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Kenya National Parks and Reserves
Kenya has some 54 national parks and reserves, together with private conservancies and sanctuaries, covering over 10% of the land area, as well as seven marine national parks and reserves.
The responsibility for managing the national parks and the country’s protected wildlife species comes under the jurisdiction of the Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS).
Country councils are responsible for the management of national reserves in their administrative area. Other conservancies and sanctuaries are managed privately and often work in close association with KWS.
The first national park was Nairobi National Park, formed in 1946, a foresight remarkable to this day when you see the Nairobi city skyline etched along the park boundary.
Other early reserves were Marsabit, West Chyulu and the Mara, formed in 1948, and Ngong in 1949, while Mount Kenya National Park was gazetted in 1949 and the Aberdare National Park in 1950.
The difference between national park and national reserve status can be confusing. The National Park Trustee’s report of 1951 describes the difference:
A National Reserve...is a local term denoting area preservation where the reasonable needs of the human inhabitants living within the area must take preference. It is in the nature of a compromise between a National Park and a Game Reserve, where the establishment of a National Park – although eminently desirable – is not easily possible.
Reference: Kenya – The Bradt Travel Guide
Several projects have been under way in recent years to protect Kenya's resident and migratory turtles -- estimated to number about 800 -- which lay their eggs on the coastal beaches. In the past they have been at ever-increasing risk (and to some extent still are) from the poaching of adult nesting females, egg collection, beach erosion, predators and pollution.
When the female turtle makes her slow way up the beach, she digs a hole about half a metre (l8 inches) deep with her flippers and may lay as many as a hundred eggs at a time. These she covers with sand and then returns to the sea. The egg laying is always a nocturnal affair. Between the months of June and November one female may return three or four times to lay up to a thousand eggs in different nests which she makes for herself along the beach.
For the people of the coast, turtles have always in the past been a welcome nutritional source as well as having their economic and cultural uses: their meat and eggs for food, their shell for ornaments and export, and their oil as a medicine 'for the protection against evil spirits'. As such, the killing of adult nesting females and egg collection has been rampant, reducing their far greater numbers to the estimated l996 count of 800.
Measures taken by the Kenya Wildlife Service, private initiatives and conservation groups have, nonetheless, proved successful in curbing turtle exploitation through public education and participation and the provision of incentives.
In the main, these have involved giving financial inducement to local populations, who are encouraged to look out for turtle nests along the beaches, report them to the Kenya Wildlife Service to receive payment, and guard the nests until the young turtles are hatched. The incubation period is 7-10 weeks. In the presence of the local inhabitants and visiting tourists, officials from the KWS then release the young turtles into the sea.
At Bamburi, on the mainland north of Mombasa, where the rehabilitation of the gaping scars of the Bamburi cement factory's limestone quarry, transforming it into a nature wonderland, has been one of the country's most exciting environmental successes and a great tourist attraction, guides are hired to collect the eggs from the beaches before they can be poached or destroyed and deliver them to Bamburi's artificial hatchery. Once hatched out, the infant turtles are released into the sea.
Of the five turtle species widely distributed along the Kenya coastline within the 32 km (20-mile) isobar, the entirely vegetarian green turtle (Cheloni mydas) is the most common and the most likely to be seen within 3 km (2 miles) of the shore. The other four are the hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata); the Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) ; the loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and the giant leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) . And a giant it is, the largest of the marine turtles, up to 2 metres (7 feet) in length and weighing up to 680 kg (l,500 lbs). It derives the name 'leatherback' because of the leathery skin which covers its shell in place of the horny scales which cover all other seagoing turtles.
The second largest marine turtle, the loggerhead weighs up to 408 kg (900 lbs) and may grow to just over a metre (4 feet) in length or possibly more.
With the exception of the green turtle, the others are omnivorous and will eat almost anything -- including coral. Their preference is for areas of sea-grasses and coral reefs, but they are highly migratory creatures and their nesting beaches are usually located a long way from their feeding grounds. As to their speed, the hawksbill can swim at 50 km (30 miles) an hour and the giant leatherback up to 74 km (46 mph) -- both faster, it might be said, than traffic in the rush hours in Nairobi city centre.
Kenya Music
Traditionally, Kenya music centered on drumming and dance, often accompanied by humming, chatting and singing. Apart from the drums, other musical instruments include variations on flute, lyres and guitars, which may be seen in the National Museums of Kenya among their ethnic exhibits.
Since then, Kenya music has evolved through early Afro-jazz to African hip-hop, rap and dance music. Recent years have seen an increase in FM radio stations throughout urban Kenya, and now Kenyan artists are at the forefront of the Kenyan music scene.
about life in a Nairobi suburb, which scooped a nomination at the South African Kora Awards (the African equivalent to the Grammy awards) in 2002 for the most promising new talent in Africa. Since then, Kenya music has evolved through early Afro-jazz to African hip-hop, rap and dance music. Recent years have seen an increase in FM radio stations throughout urban Kenya, and now Kenyan artists are at the forefront of the Kenyan music scene.
The formation of a loose alliance of Kenyan Hip Hop artists as Ogopa DJs created a nonstop hit factory that sent tune after tune to the top of the Kenyan charts. By 2002, formerly idolized Western artists were wiped out of radio airplay by Kenyans such as Nameless - who had a huge hit with Ninanoki and went on to record the best-selling album "On Fire".
His collaboration with a young artist E-Sir was a track called Boomba Train, which also dominated dancefloors and clubs across the country. E-Sirs career was tragically cut short by a road accident in 2003.
Redsan, a singer as well known for his looks as his music has kept Kenya's female population enthralled with hits such as Julie and Raha - a track whose hip hop overtones are underscored with coastal taarab sounds.
As the current trend for fusion of world and western styles grows, many Kenyan artists are exploring this new realm of musical possibility. One of the most popular up and coming artists is Mercy Myra who combines traditional and modern, African and Western styles.
Reggae has also become popular, with blends of Afro-reggae and rap. One of the better-known Kenyan Reggae artists is Nazizi the female vocalist from rap group Necessary Noize also known for her solo reggae work.
Alongside, traditional music is still important. The Kayamba Africa group and Suzanne Owiyo were both nominated for Kora awards in 2002.
The arrival of better and more easily accessible instrumentation and recording facilities is continuing to strengthen and diversify the Kenyan music scene.
As music in Kenya continues to grow and evolve, and opportunities for young talented Kenyans increase, the future sounds great.
For such a small country, the great diversity of musical styles and language interests in Kenya has created an extremely fragmented recording and performance market.
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