This article lists the sites registered with World Heritage to Kenya.
Understand
the Kenya accepts the convention for the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage .
the Kenya has 7 properties (spread over 11 sites) listed in the World Heritage, 4 cultural and 3 natural.
The country has also submitted 17 sites to the tentative list.
Listing
The following sites are listed as World Heritage.
| Site | Type | Criterion | Description | Drawing | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Mijikenda sacred kayas forests | Cultural | (iii), (v), (vi) | The sacred kaya forests of the Mijikenda consist of 11 distinct forest sites that span nearly 200 km along the coast. They contain the remains of many fortified villages ( kayas) of the Mijikenda people. The kayas, created from XVIe century were abandoned in the 1940s. Today they are considered the abodes of ancestors, revered as sacred sites and maintained by the councils of elders. The site is registered as a unique testimony ofa cultural tradition and for its direct links with a living tradition. |  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 Fort jesus | Cultural | (ii), (v) | The fort, built by the Portuguese in 1593-1596 according to the plans of Giovanni Battista Cairati to protect the port of Mombasa, is one of the most remarkable and best preserved examples of Portuguese military fortification from the 16th century and a reference in the history of this type of construction. The layout and structure of the Fort reflects the Renaissance ideal that the perfection of proportions and geometric harmony should be inspired by the human body. The property extends over 2.36 hectares and includes the moat of the fort and the immediate surrounding area. |  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 Lamu Old Town | Cultural | (ii), (iv), (vi) | The old town of Lamu, which is the oldest and best preserved Swahili settlement in East Africa, retains its traditional functions. Built of coral rocks and mangrove wood, the city is characterized by the simplicity of its structural forms, enriched with features such as interior courtyards, verandas and carefully carved wooden doors. Headquarters since XIXe century of great religious celebrations, Lamu has become an important center for the study of Islamic and Swahili cultures. |  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 Mount Kenya National Park / Natural Forest | Natural | (vii), (ix) | Culminating in 5 199 m, Mount Kenya is the second highest peak in Africa. It is an ancient extinct volcano which, during its period of activity (3.1-2.6 million years ago), would have reached 6 500 m. There are a dozen glaciers remaining on the mountain, all of them receding rapidly, and there are four secondary peaks located at the head of glacial "U" shaped valleys. With its rugged, glacier-crowned peaks and mid-forested slopes, Mount Kenya is one of East Africa's most awe-inspiring landscapes. The evolution and ecology of the Afro-alpine flora of Mount Kenya provides an outstanding example of ecological and biological processes. Together with the Lewa Wildlife Conservatory and the Ngare Ndare Forest Reserve, the site includes deep valleys of low slopes and arid habitats rich in biodiversity, located in an ecological transition zone between a mountainous ecosystem and semi-savanna grasslands. -arid. The place is also on the traditional migration route of African elephant populations. |  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| National parks of lake turkana 5 Sibiloi National Park 6 Central Island National Park 7 Southern Island National Park Note on the List of World Heritage in Danger | Natural | (viii), (x) | The salty of the great lakes of Africa, Turkana, is an exceptional laboratory for the study of plant and animal communities. The three national parks serve as staging posts for migrating waterbirds and are important breeding grounds for the Nile crocodile, hippopotamus and various poisonous snakes. The fossiliferous deposits of Koobi Fora, where numerous remains of mammals, molluscs and other species are found, have contributed more to the understanding of paleoenvironments than any other site on this continent. |  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Kenya Lakes Network in the Great Rift Valley 8 Lake nakuru national park 9 Elmenteita Lake 10 Bogoria Lake | Natural | (vii), (ix), (x) | The Kenya Lakes System in the Great Rift Valley comprises three interconnected, shallow lakes (Lake Bogoria, Lake Nakuru and Lake Elementaita) that lie in the Great South Rift Valley. Its area is of 32,034 hectares. The property hosts 13 globally threatened bird species and the diversity of bird species is one of the highest in the world. It is the most important feeding site on the planet for lesser flamingos and an important nesting and feeding site for white pelicans. There are also good-sized populations of mammals here, including the black rhino, Rothschild's giraffe, greater kudu, lion, cheetah and wild dog. The site lends itself particularly well to studies of particularly important ecological processes. |  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 Thimlich Ohinga Archaeological Site | Cultural | (iii) (iv) (v) | Located northwest of the town of Migori, in the region of lake victoria, this fortified dry-stone establishment was probably built in XVIe century of our era. The Ohinga, (a form of settlement or enclosure), appears to have served to ensure the safety of communities and livestock, but also defined social units and relationships associated with lineage-based systems. Thimlich Ohinga is the largest and best preserved traditional enclosure in existence. It is an exceptional example of that tradition of massive dry stone construction, characteristic of the first pastoral communities of the Lake Victoria basin, which continued from XVIe century in the middle of the XXe century. |  | |||||||||||||||||||||
Criteria legend
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