News Headline
'We Have History': Kenya's Last Sacred 'Kaya' Forests Need Saving From Rampant Mining
Source
News18
Publication Date
2021-06-11
Wearing a crown of cowry shells and traditional regalia, Hillary Mwatsuma intoned a prayer to the ancestors who have been laid to rest in Kaya Kauma, one of 45 sacred forested villages scattered along Kenya’s southern coast, since the 16th century. The thick canopy encircling the ancient kayas, or villages, once shielded the Mijikenda community against attacks from enemy tribes, until the residents moved downhill into nearby villages in the 1940s. Today, the 200km (124 miles) of kaya forests are protected as the ancestral homes of the Mijikenda, while the trees help the community escape the worst effects of climate change, such as flooding and landslides.