Welcome to Kenya



Kenya, with a land area of approximately 580,000 km2, lies astride the equator and exhibits considerable climatic and physical variation as a result of altitude and the strong continental influence inland and marine influence at the coast. Climatic relions range from the cool highlands to the arid savannah in the interior to the low lying and hunmid coastal plains.

The Kenya coast which forms part of the western border of the Indian Ocean is over 600 kilometers in length. Its most distinctive feature is the almost continuous fringing reef usually running parallel to the coast. Other features, starting from the north are - Lamu Archipelago with its extensive mangrove forests, the Tana River, Kenya's longrest river discharges through a complex wetland system into Formosa Bay, the Sabaki River which incorporates the Athi and Galana rivers, discharges just north of Malindi, Mombasa Island at the entrance to the most extensive embayment on the coast, with Mombasa Harbour on one side and Kilindini Harbour on the other, the former leading to Port Tudor and the latter to Port Reitz; and, the southern complex of Gazi Bay, Chale Island, Funzi Bay and Funzi Island, Wasini Island and a number of smaller coral islands.

Close to one million people inhabit the Kenya coastal areas at an overall density of 100-200/km2. Of these about 400,000 live in Mombasa which is Kenya’s major seaport and second largest urban area. The coast provides these people with food, shelter and employment.

On land, the coastal conidor is nt for its agricultural crops such as cassava, maize, cowpeas, rice, mango, banana, pineapple, cashew and coconut as well as sisal and cotton. In the intertidal and sub-tidal areas, the coast provides finfish, shellfish, marine algae and timber (from mangroves). The coast is also the gateway for the greater part of Kenyan imports and exports, a magnet for tourists and, potentially, the key to further prosperity if petroleum deposits are discovered offshore as expected.

Underlying these resources and uses which are of direct human interest, are the inherent ecological values which rank any stretch of Kenya coast among the most productive and valuable of natural ecosystems. The rich biological diversity reflects the varied habitats which, starting from the oceanic side, include deep waters comparatively close inshore, coral reefs, seagrass meadows, sandy beaches, rocky shores, mangrove swamps, estuarine mudflats, lowland coastal forests. and coastal hill forests which eventually give way to the savannah plains further inland.

The coastal and marine environments of Kenya are vert rich in resources. Yet they are the least studied of the Kenyan natural environments and there are a number of significant gaps in the data and infon-nation base. However, and in spite of these gaps the body of knowledge is still substantial and the Eastern African Coastal Resources Database and Atlas Project is a first attempt at compiling a comprehensive overview of existing knowledge about the Kenyan coastal environment and its uses. Having developed the electronic framework for data management, the first substantive product is this Atlas which, together with the GIS, will provide the bas4 tools for the complex task of managing Kenyan coastal resources and environments.



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