The Executive Director represented LWF at the launch of the Kenya Bird Trends platform by the Tropical Biology Association (TBA) on 23rd August 2024. The event was held at the Kenya Wildlife Service’s Nairobi Safari Walk, with the Director General of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), Dr. Erastus Kanga, as the Chief Guest. This online platform allows users to track changes in the range of bird species in Kenya over time by comparing historical and recent data on interactive maps.
Mr. Anthony Kuria, the project lead, informed participants that the platform is a product of the ‘Improved Decision-Making through Citizen Science’ project, funded by the Darwin Initiative. The project focused on capacity building through citizen science, training 31 citizen managers and producing eight new citizen science analyses.
Dr. Keter from the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) highlighted that there are 121 Key Bird Areas (KBAs) in Kenya, with 10 endemic bird species found in these regions. Dr. Peter Njoroge, also of the NMK, explained the platform’s applications in areas such as conservation (species and site prioritization, international obligations, environmental monitoring, invasive species control); Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) (legal obligations, project financing); tourism (avitourism, field guides); public health and food security (avian flu surveillance, pest bird species control); and research on emerging issues (AI and machine learning, the aviation industry, biodiversity credit markets).
The event concluded with awards presented to three individuals and a couple for their efforts in bird tracking and identification.
The platform can be accessed at kenyabirdtrends.co.ke
