Deforestation, the purposeful clearing of forest land, is one of the human activities that lead to the loss of habitat. In Dakatcha woodland in Magharini constituency Kilifi County, poverty is the biggest contributor to the deforestation of the woodland.
Trees cut down in the forest.
The habitat is a crucial residence of various endangered species such as the Sokoke Scops Owl (Otus ireneae), Clarke’s weaver (ploceus goladi) and Golden Rumped Elephants shrew (Rhynchocyon chrysopygus).
Sokoke scops owl
It is through this that A Rocha Kenya is carrying out a habitat assessment in the A Rocha Dakatcha Nature Reserve (ADNR) to evaluate the degree of damage in various habitats of the woodland. It involves a system of stratified random sampling where the entire area is first divided into different habitats and then from there, different random points are generated.
Our team of researchers then look for these points and collect the data on a 10-meter-research team then looks for these points and collects wide and 500-meter-long strip heading north.
Laureen,Eric and Katisho during the habitat assesment
Through this data, A Rocha can know the state of each habitat and thus change the narrative by using it as a basis for environmental conservation, creating more awareness, and continuing with restoration projects in the future.
“Excuse me, can you spare some change?” Like a lyrical choirmaster who signals for a change in a note, we made a rallying call to the farmers to think through the challenges they are facing, go beyond good ideas, and materialize the brilliant thoughts that they had. It’s with no doubt that good intentions and ideas are not enough unless practiced.
Setting up of hive
Embracing the change…
Change is costly; few people are responsive to it. This murky water calls for daring individuals and Dakatcha Woodland is not short of this category of people. Of the many thoughts that the farmers suggested, apiculture was the common denominator. There was farmer’s selection, site identification, and training offered by African Bee Keepers Ltd.
Tapping from beekeeping, awareness efforts on pollinators and pollinator-pollinators gardens is taking course, practical restoration efforts are gathering steam. Like its mantra, A Rocha is witnessing a people who are undergoing a transformation in their mindset and attitudes and conserving nature.
Farmers during training by the Africa Bee Limited.
Dancing to the new tunes
It is two months since we conducted the training. The joy amongst the farmers is palpable. One farmer in Kirosa could not help her elation seeing the hives colonized, “Si hii mizinga ingekuja miaka ya haponyuma!”(These hives should have come a few years back). Even in such an environment where conditions seem hard and situations unbearable, the drumbeats are changing, and the footwork of the dancers are surely changing, the future is indeed one to look for!!!
Have you ever wanted to experience a home away from home? You will be making the right decision by reserving your stay with us. We are located at Watamu, Kenya along Turtle bay road (Plot 28). You are welcomed by birds chirping in the green nature surrounding us .
Facilities and activities
Our simple double rooms, triple rooms, and back rooms are minutes from the beach offered in full board, half board, bed & breakfast, or bed only according to the guests’ request. You will get a serene environment, and delicious African cuisine prepared by our professional chefs for our meals as a way of letting the guests experience our African culture.
The best part of staying with us is that you get to participate in the ongoing activities. Our guests enjoy breakfast while birds ring every Thursday and get an opportunity to release birds after ringing. Guests get free birding classes from our ringing experts. It can also be a mega beach cleanup, shark surveys, bird counting, plant phenology, moth trapping or even getting an environmental talk with our environmental educators.
Federica(Our guest)during bird ringing.
Warm family feel
We uniquely create a platform for sharing ideas where we learn from each other as we create memories. At Mwamba you will get to join a community that’s passionate about conservation in different fields as well as career paths. Our esteemed guests get to share meals with field experts, scientists, volunteers, and interns while earning some interactive and educative conversations from them.
Peter(Our marine biologist)sharing his ideas during lunch time.
More activities…
During your stay with us, you can cherish your moments by participating in bible studies, movie nights, game nights and enjoying a delightful dinner under the stars. For our guests who are here on business we have provided good internet and lounge with a beautiful sea view that creates a space to hold meetings or have personal relaxation time.
Dinner under the stars.
Conclusion
Welcome to the family folks!!! We can’t wait to have you.
The Sabaki river counts is one of the activities that our volunteers love to join in. Naturally, we love having them join with Kirao and the team, just as a much as we love hearing how they found the trip…and sharing that with you. So, what is new about the Sabaki River Counts? Magdalene and Imnet are more than happy to tell us…
Kirao and the team during the counts
The journey begins
Bumping up and down in the backseats of a white van, we didn’t know what to expect in our field expedition. We knew we were coming along to help Mr. Kirao with bird counting. We knew we needed to bring open-toed shoes. We knew to wear shorts. And that was about it. About an hour after we set off, we finally arrived at the mouth of the Sabaki River, the location for our bird counting.
Once we had all tumbled out of the car, we met our ever friendly tour guide, Amani. Without much ado, we were off. We could tell that it was going to be a fruitful venture as we started seeing birds just as soon as we got past the houses. What was even more exciting was the fact that Kirao could identify the bird species just from the bird calls.
Ruth watching birds through the telescope
On to the white sand
The path suddenly opened up to rolling sand dunes, and the crashing waves were visible in all their majesty. It was like entering a different world. Or “Dubai” as Eric would say. It was there we first set up the telescope, to look at the Wooly-necked storks. Our guides could identify any bird in an instant, and we had to frantically log in birds we couldn’t even see as Kirao called them out. One of the definite bird highlights were the Madagascar and Collared pratincoles. Again we stopped on the beach and counted more birds and admired the perfect sand and swelling waves.
No matter how long we wanted to stay, we knew we eventually had to move on to observe the birds at the mouth of the river, just before it opened out into the ocean. Only a few minutes later, we stopped again near the Sabaki river. We dipped our feet into the cool water and used our binoculars to watch the birds as our guides continued to rattle their names off.
Muddy counts
It was then, with happy hearts and damp feet, that we discovered the reason for the shorts and sandals requirement. Mud. Not just the small patches of wet soil we were used to in Nairobi. We had to trek through thoroughly soaked swatches of land where the river had passed. Knee deep in mud, we took step after exhausting step. With every step forward, the mud sucked our feet downwards like quicksand.
When we emerged, victorious, our feet were entirely covered in a thick layer of mud from the knees down: “African socks” as Amani put it. To Ruth’s dismay, we soon found ourselves in another muddy patch. Squelching, slipping, and sliding, we made our way through not one, not two, but three muddy patches.
It was worth it
After a messy but fun trek we reached the mangroves, dodging bright orange crabs and hippo footprints to get there. Much to Milly’s relief and Eric’s disappointment, we saw no actual hippos. Our “mud socks” protected us from the brambles as we cut our way back to the car. In the end, we saw only about 1,700birds, which Kirao says is much less than usual for Sabaki. He and our other guides identified around 27 different species of water birds, including Milly’s favorite, the pied avocets with their upward turned beaks.
On the way back, we visited the office where Amani works where they served us deliciously juicy watermelon, a sweet reward for the long morning. Content after a morning spent in God’s wonderful creation, we sat down to write out our thoughts in hopes of encouraging some of you to take part in what has been a delightful adventure for the both of us.
Conclusion
Sabaki is a stopover for many migratory birds. That is why we carry out monthly counts to keep track of the population and types of bird species found here. This helps in establishing a trend, telling us about the healthy of the Sabaki ecosystem and how to best conserve it.
7Am sharp on Sunday morning (21st of May) found 74 of Kenya’s top riders at the starting line, ready for race. Every single one of them, young and old, earnestly looking at the Ksh. 50,000 cash prize money that lay waiting at the end of the 74KMs for the winner. Who was man/woman enough to ride on the tarmac, get through the winding paths of Watamu, climb the hilly countryside of Mijomboni, descend and ascend the valleys of Jilore, beat the sandy paths right in the heart of Arabuko-Sokoke Forest and finally come cruising through the beautiful mangroves all the way to the finishing line? And not to mention the heat that is so typical to the Kenyan coast! With our youngest rider at 15 years old and oldest at 55, we all waited eagerly to see who would emerge as the alpha of the team.
The fast and furious
The fast and furious 8, as we later came to call them, comprised of young energetic men who had eyes on nothing but the prize. I wish you could see them move; they never slowed down! Whether it was up the hills or down the valleys, whether the sand was too much or they bodies were covered in sweat, they still moved!
These first 8 broke away from the rest of the team as soon as we were done with the neutral zone (the tarmac). The number did drop slightly drop from 8 to 6, who served us to a wonderful sprint finish, crossing the line within seconds of each other. Here is how close it was, 02:39:19, 02:39:20, 02:39:21, 02:39:22, 02:39:23 and 02:39:24. Man that was a close one! They all had an average speed of 26.36kmph
Hilly countryside of Mijomboni
A few metres from the finishing line
Ladies in the house
Even though the race has grown over the years, that isn’t reflected in the number of ladies who attend. We did have our first truly international woman attending in the race (from South Africa) but that only raised the number of ladies participating in the race to 7. Even the alluring 110k cash prizes didn’t do much in increasing the numbers. But Dadarides did their thing as usual, with Sally, who was third in the previous year emerged as number one for the ladies (27 general) at 03:16:36.
Sally at the finishing line
About the family fun ride
As usual, we had a Family fun ride on Saturday, a day before the main event. The Family fun ride brings families together, provide an opportunity for parents to bond with their kids as they enjoy a ride together. In addition, it gives us a platform to create awareness about conservation to the young people. All 16 kids who took part in the race all received certificates at the end their 16km ride.
Work well done girl
Look at those beautiful smiles
Let's go dad
Thank you for making it happen
All in all, the race was wonderful. A big thank you to our partners who made all this possible. Our gold partners, Lordship Africa, who have been on our side from the very first year until now. We celebrate you! Kericho gold, our silver partners, thank you for sponsoring the t-shirts and water bottles printing. You guys are legends.
A big thank you to Turtle Bay Beach Club and more especially to Shafiq…your inputs planning, and dedication was one of the key pillars that saw this race through. And to all our other partners Ocean Sports, Coca-Cola, Tropical Heat and other partners, we say thank you. Thank you to our wonderful marshals who stood for hours on the road just to make sure that our riders don’t get lost along the way. And last and not least, thank you to our amazing riders who made this MTB Challenge, a Challenge.
Did you know you can bountifully reap from your efforts to conserve the environment? Climate change is no longer a theory in our books, it is a reality whose ramifications have shelved hunger in our homes. Its effects have forced us to chop down our forests and threatened endemic species of flora and fauna. But in the face of all of this we have managed to structure resilient systems that are geared towards sustainable use of Dakatcha woodland, which has been hit particularly hard.
The first farmers training
One step at a time, we will make it
Concerted efforts from A Rocha Kenya, African Bee Keepers Ltd(ABL) and the community in Dakatcha has birthed bee keeping in this threatened habitat. With the trainings offered by ABL and the awareness on environmental conservation by A Rocha, the drumbeats are changing and the practical involvement of the community members has been lucid. The community has started appreciating the importance of pollinators especially bees. In addition, many have started taking personal initiatives towards conservation. Take for example these ten women from Danisa(village in Dakatcha) who took a personal initiative to plant thirty indigenous trees in their homes!
Setting the beehives
We can hear the buzzing
In this pilot phase, we have selected fifteen farmers across Dakatcha, given each of them four hives and placed another twenty hives in the A Rocha Kenya Dakatcha Nature Reserve. Forty-two of these have already been colonized despite setting traps when swarming had already occurred. We thank God for this. This buzzing is restoring hope in farmers, they are now starting to see the value of trees beyond charcoal burning.
”Beyond the white sands and coral reefs of the Malindi-Watamu coastline, lies Arabuko-Sokoke Forest (ASF) and Mida Creek. ASF is the largest remnant of a dry coastal forest which originally stretched from Somalia down to Mozambique. It, therefore, contains an unusually high number of rare and endemic species. Mida Creek harbors important mangrove forests with a high diversity of species. It is of international importance for some of the waterbird species it supports. In addition, it is a key spawning ground for several fish species and a feeding ground for young turtles. This makes it one of the most important regions for conservation in mainland Africa. Mida together with Arabuko-Sokoke Forest have therefore been designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.”
The riding path inside ASF
Why we need to intervene, urgently
At the Kenyan coast, the effects of climate change have been evident. The hot climate and the unreliable rains have seen to the shrinking of options available for affording day to day needs. What is available to the community is fishing in the Creek or depending on the ASF resources. But since the creek is some distance away, it is the forest that serves as the primary (and almost only) source of livelihood to most of the community! The ever-rising cost of living has made people rely HEAVILY on the ever-reducing forest resources. This has resulted in logging, illegal hunting, destructive cutting down of trees and excessive charcoal burning. Is there hope to this forest and her endangered species?
Logging in the ASF
Double-edged conservation scheme
Yes, the forest needs to be conserved, but also the community needs to survive. The main challenge was finding a balance between this two; partnering with the community towards the conservation of ASF but also making sure they are not in a situation where they have no option but to over-utilize the forest resources. That is how ASSETS (Arabuko-Sokoke Schools and Eco-Tourism Scheme) was born. Its main objective being to reduce the pressure exerted on the forest by the neighboring community.
To achieve this, we put a few steps in place. The first thing was to try and relieve the families of major demands/needs, especially payment of school fees. ASSETS provides eco-bursaries for children from families that are within 5kms of ASF. Provision of eco-bursaries forms the backbone of the ASSETS programme. The second thing was to educate the community about the sustainable ways of enjoying the forest resources, ways that don’t doom the forest in the long run. At the end of the day we preach conservation, not protection. These includes eco-tourism, butterfly farming, Bee farming etc. The third thing was teaching the community about alternative sources of livelihood like kitchen gardening, energy saving jikos, tree planting, solar lamps etc.
Nature conserved, people transformed
We have the course, now we ride
The wonderful news is that over the course of 20 years, we have seen this concept work. People have been transformed and parts of the forest conserved, especially in areas where we engage the communities. We have seen changes in attitude and witnessed the zeal for conservation grow.
The main challenge, however, has been getting enough money in the ASSETS account. That is where the Sokoke Forest MTB Challenge comes in. Among other ways like the Mida Boardwalk and donations from partners, well-wishers and friends, the Sokoke Forest MTB Challenge is one of the solid ways through which we raise money for ASSETS.
As our tag line says (Racing for conservation), we race for conservation of ASF and the Mida-Creek. All the proceeds (donations towards the race, contributions from the riders and registration fees) from the race go into the ASSETS programme. This money is used to pay school fees for kids living around ASF and all other conservation efforts under ASSETS.
Nothing resonates more with a conservation organization than choosing to spent a team building day planting trees. Since 2014, A Rocha Kenya has been in the process of buying land in the Dakatcha Woodland in order to create a reserve (the A Rocha Kenya Dakatcha Nature Reserve). Dakatcha Woodland is an important ecosystem that is home to the Sokoke Scops Owl (an endangered species as per the IUCN list), the Golden-rumped Elephant Shrew (an endemic species that is only found here and in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest) and a breeding ground to the Clarkes Weaver (also an endangered species). However, the woodland is being cleared out at an alarming rate for charcoal burning and sisal farming. That is why we started purchasing land, not for farming or charcoal burning, but for conservation. Read more about this from our concept note here.
Planting trees where they have been cut and burned for charcoal burning – practical restoration
After buying, what next?
From 2014 to date, we have managed to purchase over 6500 acres of the targeted c.12000 acres (Thanks to our devoted partners in this, especially Rain Forest Trust, World Land Trust and IUCN Netherlands). Destruction in the bought pieces has significantly reduced and the woodland is booming again. However, buying land and having it under A Rocha Kenya’s ownership is just the first step, restoring the already damaged areas is the next step. One of the keyways of achieving this, is tree planting! Planting as many indigenous trees as possible, in the areas where they have been cut down.
Planting trees in the areas of the forest that had been burned down
Forget the slippery grounds, let’s go plant trees
For the staff team building activity this year, we decided to travel to Dakatcha and be part of this noble task- plant trees! The rains are back, the soil is ready, and the seedlings are in place, just what could stop us! Our journey started early, 6:30 in the morning. With about 100kms to cover and a prayer in our hearts that it won’t rain before we got out of the woodland. Trust me, rain will always be good news in Dakatcha, but if it rains and for some reasons you are still in the forest, with an automatic Matatu that isn’t four-wheel, that good news changes to terrible news very quickly. You see, the Dakatcha soil is slippery, and I mean slippery…it takes patience and a miracle for even the four-wheel off-road land cruisers to pass through.
Part of the team on the way to the woodland, ready for the day!
Finally!
After enduring the long winding roads and 2 stop-overs by the traffic police (for the usual road inspections), we finally made it to Dakatcha, at about 10am. We dropped the utensils and left Francis roasting goat meat for later as we proceeded to the planting sites. And just when the engines came to a stop, at the heart of the woodland, it started down-pouring- heavily! According to KK, our tree nursery staff, there is no better feeling than planting trees in the rain. That is why we all alighted, stepped right into the rain and started the planting. I guess those who did the actual planting had more fun, but for the rest of us with jembes digging the holes, it was a whole lot less fun- but fulfilling nevertheless.
Getting ready for the goat roasting
That is a jembe! Not as fan as it looks, especially if you have been the desk for a few years
Five hours later
A team of 14, and 900 seedlings to plant, no wonder we finished at 3:30pm. My hands were hurting, and I had lost my shoes. Everyone was tired and, you remember the rain right? Well, it didn’t rain for that long to be fair, but 30 minutes is more than enough to cause the damage we so hoped we could escape. We had a passenger’s vehicle that was built for tarmac roads deep inside the forest, on a road that had just been cleared a few days ago and was slippery! Just what could go wrong?
Work well done, time to go home.
Turns out, everything could go wrong
Well, we just had to enter the vehicle and barely start our journey before getting an answer to that question. Everything could go wrong, and everything did go wrong. With the driver’s foot on the acceleration pedal, the tires would rotate but the vehicle stayed stagnant! To make things even more juicy, we couldn’t reverse to gain momentum. The vehicle couldn’t go forward or backward, it appeared it was happy to stay where it was, much to our dismay!
After 45-60 minutes of intensive shouting, pushing, digging and the occasional pulling, we were ready to give up. The only thing that remained constant was the drizzling rain. Our faces dropped as our hearts sunk, were we ever getting out of here? Or camp by force? Not to mention that the well roasted tender goat meat was just waiting a few kms away. Goat! That is right, we can call for reinforcements from the team at the goat roasting. And so we did! They showed up, with the strength we so much needed. Their fresh and motivated faces, their psyched voices and the endless ‘we are going home’ assurances lifted us up from beneath the ocean of despair to take the fresh breath of hope that we so much needed, and boy we did.
Stanley started rallying everyone behind the vehicle. Asking us to stand up and push as he led by example. At some point I think he fell down and got back up, he must have! The mud left on his trousers and shirt was good evidence of the struggle we had. The vehicle got out alright, but we had to run and urge the driver not to remove hist foot from the gas, all the way from the forest. It did get stuck a few times but we are there, right behind it, ready to push. We made it out, with our voices dry, our legs weak and our hearts full of stories to tell.
Trust me, we all spoke mud
The ”blunt” green arrow
Spoils of war
Conclusion
We can’t finish this amazing story without thanking WWF’s Russell E. Train Education for Nature Program. They have been kind enough to fund the practical restoration of the A Rocha Kenya Dakatcha Nature Reserve. Thank you for funding the planting of 10,000+ seedlings in the reserve. Here is the an update video about the A Rocha Kenya Dakatcha Nature Reserve
This was by far the best team building activity we have ever had. Planting trees was truly fulfilling but rallying behind one another as a team to get that vehicle out of the woodland was something else entirely. Being there to hold each other’s hand, showing up when one of us needed us, lifting each other up and staying in the fight long enough to seen everything through was probably the best lesson a team could ever learn. And am glad I got to experience that with my team!
On Monday a group 5 of A Rocha Kenya volunteers, were able to help with tree planting in a local village. Tree planting is one of the conservation measures through which ASSETS (Arabuko-Sokoke Schools and Eco-Tourism Scheme) works with the local community to make them less depended on the forest. The idea being that if the community members have their own trees, they can sell or cut for timber or charcoal without having to go into the forest.
Happy Lennea during the planting
The process
Families engaged primarily are those of ASSETS beneficiaries. We arrived at the households and headed round the back of their property to the area where the trees were going to be planted. Using string that was pulled tight across an area of land, we dug holes for the saplings at 2metre intervals. The Casuarina sapling could then be placed into the ground, and with care, the hole filed in with soil. A basin was left at the base of each tree for rain to pool from the nearby ground and provide prolonged saturation for the roots. In total as a group, we planted just over 170 trees!
Digging the holes
Why the tree planting
The rainy season starts in April here in Kenya, so it is this time of the year that there is a bigger push to put trees in the ground. In the hope that they will become well enough established before the water becomes more scarce.
Our aim as ASSETS has always been to reduce the pressure exerted on Arabuko-Sokoke Forest and the Mida-Creek, and in so doing, care for God’s beautiful creation. One of the best ways of doing this, that has been tested over the years, is helping the neighboring community to be more equipped and be able to rely on themselves. If they can go about their daily lives without having to cut down trees or hunt animals in the forest, then there is hope for the forest.
Conclusion
After the planting was completed, the volunteers got a chance to share with the community and they were all very praising of ASSETS and the potential it has to provide benefit to local people. Nathan a new A Rocha Kenya volunteer was excited to get stuck in and had this to say… “Getting to visit a family living in smaller village was such a privilege and I truly enjoyed getting dirty in the soil, digging holes and planting trees. What I took from this experience the most though was learning how beneficial a few simple trees can be to a family. I learnt that not only can tree planting contribute towards a healthier environment, but also be a source of income for people too, brilliant! Plus, an added benefit was the building of friendships and community that resulted from our great teamwork!
Last weekend, our science team together with a few volunteers went for the monthly Sabaki bird count. To make the activity even more interesting and fruitful, they went there the night before and camped on site. Faith, a volunteer in the communications department was happy to join them, and this is what she had to say…
“During my time at A Rocha Kenya, I have heard many interesting stories about the Sabaki bird counts, or the muddy counts, as it is often called. That is why when the opportunity to not only join the count but get to camp as well presented itself, I couldn’t say no. We arrived at Sabaki at around 4pm, where we met members of the Sabaki River Conservation and Development Organization ( SARICODO). They were our hosts, but also would later join us for the counts. We then headed to our camping site where we pitched our tents and spend the rest of the evening.
Early the next day…
Our morning started quite early. We started with a bird walk around the area. In the process, we also got to identify some interesting species and learnt about some of the tree species around. Some of the bird species in our bird watching included the Red –cheeked Cordon-bleu, African palm swift and Namaqua dove. We also saw the Speckled mousebird ,Scaly-throated honeyguide ,Africa pied wagtail, Village weaver and the Fork-tailed drongo.
Kirao (carrying the telescope) and the team
One for the road
At about quarter past seven, we went back to our camping site and made breakfast. We really had a scarcity of water in the area so the little we could get was only used for cooking and drinking.
The Sabaki water counts started half past nine. We used a different route because of the rains, the usual route was flooded and thus very hard to access. Because of the floods, we had a lot of dirty water in the ocean from the river.
Most of the water birds had migrated and so we did not count a lot of birds as usual. The count did live up to its legend. The fun part was walking through the mud on the banks, and also watching out for the hippos in the river.
The mud is what makes it fun
Bird of the day
The highlight of the day was the White-winged Black Tern, the species was in the molting period and as a result looked very pretty. Other species that were counted included the African sacred ibis, Common greenshank, Caspian tern, Lesser flamingos, Terek Sandpiper, Swift tern, Lesser crested tern, Grey plover, Little stint and White-fronted plover.
White-winged Black Tern
We were done by our counts at around noon, where we all gathered at our camping site, broke camp and cleared, ready to go back to Mwamba. I really had a very interesting day and a unique experience. What I thought the Sabaki counts would be like was great, but what I experienced was even greater. And even though there wasn’t the usual mud, maybe because we used a different route, the muddy count did live up to its legend!”
