Data Zone
Country/territory: Kenya
IBA criteria met: A1, A3 (1999)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 350 hectares (3.50 km2)
| IBA conservation status | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year of assessment (most recent) | State (condition) | Pressure (threat) | Response (action) |
| 2023 | poor | high | very low |
| For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here | |||
Site description (2001 baseline)
Kusa swamp, at the mouth of River Nyando, is a wetland at the easternmost end of Lake Victoria’s Winam Gulf. Dense stands of papyrus Cyperus papyrus are fringed on the lakeward side by the water grass Vossia cuspidata and along the shore by reeds Phragmites spp.
Key biodiversity
See Box and Table 3 for key species. Kusa includes a substantial stand of papyrus, and the Near Threatened Laniarius mufumbiri is fairly abundant here. Other Lake Victoria Basin biome species include the papyrus endemics Bradypterus carpalis and Cisticola carruthersi, and it is suspected that Serinus koliensis and the globally threatened Chloropeta gracilirostris are likely to occur.
Non-bird biodiversity: Little information is available. The ungulate Tragelaphus spekii (LR/nt) occurs but is uncommon, and the snake Python sebae has been recorded. Like other wetlands around the shores of Lake Victoria, Kusa is probably an important refuge for a number of the lake’s endemic haplochromine fish species.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Kusa swamp (Kenya). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/kusa-swamp-iba-kenya on 23/12/2024.