The Japanese royal photographed a Eurasian Bee-eater and an Osprey during a Kakuzi visit that highlighted habitat protection and international bird conservation.
Princess Takamado of Japan spotted and photographed a Eurasian Bee-eater and an Osprey during a birdwatching visit to Kakuzi Plc’s orchards in Murang’a County, highlighting the agricultural estate’s role as a habitat for migratory birds.
The Japanese royal, who serves as Honorary President of BirdLife International, visited the estate while in Kenya for the organisation’s second Global Flyways Summit. Both species breed in Europe before travelling to Africa during the September–October migration season.
Her excursion combined bird photography with discussions on habitat conservation, sustainable agriculture and the international cooperation needed to protect birds along their migration routes.
Birdwatching through the orchards
Kakuzi’s Executive Head of Corporate Affairs, Simon Odhiambo, a local birder, guided Princess Takamado through the estate’s macadamia and avocado orchards.
Alongside the two migratory species, she photographed several local birds, including Hinde’s babbler, the Purple-crested turaco, Senegal Lapwing, Pygmy Kingfisher and African Paradise Flycatcher.
The visit brought attention to the range of birdlife found across Kakuzi’s orchards, forestlands and other habitats. Managing Director Chris Flowers said the company had recorded a steady increase in bird diversity within its boundaries.
Kakuzi links bird diversity to conservation
Welcoming the princess, Flowers attributed the estate’s bird habitats to Kakuzi’s sustainable farming practices and protection of its water catchment area. He said those efforts had helped preserve ecological zones used by both resident and migratory species.
Flowers described birds as important indicators of environmental health and said the growing number making their homes on the estate reflected the company’s commitment to conservation.
He also presented habitat protection as Kakuzi’s contribution to global flyway conservation efforts, which seek to safeguard birds across the routes they travel between breeding and non-breeding grounds.
The company supports conservation through its membership of Nature Kenya, the East Africa Natural History Society. Flowers said the relationship reinforced shared goals of protecting biodiversity, maintaining natural habitats and promoting responsible environmental stewardship alongside agriculture.
International action on migration routes
Princess Takamado acknowledged the conservation work at Kakuzi and stressed that migratory birds cross national boundaries, connecting regions from Asia to Africa and from the Arctic to the tropics.
She said the Nairobi Flyways Declaration recognised the need for countries to cooperate and coordinate their efforts to keep those birds safe.
The princess also welcomed collaboration between scientists, conservation organisations and the financial sector, describing their coming together as a long-awaited turning point for migratory bird protection.
Report warns of declining bird populations
The visit came against a concerning conservation backdrop. The recently launched State of the World’s Birds report indicates that 45 per cent of migratory bird species are declining, while one in nine faces the threat of extinction.
The report identifies species dependent on marine environments, forests and coastal wetlands as particularly vulnerable, with seabirds and shorebirds among the most threatened groups.
It also records the Slender-billed Curlew’s extinction in 2025. Last recorded at a Moroccan lagoon in February 1995, the species represents the first global bird extinction in mainland Eurasia and Africa in recent centuries. Six other migratory species have been confirmed or suspected lost over the past 150 years.
