Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
This site is a papyrus
Cyperus papyrus swamp at the extreme north of the Kenyan section of Lake Victoria, on the Kenya/Uganda border. The site consists of mature, almost undisturbed, continuous papyrus
stands, stretching from the mouth of the Sio river southwards for about 3.5 km along the lakeshore.
See Box and Table 3 for key species. This is an important site for Lake Victoria biome species, especially three papyrus endemics:
Laniarius mufumbiri (relatively common),
Bradypterus carpalis and
Serinus koliensis. The globally threatened
Chloropeta gracilirostris is not yet recorded but is likely to occur.
Non-bird biodiversity: None known to BirdLife International.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Sio Port is an important site because of the size of the swamp and its relatively pristine condition. Like other papyrus swamps around Lake Victoria, it is increasingly threatened by unsustainable use, and is in urgent need of better protection. Infestation by the exotic water-hyacinth
Eichhornia crassipes in many parts of the lake has prevented fishermen from fishing, forcing them to seek alternative forms of livelihood and adding greatly to the human pressure on wetlands. Papyrus shows remarkable powers of regeneration, but excessive cutting for the local mat-making industry, combined with large-scale clearing for cultivating rice and other crops, could rapidly destroy this wetland. Further survey work needs to be carried out at Sio Port to establish whether the threatened
Chloropeta gracilirostris is present, and if so, at what densities.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Sio Port swamp (Kenya). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/sio-port-swamp-iba-kenya on 23/12/2024.
