The latest UNESCO list of Intangible Culture includes several sacred sites and sacred traditions. The Committee considered these cultural elements as endangered despite the efforts of the communities or groups concerned. Following the inscription, States concerned will implement specific safeguarding plans, as indicated in their nomination files. Intangible cultural elements in need of urgent safeguarding will be eligible for financial assistance from the Fund established to this end.

We can thank the National Museums of Kenya for their efforts in nominating the forests and for the efforts of scholars such as Celia Nyamweru who has been working with the Coastal Forests Conservation Unit, a division of the National Museums of Kenya. Visit the Sacred Sites Map on this website by clicking here for more information on Kaya Forests in an article by Celia Nyamweru.

Kenya / Traditions and practices associated to the Kayas in the sacred forests of the Mijikenda

The Mijikenda include nine Bantu-speaking ethnic groups in the Kaya forests of coastal Kenya. The identity of the Mijikenda is expressed through oral traditions and performing arts related to the sacred forests, which are also sources of valuable medicinal plants. These traditions and practices constitute their codes of ethics and governance systems, and include prayers, oath-taking, burial rites and charms, naming of the newly born, initiations, reconciliations, marriages and coronations.

Kayas are fortified settlements whose cultural spaces are indispensable for the enactment of living traditions that underscore the identity, continuity and cohesion of the Mijikenda communities. The use of natural resources within the Kayas is regulated by traditional knowledge and practices that have contributed to the conservation of their biodiversity. The Kambi (Councils of Elders) acts as the custodians of these Kayas and the related cultural expressions. Today, Mijikenda communities are gradually abandoning the Kayas in favour of informal urban settlements.

Due to pressure on land resources, urbanization and social transformations, the traditions and cultural practices associated to the Kaya settlements are fast diminishing, posing great danger to the social fabric and cohesiveness of the Mijikenda communities who venerate and celebrate them as their identity and symbol of continuity.