ISRA FACTSHEETS
ISRA FACTSHEETS
WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN REGION
Lamu Archipelago
Summary
Lamu Archipelago is located in northern Kenya. The area contains >65 islands separated by numerous mangrove-covered channels and estuaries. It is characterised by extensive mangrove stands surrounded by lagoons, seagrass beds, rocky areas, shallow fringing reefs, and submerged barrier reefs. The area overlaps with the Kiunga Marine National Reserve Key Biodiversity Area and with the Lamu-Kiunga Area Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Area. Within the area there are: reproductive areas (Bluespotted Lagoon Ray Taeniura lymma).
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Lamu Archipelago
DESCRIPTION OF HABITAT
Lamu Archipelago is located on the northern Kenyan coast, in Lamu county near the border with Somalia. The archipelago contains ~65 islands separated by numerous mangrove-covered channels and estuaries (Olendo et al. 2019). The area is characterised by extensive mangrove stands surrounded by lagoons, seagrass beds, rocky areas, shallow fringing reefs, and submerged barrier reefs (Church & Obura 2006).
The area is influenced by monsoon winds. The southeast monsoon (March–October) brings strong winds and currents, while the northeast monsoon (November–March) is characterised by dry conditions, mild currents, and higher temperatures (Painter 2020).
The area overlaps with the Kiunga Marine National Reserve Key Biodiversity Area (KBA 2023) and with the Lamu-Kiunga Area Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Area (EBSA) (CBD 2023). In addition, it overlaps with the Kiunga Marine National Reserve and with a Community Nature Reserve, the Pate Marine Community Conservancy.
This Important Shark and Ray Area is benthic and is delineated from inshore and surface waters (0 m) to 50 m based on the depth range of the Qualifying Species.
CRITERION C
SUB-CRITERION C1 – REPRODUCTIVE AREAS
Lamu Archipelago is an important reproductive area for one ray species.
Between August and October 2022, 82 Bluespotted Lagoon Rays were reported in landings in Kiwayuu from artisanal fisheries operating in the area. Of these individuals, 45 measured 9.0–12.5 cm disc width (DW) which is close to the reported size-at-birth for the species (13–14 cm DW; Last et al. 2016) indicating the presence of neonates/young-of-the-year (YOY; N Wambiji unpubl. data 2023). In addition, neonates of this species were previously reported between January 2016–April 2017 as part of the Bycatch Assessment and Mitigation in the Western Indian Ocean Fisheries project (N Wambiji unpubl. data 2023) and between 2018–2019 (Wildlife Conservation Society unpubl. data 2020). This is the only area in Kenya where a large proportion of neonates have been recorded and between 2018–2019, this was the only place in Kenya where the species was observed during monitoring of artisanal landings.
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