creating environmental improvements through biodiversity

In addition to providing economic benefits, this project has demonstrated the value of the rehabilitation
process in enhancing local biodiversity conservation by establishing forest habitats for rare and endangered
species of animals and plants, such as Afelzia quanzensis and Combretum schumanii. This has proved to be
an important contribution to the area because, except for a few relict habitats, much of the original coastal
rainforest disappeared from the Kenyan coast hundreds of years ago.
In fact, many of the region’s endemic species are under threat from habitat destruction and climate change.
Restoration efforts aim to restore elements of Kenyan tropical forest unique to the East African coast.
Although the conditions in the quarries are not representative of typical forest environments, the presence
of a high water table allows for accelerated forest recovery. The restoration of the quarries using species
indigenous to the coastal forests has helped to create safe habitats for a suite of rare species.
The Bamburi reclamation project has reduced the impact of mining operations in the area. Since its inception,
the reclamation of the Bamburi quarries has involved the planting of more than 2.5 million trees – creating a
landscape of diverse biodiversity – and explored a range of economic opportunities, adding significant value
to what might otherwise have been a wasteland.
This project has demonstrated working examples of sustainable mining legacies that can benefit local people
in the long term by opening up opportunities for innovative farming techniques, ecological management and
tourism.
Sustainable Aggregates Creating Environmental Improvements through Biodiversity
Description
In the 1950s the development of the Bamburi Portland cement industry 8 kilometres north of Mombasa,
Kenya, contributed to the area’s infrastructure and economic growth. However, the quarrying of limestone
for the cement-making process left a legacy of arid wastelands only 50 centimetres above the water table.
In 1959 Dr Rene Haller was employed as an agriculturalist and landscape gardener to run the Bamburi
Cement garden department, the main tasks of which were to plant trees and shrubs to hide the cement
factory and to grow food for the employees on the reserve land. The garden department proved to be
extremely successful and experimented with a variety food production systems, including establishing poultry
units, red maasii sheep flocks and organic farming.
In 1971, Haller extended the landscaping activities by experimenting with reclamation approaches to
rehabilitate the quarries mined by the cement factory. Haller retired in 2000 but continues to be involved
with the site in an advisory capacity through the Baobab Trust and as a board member of Lafarge ecosystems.
Rehabilitation Process
The original rehabilitation programme consisted of a forestry programme to develop a versatile forest
ecosystem that would provide economic returns over the long term. However, over time the project
diversified to include aquatic ecosystems, an aquaculture programme to return profits in the short term,
game farming, nature trails and a wildlife park. All these systems evolved over time in a process of trial and
error to find the best approach.
The forest system developed through a long process of trial and observation and through a combination
of natural succession and plantations. It was gradually developed using a limited number of colonizing
species that could cope with the harsh ecological conditions. The Casuarina tree, in particular, emerged as
an essential component of the rehabilitation process. A combination of planting and self-seeding gave rise
to a pioneer forest system, with Casuarinas acting as nurse species encouraging the further colonization
of the area by other species. Over time the gradual displacement of pioneer species provided ecological
opportunities for a second generation of more diverse forest species.
As the forest was intended to be both ecologically and economically sustainable, natural re-colonization
processes were not allowed to progress unchecked. If left to colonize naturally, the forest would have
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