Rusinga Island in Lake Victoria, Kenya, nominated as potential UNESCO World Heritage Site

UNESCO has nominated Rusinga Island, in Lake Victoria, southwest Kenya, as a potential World Heritage Site, reports the Daily Nation, May 22, 2014. The island is located in Homa Bay County, Mbita sub-county. The island is linked to Mbita Point on the mainland by a causeway.

The Mfangano-Rusinga Island Complex is of religious and symbolic significance to the current occupants, which still relies on oral traditions to pass on its history. They have a strong link to the land, flora, and fauna.

In celebration of the 2014 International Day for Biological Diversity, the island will focus on food security, as well as biodiversity, to raise awareness of deforestation and land degradation on the island.

Rusinga Island is noted for anthropologist Mary Leakey’s discovery of the skull of an ape – Proconsul Africanus – thought to be three million years old. In addition, the island has a population of giant monitor lizards, and more than 100 species of birds, some of which are endangered. However, much of the indigenous flora and fauna are under threat due to increased people living on the island.

The island also has a rock art sites which are reportedly of good quality.

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