Research Priorities and Programs

To facilitate wildlife research, the Kenya Wildlife Service through its Biodiversity Research & Monitoring Division, regularly reviews research activities and programmes with a view to coming up with a prioritized research list.  From this list, those interested can select their research topic of choice.     

Photo Credit: KWS Coast Conservation Area

The current research priorities cover many areas that include: 

1. Establishment of the ecological processes important in maintaining healthy wildlife and diversity;
2. The value of wildlife in particular habitats as ecological service providers and as tourist attractions;
3. Effects of habitat fragmentation and degradation on wildlife;
4.  The relationship between the intensity of anthropogenic activities and healthy and viable wildlife populations;
5. Alien species research and how these alter habitats for wildlife;
6. Identification and monitoring of indicator species or guilds that can be used to assess habitat condition or biodiversity value;
7. Impacts of recreational disturbance on ecology of wildlife in key habitats;
8. Identification of problem animals and especially to aviation and agriculture;
9. Potential impacts of climate change on ecology of wildlife;
10. Population viability analyses and ecological predictive modeling of wildlife populations in a changing landscape;
11. Disturbance ecology;
12. Community wildlife conservation;
13.  Wildlife corridors;
14.  Ecological economics and payment for ecosystem services;
15. Trans-frontier conservation;
16. Biodiversity inventories including indicators for conservation;
17. Stable isotope analyses;
18. Migratory patterns of wildlife in changing landscapes including wildlife telemetry studies;
19. Multilateral environmental agreements to which Kenya is a signatory;
20. Biosystematics and taxonomical studies;
           

WETLANDS CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT IN KENYA

Wetlands are among the most important ecosystems in Kenya and occupy approximately 3-4 per cent of Kenya’s land area. The integrity of the country’s water resources and agricultural productivity is sustained by our wetlands. They are nutrient rich and productive most of the year. During the dry season, wetlands are the only places where the local communities are able to access quality pasture and their edges support production of vegetables and other quick maturing crops for household consumption. They also control floods and clear water of pollutants through filtration. Wetlands are therefore a key source for the achievement of Vision 2030 and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

Despite the critical functions wetlands provide, they are constantly under threat and many continue to be degraded and even lost at an alarming rate. The government being mindful of the opportunities lost through wetland degradation and loss ratified the Ramsar Convention in  1989 with KWS as the Ramsar Administrative Authority in Kenya.To date the following six areas have been designated as Ramsar Sites in Kenya. Tana River Delta, Lakes Nakuru, Naivasha, Elementaita, Baringo and Bogoria.  

KWS Wetlands Programme

The KWS Wetlands Programme started in 1991 and has been instrumental in spear heading major wetland conservation initiatives in Kenya. These efforts have culminated in the publishing of the Kenya Wetlands Atlas a publication that provides visual evidence of the extent and severity of the changes taking place in Kenya’s wetlands spanning thirty years mostly occasioned by intense detrimental human activities. The efforts have also ensured the development of the National Wetlands Policy that is currently at the final stages of approval. Further, these efforts have led to the recent declaration and launch of Tana Delta Ramsar Site among many other achievements.

The programme consists of two components, the Wetlands project and the Training project. The Wetlands project has two components, the Terrestrial Wetland component and Coastal and Marine Wetland component. All programme activities share common objectives and are interdependent in nature.

The overall goal of the Programme is to promote conservation and management of wetlands in Kenya for socio-economic development through sustainable utilization.  From this overall goal the following objectives have been set:

• To formulate a National Wetlands Policy that aims at promoting conservation and wise use of Wetlands in the country;
• To create and promote education and awareness about wetlands at all levels of society; especially among government departments, policy and decision-makers, developers, land owners and local communities;
• To strengthen the capacity of KWS and other institutions that work in the field of wetlands conservation;
• To promote better understanding and appreciation of the functions and values of Wetlands through research and monitoring;
• To improve the actual management of Wetlands within protected areas and beyond;
• To support community conservation initiatives by provision of technical support, linkages and mobilisation;
• To develop integrated management plans and support the implementation of these plans for key and important wetlands in Kenya;
• Promote national and international collaborations for Wetlands conservation in Kenya;

In line with the above objectives, the following routine activities are carried out:

• Supporting Wetlands inventory and database development.
• Supporting Wetlands research and monitoring
• Supporting Wetlands education and awareness
• Supporting development of management plans for Wetlands areas.
• Supporting training of Wetlands managers, researchers, developers and users.
• Supporting development of the National Wetlands Policy
• Building collaborations for Wetlands conservation in Kenya.

The tables below summarize key characteristics of Kenya’s Wetlands.

Table 1: Detailed classification of Kenya’s wetlands and their components

Table 2: Attributes of Kenya’s main twelve river systems

Table 3: Characteristics of major Kenyan Lakes

Table 4: Kenya’s Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Sites).

Table 5: Kenya’s largest dams

The black rhino (Diceros bicornis) suffered a catastrophic decline across Africa in the 1970s and 1980s, both in numbers and extent of its range. Numbers plummeted from an estimated 65,000 in 1970 to fewer than 2,500 by 1992.  The decline of the eastern black rhino (D. b. michaeli) in East Africa was particularly severe where the large National Parks and Reserves such as Tsavo National Park (NP) and the Selous Game Reserve (GR)  used to hold perhaps twice as many black rhino as currently exist in the whole world. The black rhino dropped in number in Kenya from an estimated 20,000 in 1970 to less than 400 animals by 1990 mainly due to poaching.  All surviving subspecies of black rhino are listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Over the last 20 years in particular, considerable money and resources have been expended in several African countries aimed at saving the black rhino from extinction. As a result, the declining trend has reversed and numbers are slowly increasing.  As at the end of 2012 Kenya had 631 black rhinos while Africa had a total of 5,081 black rhinos according to the African Rhino Specialist Group (2012). However, Illegal demand for rhino horn resulting in poaching was, and continues to be, the major threat to persistence of all species of African rhinos.  The proportion of rhinos poached was more than 1.5% per annum in African between 2009 and 2011 but slightly more than 2% per annum in Kenya over the same period.  It is speculated that the increase in poaching has resulted from societal changes in some Asian countries such as Vietnam.  This t has led to an increase in demand that is not associated with traditional Chinese medicinal use. Furthermore, anti-poaching investigations and intelligence in some African rhino range States suggest that organized crime syndicates exploit, and perhaps even manipulate the newly expanded demand for rhino horn.  In curbing the threat posed by poaching, government authorities of African rhino range States need dynamic responses that are both tactful and strategic. 

The current programme is guided by the following strategic objectives as outlined in the 5^th edition of the Conservation and Management Strategy for the Black Rhino in Kenya 2012-2016.

The Strategic Plan defines a revised overall goal of conserving at least 750 black rhinos by the end of 2016, achieving at least 5% national growth rate and less than 1% man-induced and disease-related deaths.  By achieving these goals, progress towards achieving the long-term Vision will have been made. The Strategic Plan identifies a number of Key Strategic Objectives (SOs)namely:

1. Protection and law enforcement.
2. Monitoring for management.
3. Biological management.
4. Population expansion.
5. Awareness and public support.
6. Coordination and capacity.

The above SOs will address the urgent need for additional secure conservation areas for rhinos, the increasing illegal demand for rhino horn and the increasing rhino poaching, and the effective implementation of the Strategic Plan through shared responsibilities.