When the Guardians remain in the Fortress
The Sacred Kaya Forests of the Mijikenda in Kenya
A case for upholding the rights of indigenous communities to conserve ancestral forests
By Wacuka Maina
Rabai Kaya elders in traditional regalia
Photograph: Steve Okoko Ashikoye, National Museums of Kenya, 2007
Forming part of the Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa ecoregion[1] and biodiversity hotspot[2] along the southern coast of Kenya, the Sacred Kaya Forests of the Mijikenda[3] consist of eleven separate forest sites spread over some 200 kilometres of coast, ranging in size from 30 to 300 hectares. These sites are now almost all that remain of the once-extensive coastal lowland forests and are a living legacy of the Mijikenda people’s history, culture and spiritual beliefs.
The nine Mijikenda tribes[4] – the Giriama, Digo, Duruma, Rabai, Kauma, Ribe, Jibana, Kambe, and Chonyi – although culturally and linguistically distinct, trace their common history to a forced migration from southern Somalia. According to oral history, they began settling in the hills and plains of the Kenyan coast at least three centuries ago. In order to escape the marauding tribes that had driven them from their former settlements, they built their fortified villages, known as Kayas, in clearings within thick belts of the coastal forests.
For centuries the Kaya Forests shielded the Mijikenda from invading tribes and served as burial grounds and places of sacred ritual and prayer. Social taboos prohibited the cutting and removal of trees and other forest vegetation for all but a few select purposes such as the collection of medicinal plants. In the 19th century, as external threats diminished and populations grew, the Mijikenda began to establish new settlements outside the forests. However, Mijikenda elders continued to live at the old settlement sites and to care for the Kaya Forests.
Today the Kaya Forests and their thirty or so surviving fortified villages are considered repositories of spiritual beliefs and sacred abodes of ancestors of the Mijikenda people. Having been culturally revered over many generations, the Kaya Forests are rich in biodiversity and are high in conservation value. Over half of Kenya’s rare plants grow in the coastal region, and most have been identified within the Kaya Forests. The Kaya Forests also harbor rare and endemic species of birds, reptiles and insects.
Source: National Museums of Kenya, 2007
This reality belies the dominant 20th century conservation model that has promoted protecting biodiversity from human interference. Bearing the dubious title of 'fortress' conservation[5], this conservation model relies on the myth that it is possible to entirely separate humans from the natural world. Seeking to preserve pristine natural spaces devoid of human impact, proponents aim to remove or dis-empower the Indigenous Peoples and local communities that have called these spaces their home for generations.
Faced with growing environmental threats, countries seeking to halt biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation have increasingly resorted to fortress conservation through initiatives hinging on land and forest sequestration. As a result, fortress conservation has emerged as the seemingly default strategy to achieving the goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)[6], the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)[7], and the Paris Agreement on climate change[8].
The idea that forest conservation requires emptying forests of their inhabitants fails to acknowledge that Indigenous Peoples and local communities such as the Mijikenda are historically the most effective and efficient guardians of the forest. Presently, the lands of Indigenous Peoples and local communities store at least 24% of global aboveground tropical forest carbon[9], and they are estimated to achieve at least equal conservation outcomes as governmental and nongovernmental agencies with less than a quarter of the budget of government protected areas.[10]
In 2018, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Vicky Tauli-Corpuz outlined the problems with fortress conservation. Decrying a context whereby many protected areas are underfunded and therefore limited in their capacity to deliver climate or biodiversity outcomes, she made suggestions on how conservationists and environmentalists could empower Indigenous Peoples and local communities,[11] who she argued, are just as invested (and more efficient) when it comes to protecting the planet.
“Indigenous peoples and local communities have been conserving their lands and forests for centuries. But the rise of ‘fortress conservation’ is forcing them from their homes, hurting people and forests alike.”
UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Vicky Tauli-Corpuz
Against this backdrop, the prominent role that the Mijikenda continue to play in securing the future of the cultural and ecological treasures of the Kaya Forests over the last three decades is an exceptional achievement.
Aided by a collaboration of government and nongovernmental agencies, this achievement has been arrived at by placing the Kaya Forests under the auspices of the National Museums of Kenya (NMK)[12] – the state agency responsible for the management of national heritage in Kenya. The NMK created the Coastal Forest Conservation Unit (CFCU)[13] in 1992 to co-manage the Kaya Forests with the Mijikenda. With support from the World Wide Fund for Nature and other nongovernmental agencies, the CFCU implemented a multifaceted conservation program[14] supporting the development and implementation of a national Kaya Forests co-management plan.
Upon inception, the CFCU began mapping the Kaya Forests, making inventories of their biological diversity, and documenting social and cultural information. As an initial goal, the CFCU worked to secure national monument[15] status for all the Kaya Forests. To date, forty sites have been officially recognised as national monuments, their boundaries identified, and signs put up notifying the public of their legally protected status. The CFCU also implemented a Kaya guard program by which select community members patrol and keep watch over the forest to prevent illegal exploitation. Mijikenda elders handle minor offenses by imposing traditional fines, while major offenses are passed on to the CFCU to initiate judicial proceedings.
Another key focus of the CFCU is its education and awareness activities that seek to generate public interest in the Kaya Forests and to revive traditional Mijikenda conservation knowledge and practice. Additionally, through the Kaya Forests co-management plan, the CFCU also seeks to increase the ability of the Mijikenda to benefit from, and contribute to biodiversity conservation by supporting community projects that offer access to alternative sustainable livelihoods generating income from non-timber forest products (NTFP) such as tree seedling nurseries, beekeeping, culturally sensitive eco-tourism, and trade in traditional handicrafts.
One such project that started in 2001 is the Kaya Kinondo Ecotourism project [16] where guides conduct tours of the Kaya Forest, educating visitors about the forest’s medicinal plants and the traditional practices of the Mijikenda community. Visitors follow a strict code of behavior and certain areas are off limits or excluded from photography. Entry fees are used to aid local schools and other community projects, while local women’s groups operate an adjacent handicraft market.
On the strength of these developments, the ‘Sacred Kaya Mijikenda Forests’ was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List[17] in 2008. This designation has helped to further anchor the protection of the Kaya Forests as UNESCO contributes to the protection of World Heritage Sites by providing technical assistance and professional training, and through public awareness-building and conservation activities.
With outcomes such as these, what clearer demonstration is required to conclude that ancestral forest conservation must imperatively co-opt Indigenous Peoples and local communities? Indeed one may go so far as to assert that ancestral forest co-management plans must go beyond solely addressing biodiversity conservation, but also integrate sustainable community development and the generation of livelihood opportunities based on NTFPs.
Critically, conservation models and community rights need not be considered to be at odds with each other. Rather, recognising Indigenous Peoples and local communities as partners in conservation shall bolster our collective global fight against biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation and climate change.
[1] https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/at0125
[2] https://www.cepf.net/our-work/biodiversity-hotspots/coastal-forests-eastern-africa
[3] https://sacredland.org/kaya-forests-kenya/
[4] https://ich.unesco.org/en/USL/traditions-and-practices-associated-with-the-kayas-in-the-sacred-forests-of-the-mijikenda-00313
[5] https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199599868.001.0001/acref-9780199599868-e-644
[6] https://www.cbd.int/
[7] https://sdgs.un.org/goals
[8] https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement
[9] https://globalalliance.me/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Summary-Toward-a-global-baseline-of-carbon-storage-in-collective-lands_november-2016_RRI-WHRC-WRI.pdf
[10] https://www.corneredbypas.com/brief
[11] https://www.corneredbypas.com/
[12] https://www.museums.or.ke/
[13] https://sacredland.org/kaya-forests-kenya/
[14] https://www.wwfkenya.org/_our_work_/forest/
[15] https://www.museums.or.ke/sacred-mijikenda-kaya-forests/
[16] https://www.iccaregistry.org/en/explore/Kenya/kaya-kinondo; https://vimeo.com/57857007