Data Zone
Country/territory: Kenya
IBA criteria met: A1 (1999)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 20 hectares (0.20 km2)
| IBA conservation status | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year of assessment (most recent) | State (condition) | Pressure (threat) | Response (action) |
| 2021 | very poor | very high | very low |
| For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here | |||
Site description (2001 baseline)
The Kayas are small, relict patches of forest that once sheltered the fortified villages of the Mijikenda people on the Kenyan coast. They have spiritual and ceremonial significance and are customarily protected by a Council of Elders. Kaya Waa (sacred to the Digo people) is Cynometra–Drypetes forest on coral rag that covers a level cliff-top just above the ocean, near Waa village. The forest is dense and low, practically a thicket in many places, and difficult to walk through. Under the coral cliffs there is reportedly a large cave, which is of religious significance to the local people. The site was gazetted as a National Monument under the care of the National Museums of Kenya in 1992.
Key biodiversity
See Box for key species. The habitat structure is very suitable for the threatened Zoothera guttata, which has been recorded here and is likely to occur at relatively high density. The remaining avifauna is impoverished, but Tauraco fischeri (Near Threatened and restricted-range) and Pogoniulus simplex (East African Coast biome) have been recorded.
Non-bird biodiversity: The threatened small mammal Rhynchocyon petersi (EN) probably occurs. There is a healthy population of the coastal forest tree Cynometra greenwayi, a rare Kenyan endemic known only from here and the Watamu area.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Kaya Waa (Kenya). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/kaya-waa-iba-kenya on 27/12/2024.