Trends in forest condition, threats and conservation action as derived from participatory monitoring in coastal Kenya

Abstract

The coastal forests of Kenya are conservation priorities hosting high levels of biodiversity. Monitoring of biodiversity in these forests is therefore necessary to understand and reverse negative trends in good time. Using the Important Bird Area (IBA) monitoring framework, a participatory approach, state (habitat condition), pressure (threats) and response (conservation action) indicators of twelve coastal Kenya forest IBAs were assessed from 2004 to 2011. Trends for these indicators were assessed at six sites for which sufficient data existed: Arabuko-Sokoke, Dakatcha Woodlands, Gede Ruins, Lower Tana River, Shimba Hills and Taita Hills, and baselines were described for remaining six. Changes were always small, but state deteriorated in Gede, Lower Tana and Shimba Hills, remained the same (unfavourable) in Arabuko-Sokoke and Dakatcha, and improved in Taita Hills. Pressure reduced in Arabuko-Sokoke, Dakatcha and Taita Hills, deteriorated in Lower Tana and Shimba Hills and remained the same (medium) in Gede. Response improved in Dakatcha, remained the same (medium) in Shimba Hills, and deteriorated in the rest. As there was an apparent overall deterioration in the forests assessed, improved management of the protected sites and increased conservation action through community engagement around protected areas and within the nonprotected IBAs are recommended.

An annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Taita Hills, Eastern Arc Mountain

“…Fragmentation oftentimes is superseded by over-exploitation, degradation, and introduction of exotic species, thus decreasing indigenous plant diversity ( Newmark 1998 ; Cordeiro and Howe 2001 ; Teucher et al 2020 ). This ensuing biodiversity crisis has increased interest in conservation planning and prioritization strategies ( Turner et al 2007 ; Brooks 2010 ; Krupnick 2013 ; Habel et al 2016 ; Ndang’ang’a et al 2016 ; Conservation International 2021 ). Since the distribution and decline in species diversity are variable across the biomes, Myers (1988) proposed biodiversity hotspots for conservation prioritization ( Mittermeier et al 1998 ; Myers et al 2000 ; Carrasco et al 2020 ).…”

The role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in assessment of forest condition, pressures and conservation actions at key forest sites in tropical Asia and New Guinea

“…The outputs from future monitoring assessments would be improved by training sessions, especially at the outset, where the objectives could be defined and the minimum requirements to satisfy state, pressure and response assessments could be discussed and agreed – e.g., as in Malaysia, the state assessments could be based on a selection of representative species. Such training sessions could identify others familiar with the sites who may be able to contribute to the assessments, such as the approach used in Kenya 10 , where IBA monitoring has been adopted and is widely used (Bennun et al 2005, Mwangi et al 2010, Ndang'ang'a et al 2016). The quality of the assessments would also benefit from dedicated communication sessions between countries during the course of the project, about what worked well and what were the limitations of the various approaches.…”

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs): the development and characteristics of a global inventory of key sites for biodiversity

“…The protocol was designed to be simple and robust, so that it could be used by local conservation groups to generate data that are comparable across sites. Where this protocol has been applied systematically, it has proved effective in detecting change and stimulating action (Mwangi et al 2010, Buchanan et al 2013, Ndang’ang’a et al 2016). However, field-based monitoring is costly in time and resources and is impractical in large, remote or hostile areas.…”