Inland)	100

Threats

Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Kusa remains a sizeable enough papyrus swamp to be of conservation importance. However, uncontrolled cutting of papyrus by local residents and pollution and siltation from the Nyando river are serious threats. Though papyrus shows remarkable powers of regeneration, unsustain-able cutting for the local mat-making industry has the potential to destroy the wetland. Local residents are also opening up the swamp for rice farming. Tragelaphus spekii, though already rare, are hunted. The lakeward side is almost choked by water-hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes. As in many parts of Lake Victoria, infestation by this exotic weed has prevented fishermen from fishing, forcing them to seek alternative forms of livelihood and adding greatly to the human pressure on wetlands.

Additional information