Concern Rises Over Kaya Kauma Forest Gazettement

The Public Petitions Committee, headed by the MP for Runyenjes Muchangi Karemba, began its investigation of Kaya Kauma in Kilifi County because there have been increasing concerns about making the sacred coastal forest areas of Kenya public by gazetting them.

The committee is reviewing a petition for formalized protections of the forests, and there is local community anxiety about the effect this will have on their ability to maintain their culture.

The committee visited Kaya Kauma in response to a petition submitted by Kilifi North MP Owen Baya that calls for emergency public land status of the sacred forests to prevent illegal use and degradation by outside interests, while also ensuring that local communities continue to be able to maintain their traditions as well as create new customs through cultural activities in relation to these areas.

Concerns of Cultural Anxieties Among Elders Regarding Kaya

Kaya Kauma is described as the sacred place of the Mijikenda community.

Traditionally, it was both a place of cultural identity and a source of spirituality, but it also serves as an important hub for biodiversity along the coastal ecosystem.

During this visit, meeting attendees expressed concern over state intervention and the potential of future gazettement eroding age-old traditions of the kaya.

Elder Mr. Chaxston Chivatsi expressed his thoughts to the committee, “We do not oppose the gazettement, but what we are saying is that we are not receiving any support from the government while we are still doing our part to take care of the environment.”

He also expressed a fear of being subjected to more government intervention, saying that community members fear there could be interference with the way they practice sacred rites and ceremonies if management is turned over to the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) or any other state agency.

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Legal Uncertainty Clouds Ownership and Management

Concerns also emerged from heritage conservation authorities over the legal implications of gazettement.

Officials from the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) questioned how ownership and management structures would be defined.

NMK Assistant Director for the Coastal Region, Hussein Aden, posed, “If the forest is gazetted, what is the legal ownership? Does it become a private forest as it is private land, or a community forest as it is community land?”

He warned that placing the forests under KFS could complicate enforcement of cultural protections guaranteed under the Museums Act, even as NMK reaffirmed the global importance of Kaya forests, many of which are recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Community Expectations Conflict With Conservation Needs

Conservation stakeholders continue to stress how urgent it is to protect the forests from increasing threats to their fragile ecosystem, like illegal logging and charcoal production, as these activities continue to destroy the ecosystems.

The County Forest Conservator of Kilifi Mr. Ruwa Kalama Masha defended the proposal saying, “What the gazetting will accomplish is not to ruin the cultural practices of the community but rather to allow them to prevent destruction from the younger generations who are going in and destroying the forests.”

He cited the success of gazetting similar sites in Taita, where sacred “Figi” forests had been gazetted as well without violating any cultural traditions.

He also stated that the legal recognition of the forests will create new opportunities to protect the forest from being destroyed by illegal acts.

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Calls for Inclusion and Tangible Community Benefits

Lawmakers also asked for examples of how local communities will benefit from the project, and what elements of the project were designed to benefit them.

“Why haven’t you been able to empower the public with projects beneficial to them?” asked committee vice-chair Hon. Janet Sitienei.

Also proposed was a Community Forest Association (CFA), created from an existing conservation project, that would connect Kaya communities to an umbrella organization to oversee conservation and the protection of cultural heritage of these communities.

The KFS maintained that through participatory forest management frameworks, local communities would gain access to benefits associated with the project, including income-generating activities such as being beekeepers and eco-tourism.

For example, they used the Kipepeo butterfly project as an example of a success story where forest-adjacent communities have benefited from a successful conservation project.

However, the NMK was very adamant that they would preserve the integrity of cultures through these projects, and that any involvement in these projects by NMK must be consistent with their mandate to preserve Indigenous identity.

From their perspective, “The forest and communities are one and the same.”

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Kaya Kauma Community members in talks with National Assembly’s public petitions committee chaired by Runyenjes MP Muchangi Karemba on the gazettement of Kaya Kauma forests. PHOTO/ PCS