Ngomongo Villages
Encyclopedia
Ngomongo Villages is a well-known sustainable eco-cultural tourist village located in Mombasa
, Kenya
.
Once a sun baked, arid, barren and rocky base of a former limestone mine, the floor of this quarry was barely five feet above the slightly salty water table. Dr. Frederick Gikandi, a local medical doctor started single handedly to reclaim this quarry by planting 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) of eighty different indigenous trees; later followed the easier to grow casuarina
trees. Public awareness to tree planting was raised by inviting the public to join in the reclamation process.
To date, ngomongo is fanning out its reclamation
exercises to the surrounding farms by recruiting the local farmers into planting trees to mark out their farm borders. The ultimate plan is to fan out the success locally, regionally and then nationally.
in 1991 was a neglected wasteland of approximately 16 acres (64,749.8 m²). This vast urban eyesore resulted from coral
limestone
mining.
Inspired by a previously successful project, Haller Park
initiated by Dr. Rene Haller
in Bamburi
Beach, Dr. Gikandi applied Haller's approach to rehabilitate the barren quarry. It was a hazard to the neighbours as it acted as a retreat for robbers.
At around this time, the Mombasa municipal council had earmarked the quarry as the municipal refuse dumping site. if carried out this would have contaminated the water table which lies only four feet below the quarry floor, and by extension the Indian Ocean
coastal and marine ecosystem
. The built up surrounding urban neighbourhood would have suffered air pollution from the decomposing dumped municipal refuse.
Once reclamation work had started, he then involved individuals and the community in tree planting. This was later followed by incorporation of cultural tourism
to ensure sustainability.
and 390° east of the Greenwich meridian.
It is excavated up to a depth of 12m and is in the coastal and marine tropical climate. Rain falls every month although not reliably, much of the rain falling during April - June period. Average annual rainfall is about 1192 mm with a maximum of over 2056 mm. The number of rain days varies from 85–130 except for a marked increase in 1997 due to the El Niño weather conditions.
The mean temperature is about 28.8 °C in July and August. Average humidity varies too, with the lowest readings of 65% usually in February and 85% in May.
The coastal region around Mombasa has two monsoon
currents: the south east monsoon from May to the beginning of October and the northeast from November to March.
The arid and desolate Ngomongo quarry pit excavated to 12m was not conducive for plant growth. It had no hope of being spontaneously inhabited by trees for another ten years.
The reason for quarry rehabilitation was therefore to make it into a good hospitable land, with high utility to the people around, improve on the ecosystem, reduce its various hazards, and make it into a sustainable development.
The total dissolved solid and the salinity
of the ground water was studied for planning purposes.
were later thinned to two metres apart.
The casuarina did very well and helped in breaking up the coral rock with their carpet like root system. Currently the casuarina trees are of average height of 10 m and above provide a very good tree cover and shade for the quarry floor.
The dropping foliage of these trees is broken down by micro–organism and other small organisms like the millipede. The original millipede
population was collected by hand by the neighbourhood community and introduced in large numbers into the quarry. Millipedes feed on the fallen leaves (needles) thus breaking them down to release nutrients.
The forest leaf cover was continuously degraded adding much more humus to the ground, as the number of millipedes increased in this their promised land. Millipedes can reach up to a length of 12 cm, hide under the leaf foliage during the dry season, reappearing in large numbers during the rainy season.
tree is also doing very well, so are the Baobab
tree, coconut
, mango
trees and the date palms, “mvuli”, “muratina” and others. The Neem tree (“mwarobaini”) is believed to be able to cure 40 diseases hence the name “mwarobaini”. “Akamba” carvers use the logs for carving wood sculptures. Its bark and leaves are used for treating fevers such as due to malaria and other ailments. The leaves yield a non–synthetic insecticide. The small branches are used as disposable toothbrushes The powdered bark of the tree is used for protection of maize granaries against weevils. The “Muratina” tree spongy fruit is the traditional ‘yeast” for brewing traditional “muratina” brew for the “Kikuyu” and the “Akamba” ( this can be sipped and tasted at the Akamba village of Ngomongo villages) “Mvuli” is a sought for hard wood originally from Tanzania
. It is the best oak tree equivalent for furniture in East Africa
.
s, mushrooms and other plants which require tree cover and a lot of humus started appearing after just a few years in the forest. At first only a few species were found flourishing but more species are now appearing, some on branches, trunks of dead wood and on the rock cliff faces. Leaf shedding ants are useful in cutting leaves into small pieces. The ants work day and night. Their leaf shredding habit and their fungal cultivation are beneficial to the forest. These types of ants are many, an example being the weaver ants. The termites are also in large numbers in our forest. The termites feed on soft timber trunks, thus they are usually considered as pests, but they play a great role in reducing the dead wood in forests to humus.
With two men sitting on the plough or shovel to give it weight and anchorage, the donkeys would drag the plough or shovel. This would be repeated many times until the lake was at least one meter deep below the water table. The depth of the three ponds is an average of one meter.
Crocodiles were introduced into one of the ponds that represent Lake Turkana in the village theme. (Lake Turkana is in the northern part of Kenya.)
The other pond represents in our village theme, lake Victoria that is on the Western side of Kenya. Tilapia has been introduced into this lake.
Large flocks of birds nest on and feed on these wet lands. These including king fishers, weaver birds, Egyptian geese etc.
The daily feeding of birds at the bird sanctuary has attracted many wild birds like the Egyptian geese. These wild birds have established their breeding sites on the quarry rock out crops and most of them have made the quarry their home.
There are now over 50 species of birds in the entire quarry. The birds help in seed dispersal as they feed on wild fruits and drop their droppings on other parts of the forest.
Frequently identified species are:
Among the things they display are huts, utensils, gardens and the crops they grow in their rural areas. The gardens were made by clearing patches of the new forest. Loosening the coral, then putting a 4” soil and manure cover on which various tribal unique crops are being cultivated. (See FAUNA above).
The land, which was once a lifeless wasteland, now has a diversity of life.
Mombasa
Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
.
Once a sun baked, arid, barren and rocky base of a former limestone mine, the floor of this quarry was barely five feet above the slightly salty water table. Dr. Frederick Gikandi, a local medical doctor started single handedly to reclaim this quarry by planting 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) of eighty different indigenous trees; later followed the easier to grow casuarina
Casuarina
Casuarina is a genus of 17 species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australasia, southeast Asia, and islands of the western Pacific Ocean. It was once treated as the sole genus in the family, but has been split into three genera .They are evergreen shrubs and trees growing to 35 m tall...
trees. Public awareness to tree planting was raised by inviting the public to join in the reclamation process.
To date, ngomongo is fanning out its reclamation
Land reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, is the process to create new land from sea or riverbeds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground or landfill.- Habitation :...
exercises to the surrounding farms by recruiting the local farmers into planting trees to mark out their farm borders. The ultimate plan is to fan out the success locally, regionally and then nationally.
Reclamation of quarry site
The Ngomongo quarryQuarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
in 1991 was a neglected wasteland of approximately 16 acres (64,749.8 m²). This vast urban eyesore resulted from coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
mining.
Inspired by a previously successful project, Haller Park
Haller Park
Haller Park is nature park in Bamburi, Mombasa, on the Kenyan Coast. It is the transformation of a quarry wasteland into an ecological paradise. Haller Park holds a variety of plant and animal species which serve as a recreation hot spot to tourists and locals...
initiated by Dr. Rene Haller
Rene Haller
René Daniel Haller , is a Swiss naturalist, trained in Horticulture, Landscaping and Tropical Agronomy. Since the 1970s, he has been known for his commitment to environmental restoration...
in Bamburi
Bamburi
Bamburi is located in the Kisauni-division of the coastal district Mombasa, Kenya, north-east of Mombasa Island. It is an area of tourism, and as such has many beach-front hotels.- Bamburi Cement :...
Beach, Dr. Gikandi applied Haller's approach to rehabilitate the barren quarry. It was a hazard to the neighbours as it acted as a retreat for robbers.
At around this time, the Mombasa municipal council had earmarked the quarry as the municipal refuse dumping site. if carried out this would have contaminated the water table which lies only four feet below the quarry floor, and by extension the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
coastal and marine ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
. The built up surrounding urban neighbourhood would have suffered air pollution from the decomposing dumped municipal refuse.
Once reclamation work had started, he then involved individuals and the community in tree planting. This was later followed by incorporation of cultural tourism
Cultural tourism
Cultural tourism is the subset of tourism concerned with a country or region's culture, specifically the lifestyle of the people in those geographical areas, the history of those peoples, their art, architecture, religion, and other elements that helped shape their way of life...
to ensure sustainability.
Geography and climate
The quarry is located 10 km north of Mombasa Island, but within Mombasa municipality. It is about 600 m to 700 m inland of the Indian Ocean shoreline. The quarry floor lies about four feet above the water table, which interconnects with the seabed as is evident from the quarry well water level fluctuations that are coincidental with the ocean tides. The site is 4° south of the equatorEquator
An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and containing the sphere's center of mass....
and 390° east of the Greenwich meridian.
It is excavated up to a depth of 12m and is in the coastal and marine tropical climate. Rain falls every month although not reliably, much of the rain falling during April - June period. Average annual rainfall is about 1192 mm with a maximum of over 2056 mm. The number of rain days varies from 85–130 except for a marked increase in 1997 due to the El Niño weather conditions.
The mean temperature is about 28.8 °C in July and August. Average humidity varies too, with the lowest readings of 65% usually in February and 85% in May.
The coastal region around Mombasa has two monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
currents: the south east monsoon from May to the beginning of October and the northeast from November to March.
Quarry rehabilitation project
Corals usually live in colonies. Each single animal excretes a skeleton of calcium carbonate, which cements with neighbor cell excretions, eventually forming a whole colonial build up of compacted constructions, which extend over wide areas. Corals don’t thrive in temperature below 20 ° c and depend on shallow seas for growth. Once the living corals get dry from shifting sea levels, the whole coral structure dies and is then known as coral limestone rock. It is at this point that man excavates coral limestone for construction works.The arid and desolate Ngomongo quarry pit excavated to 12m was not conducive for plant growth. It had no hope of being spontaneously inhabited by trees for another ten years.
The reason for quarry rehabilitation was therefore to make it into a good hospitable land, with high utility to the people around, improve on the ecosystem, reduce its various hazards, and make it into a sustainable development.
The total dissolved solid and the salinity
Salinity
Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. It is a general term used to describe the levels of different salts such as sodium chloride, magnesium and calcium sulfates, and bicarbonates...
of the ground water was studied for planning purposes.
Casuarina project
Tree seedlings from government forest stations were purchased and transferred to the quarry. The quarry’s own small seed bank which was established later with the help of the community around the quarry, provided seeds to set up a tree nursery. Planted one meter apart initially, the casuarinaCasuarina
Casuarina is a genus of 17 species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australasia, southeast Asia, and islands of the western Pacific Ocean. It was once treated as the sole genus in the family, but has been split into three genera .They are evergreen shrubs and trees growing to 35 m tall...
were later thinned to two metres apart.
The casuarina did very well and helped in breaking up the coral rock with their carpet like root system. Currently the casuarina trees are of average height of 10 m and above provide a very good tree cover and shade for the quarry floor.
The dropping foliage of these trees is broken down by micro–organism and other small organisms like the millipede. The original millipede
Millipede
Millipedes are arthropods that have two pairs of legs per segment . Each segment that has two pairs of legs is a result of two single segments fused together as one...
population was collected by hand by the neighbourhood community and introduced in large numbers into the quarry. Millipedes feed on the fallen leaves (needles) thus breaking them down to release nutrients.
The forest leaf cover was continuously degraded adding much more humus to the ground, as the number of millipedes increased in this their promised land. Millipedes can reach up to a length of 12 cm, hide under the leaf foliage during the dry season, reappearing in large numbers during the rainy season.
Tree species
The casuarinas are famous for their prestigious timber, which is used in the construction industry. The NeemNeem
Azadirachta indica is a tree in the mahogany family Meliaceae. It is one of two species in the genus Azadirachta, and is native to India growing in tropical and semi-tropical regions. Its fruits and seeds are the source of neem oil...
tree is also doing very well, so are the Baobab
Baobab
Adansonia is a genus of eight species of tree, six native to Madagascar, one native to mainland Africa and the Arabian Peninsula and one to Australia. The mainland African species also occurs on Madagascar, but it is not a native of that island....
tree, coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
, mango
Mango
The mango is a fleshy stone fruit belonging to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is native to India from where it spread all over the world. It is also the most cultivated fruit of the tropical world. While...
trees and the date palms, “mvuli”, “muratina” and others. The Neem tree (“mwarobaini”) is believed to be able to cure 40 diseases hence the name “mwarobaini”. “Akamba” carvers use the logs for carving wood sculptures. Its bark and leaves are used for treating fevers such as due to malaria and other ailments. The leaves yield a non–synthetic insecticide. The small branches are used as disposable toothbrushes The powdered bark of the tree is used for protection of maize granaries against weevils. The “Muratina” tree spongy fruit is the traditional ‘yeast” for brewing traditional “muratina” brew for the “Kikuyu” and the “Akamba” ( this can be sipped and tasted at the Akamba village of Ngomongo villages) “Mvuli” is a sought for hard wood originally from Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
. It is the best oak tree equivalent for furniture in East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
.
Plants and insects
FernFern
A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...
s, mushrooms and other plants which require tree cover and a lot of humus started appearing after just a few years in the forest. At first only a few species were found flourishing but more species are now appearing, some on branches, trunks of dead wood and on the rock cliff faces. Leaf shedding ants are useful in cutting leaves into small pieces. The ants work day and night. Their leaf shredding habit and their fungal cultivation are beneficial to the forest. These types of ants are many, an example being the weaver ants. The termites are also in large numbers in our forest. The termites feed on soft timber trunks, thus they are usually considered as pests, but they play a great role in reducing the dead wood in forests to humus.
Flora
- Lantana camaraLantana camaraLantana camara, also known as Spanish Flag or West Indian Lantana, is a species of flowering plant in the verbena family, Verbenaceae, that is native to the American tropics. It has been introduced into other parts of the world as an ornamental plant and is considered an invasive species in many...
- Castor oilCastor oilCastor oil is a vegetable oil obtained from the castor bean . Castor oil is a colorless to very pale yellow liquid with mild or no odor or taste. Its boiling point is and its density is 961 kg/m3...
- Hocra - ladies finger – (vegetable)
- Pumpkins
- Flamboyant treeRoyal PoincianaDelonix regia is a species of flowering plant from the Fabaceae family, Caesalpinioideae subfamilia, noted for its fern-like leaves and flamboyant display of flowers. In many tropical parts of countries around the world it is grown as an ornamental tree and in English it is given the name Royal...
- Termanalia
- EucalyptusEucalyptusEucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...
- Indian almond – (fruit tree) – “mkungu”
- AcaciaAcaciaAcacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...
- BambooBambooBamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
- SamanSamanSaman may refer to:* Saman , a fictional character in the video game Deus Ex: Invisible War* Saman, Iran, a city in the Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province of Iran* Saman District, an administrative subdivision of Peru...
- GuavaGuavaGuavas are plants in the myrtle family genus Psidium , which contains about 100 species of tropical shrubs and small trees. They are native to Mexico, Central America, and northern South America...
– (fruit) - NeemNeemAzadirachta indica is a tree in the mahogany family Meliaceae. It is one of two species in the genus Azadirachta, and is native to India growing in tropical and semi-tropical regions. Its fruits and seeds are the source of neem oil...
tree – (medicine) - Arrow roots
- BananaBananaBanana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
s - Sweet potatoes
- SisalSisalSisal is an agave that yields a stiff fibre traditionally used in making twine, rope and also dartboards. The term may refer either to the plant or the fibre, depending on context...
- CoffeeCoffeeCoffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
- Algaroba – (origin Mexico)
- OrangeOrange (fruit)An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus × sinensis and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world....
- CassavaCassavaCassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...
- Sweet potatoes
- AnanasAnanasThe genus Ananas belongs to the Bromeliad family . It is best known for the species Ananas comosus, the pineapple.This genus originated in Mesoamerica and was brought to the Caribbean Islands by the Carib natives...
- pineapple - CottonCottonCotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
- Cowpeas
- Paw pawPapayaThe papaya , papaw, or pawpaw is the fruit of the plant Carica papaya, the sole species in the genus Carica of the plant family Caricaceae...
- MilletMilletThe millets are a group of small-seeded species of cereal crops or grains, widely grown around the world for food and fodder. They do not form a taxonomic group, but rather a functional or agronomic one. Their essential similarities are that they are small-seeded grasses grown in difficult...
- Whistling acacia
- Ficus sycamorus / casuarinas forest
- Sugar cane
- Euphobia
- SorghumSorghumSorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, one of which is raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture. The plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide. Species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of all continents...
- River bamboo
Wet lands
Natural ponds were dug by an improvised homegrown hole and shovel. The shovel was made from an empty fifty gallon steel water storage tank whose designated shoveling edge on the tank open top was reinforced with a sharpened pick – up main leaf spring, welded on to this edge.With two men sitting on the plough or shovel to give it weight and anchorage, the donkeys would drag the plough or shovel. This would be repeated many times until the lake was at least one meter deep below the water table. The depth of the three ponds is an average of one meter.
Crocodiles were introduced into one of the ponds that represent Lake Turkana in the village theme. (Lake Turkana is in the northern part of Kenya.)
The other pond represents in our village theme, lake Victoria that is on the Western side of Kenya. Tilapia has been introduced into this lake.
Large flocks of birds nest on and feed on these wet lands. These including king fishers, weaver birds, Egyptian geese etc.
The bird sanctuary
Within the quarry, a 2 acres (8,093.7 m²) bird sanctuary has local chicken, ostriches, geese and cranes.The daily feeding of birds at the bird sanctuary has attracted many wild birds like the Egyptian geese. These wild birds have established their breeding sites on the quarry rock out crops and most of them have made the quarry their home.
There are now over 50 species of birds in the entire quarry. The birds help in seed dispersal as they feed on wild fruits and drop their droppings on other parts of the forest.
Frequently identified species are:
- Egyptian geeseEgyptian GooseThe Egyptian Goose is a member of the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae. It is in the shelduck subfamily Tadorninae, and is the only extant member of the genus Alopochen...
- OstrichOstrichThe Ostrich is one or two species of large flightless birds native to Africa, the only living member of the genus Struthio. Some analyses indicate that the Somali Ostrich may be better considered a full species apart from the Common Ostrich, but most taxonomists consider it to be a...
- Helmeted guinea fowlsHelmeted GuineafowlThe Helmeted Guineafowl is the best known of the guineafowl bird family, Numididae, and the only member of the genus Numida...
- Crested cranesGrey Crowned CraneThe Grey Crowned Crane is a bird in the crane family Gruidae. It occurs in dry savannah in Africa south of the Sahara, although it nests in somewhat wetter habitats. This animal does not migrate....
- Tortoises
- Black water tortoise
- QuailsOld World quailOld World quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds in the pheasant family Phasianidae. New World quail are also found in the Galliformes, but are not in the same family . Buttonquails are not closely related at all, but are named for their similar appearance...
- Local chickenChickenThe chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
- Peacock
- KingfisherKingfisherKingfishers are a group of small to medium sized brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species being found in the Old World and Australia...
- Weaverbirds
- Strike (bird)
Farm gardens
The quarry now has ten diverse rural Kenya villagers each with a niche of forest, displaying his true "culture" and "rural home replica".Among the things they display are huts, utensils, gardens and the crops they grow in their rural areas. The gardens were made by clearing patches of the new forest. Loosening the coral, then putting a 4” soil and manure cover on which various tribal unique crops are being cultivated. (See FAUNA above).
The land, which was once a lifeless wasteland, now has a diversity of life.