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Kenya: Turning to Birds to Boost Revenue
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The Nation (Nairobi)
28 November 2007
Posted to the web 28 November 2007
Jeff Otieno
Nairobi
After registering success on beach and wildlife tourism, Kenya is now turning an eye to its priceless birds to shore up revenues.
Though part of the wildlife, bird tourism has for long been ignored despite its potential to bring in extra foreign exchange earnings.
Currently, there are only 250 'birders' also known as bird watchers, who come to Kenya each year, spending about Sh45 million.
But the problem that has left many players desperate for answers is that despite having less bird diversity than Kenya, some African countries have managed to attract more visitors, hence making more money from bird watching.
In South Africa, for example, bird watchers, who form the largest single group of eco-tourists, contributed between $11 million to $24 million to the country's economy in 1997.
This is what Kenya is trying to emulate in a bid to put the country in the league of the world's leading tourist destinations.
In fact, more than 1,090 bird species have been recorded in the country, making Kenya one of the most attractive bird watching destinations in the world.
According to Nairobi-based organisations Nature Kenya and BirdLife International, all conservation outfits, the country holds one of the world records for most birds seen within 24 hours - a high of 342 species.
In Nairobi, for example, over 600 bird species have been recorded, more than in any other capital city in the world.
Unlike South Africa, Kenya's potential in bird tourism has not yet been translated into an industry.
However, the noble dream might not achieve much, if a recent report on Kenya's important bird areas, status and trends, compiled by Nature Kenya with the help of BirdLife International secretariat in Nairobi, is anything to go by.
The study shows that some of the rarest forest-dependent birds are under threat of extinction due to wanton destruction of the ecosystem. It says about 50 per cent of the threatened birds in Kenya inhabit the forests, with a chunk of them being in indigenous forest lands.
"The Coastal forests, combined with the Taita Hills complex and the mountains east of the Rift Valley, account for almost all the rare forest biodiversity in Kenya, with a few other rare species scattered across the large blocks of montane forests," the study adds.
The endangered species
The study cites birds like the Sokoke scops owl, only found in Coast forests, the Taita white-eye and east coast akalat are some of the endangered species.
"The species prefer undisturbed habitats. Endangered birds like the Sokoke scops owl is only found in Coastal forests composed of dense cynometra trees, preferring the denser habitat structure with no selective logging," says the study conducted by Nature Kenya with the help of the Ornithology department of the National Museums of Kenya.
It says many of the endangered species, like the Taita white-eye and east coast akalat prefer natural forests to plantations.
"The Taita white-eye is absent in forest plantations but abundant in undisturbed indigenous forest fragments and the east coast akalat is absent in areas devoid of dead wood," the document titled: Kenya's Important Bird Areas Status and Trend, says.
The problem is that some of the important birds, which are under threat, are the ones that attract many bird watchers.
Bird species decrease with the interference of the ecological balance in forests and all studies point a finger to human activities.
Distribution patterns
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This is because the activities, be they economic or social, affect population densities and distribution patterns of key bird species.
The report shows a worrying trend, which must be reversed if the country is to reap from bird tourism.
The study funded by BirdLife International and the UK-based Royal Society for Protection of Birds, says that from 2004 to last year, agricultural encroachment on bird habitats increased from 22 per cent to 62 and over-grazing, due to increased animal population, from 43 per cent to 62.
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