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Aliu arau, Kano. March 20, 2016
The Roal at of Kano Cit
Cities are ecosstems of people, nature, and infrastructure
The stor ofthe roal atsof Kano citrepresentsthe kechallenges ofuranenvironmentalsustainailitin developingcountries.
Out of the 17 UN ustainale
Development Goals, DG 11 is astandalone goal for uran sustainailit,with de䃙⼜ned targets and indicators. DG11 can help uran polic and decision-makers and local people to think aout
and work towards uran sustainailit.Most cities in developing countries,including in Africa, lack capacit fore䂚ective uran planning, a shortcomingwhich, in part, leads to a failure to protecturan iodiversit amidst the challenges
of rapid uranisation.
As such, it isimportant to look
at how informal
institutions, suchas local eliefs
and socio-historicagreed-uponehaviours on
the sacredness
and powers of
gardens, help inprotecting and
conserving the
threatened uran
iodiversit in
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Aout the Writer: Aliu arau
Aliu alisu arau is ageographer and landscapescientist. His researchinterests aremultidisciplinar, includingthe integration ofsustainailit across diverse䃙⼜elds such as uiltinfrastructure, tourism,religion, indigenousknowledge.
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African cities. Looking at the role ofindigenous knowledge and the values
that indigenous people accord to the
gardens is important, particularlecause most of the formal institutions
saddled with such responsiilities fail in
delivering their mandates in man cities
of developing countries. The case ofrapid uranisation in Kano cit and its
peripher, its impact on open and greenspaces, and the role of institutions isdocumented in some studies, such asarau et al. (2013, 2015).
Here I’ll discuss the survival of ats in anintensivel uranised Kano cit and its
peripher. This discussion supportsarguments made Mark Hostetler in his
recent post aout the value of conserving
forest fragments and individual trees in
uran areas. In that article, he suggeststhat forest fragments and individual trees
render some supportive services for
migrator irds. In this context, looking atthe role of Kano mir’s palace will provideke insights into what fragments or
remnants of green areas can do in
supporting iodiversit in densel
uranised cities. Kano cit and itssurrounding uran areas, with anestimated population of aout 3-4 millioninhaitants, constitute the largest uranarea in Northern Nigeria. The ancient citof Kano dates from the late 10th centur,and the cit’s walled perimeter covers anarea of 29 km .
The Kano palace, also called GidanRumfa, was uilt King MuhammaduRumfa etween 1479 and 1482. ince thattime, it has remained the largesttraditional palace in u-aharan Africa(Nast 1996), as well as the oldest andcontinuous seat of traditional authorit in
Nigeria. The Kano palace has attractedthe interests of man researchers and
2
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visiting heads of state and governments,including the Queen of ngland, the U..President, the ritish Prime Minister, andHRH Charles, the Prince of Wales.Compared to an average home in Kano
cit, the Kano Palace covers an area ofapproximatel 14 ha and is surrounded
walls of 6–9 m. high outside and, onaverage, 5 m high within the palacecomplex. The high walls of the palacesurround the roal gardens (sheka, inHausa language). The western gardenhas a length of 325 m and an average
width of 85 m., while the eastern gardenhas an approximate length of 370 m and
an average width of 45 m. The twogardens constitute aout 45 percent of
the total palace land area; the uilt areacovers roughl 30 percent of the palace,while the open spaces represent aout
25 percent of the total palace land area.The residents of Kano cit have alwas
considered the Kano palace as a cit
within a cit virtue of its size, spatialpatterns, and organisation of space. Inthe context of uran sustainailit
indicators, including DG Goal 11 and theingapore Index, the proportion of greenand open spaces makes this intra-citextremel favourale for sustainailit.
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Google Maps image of the Kano Palace and its
gardens. Image: Google Maps
Compared to the extremel dense and
dr parts of Kano cit, the Kano palacegardens provide a sanctuar for irds and
some fauna, and possil for migratingirds and insects as well. The palace alsoprovides refugia to ats—chiroptera. Anumer of studies have investigated the
e䂚ects of uranisation on ats species,which ranges from loss of haitat and
fragmentation to pollution. Most previousstudies and this author’s experienceswith Kano cit have indicated a notale
decline in uran iodiversit due to the
progressive decline of green and open
spaces. Less irds are oservale on theground and in the skies—not so for ats.In 2010, I conducted some studies insidethe gardens of Kano palace, where Ioserved thousands of ats that 솞⋐ew and
roved in the skies of the palace simpl
ecause of m perceived movements
and the movements of the people
following me. The gardens are aout theonl sanctuaries where the ats are left
undistured; now the have ecomedominant species in the relativel
undistured palace gardens and, in thiswa, the have ecome roal ats!
It is widel assumed that the palace
gardens are as old as the palace itself
(which was uilt in the 15th centur). Iwant to elieve that the ats o䂚er some
notale and et unexamined ecosstem
services in the palace and the cit at
large. cologists suggest that insect-eating ats help in controlling disease
vectors, while fruit-eating ats help infertilising soils with their guano and in
dispersing seeds for 솞⋐ower pollination
and forest regeneration. For the peoplearound the palace and the people
residing in the palace, the take-o䂚 time of
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the roal ats is a fascinating sight. Andfor the palace itself, the ats helpmaintain its securit: an unusualmovement in its gardens triggers
movement of the ats, which alertseverone in the palace. ats reall preferplaces with minimal human movement
and disturances. This is understandalein the case of the roal ats; once, I sawhelicopters hovering over the garden
when the Nigerian President was visiting
the palace. The noise of the hoveringhelicopters caused the ats to 솞⋐ in the
earl afternoon hours.
While the Kano Palace has provided safe
living spaces to thousands of irds for
such a long time, it is thrilling to see theats when the depart the palace in the
late afternoon or earl evening to search
for foraging spaces mostl outside the
old cit, where di䂚erent species of fruitearing trees and ponds can e found. Itis interesting to oserve the ats while
the 솞⋐ out in chorus from the palace
almost at the same time ut in di䂚erent
directions—directions most proal
dictated needs for food, water, orsomething else.
Although, the old cit is massiveluranised, two to three kilometres northof the palace is the greener and planned
section of uran Kano. This area oncehoused colonial and corporate residential
areas and has een ale to maintain
some old trees, including local and exoticspecies. Hence, it is eas to see some ofthe ats making an earl descent in this
area, proal to access fruit earingtrees. outh of the palace and outsidethe cit walls, there are remnants ofponds around the disappearing cit walls
and clusters of trees located within the
perimeters of the Kano zoological and
otanical gardens, as well as clusters of
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trees found in the industrial areas. Thewestern and northern parts of the palace
are the oldest and most densel peopled
parts of the cit. However, as the atsmove farther west, the 䃙⼜nd institutionaluildings: schools and universitcampuses that keep some trees. It isovious that some ats 솞⋐ at higher
altitudes and ma e moving to far awa
distances into farmed parklands in the
uran peripher.
Map of Kano uran area, adapted fromMaconachie 2009, 2012.
ats hovering over the palace gardens when the
researchers enters the gardens in the afternoon.Photo: Aliu arau
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A section of the western gardens with dense tree
growth comprising local and exotic species. Photo:Aliu arau
ats are nocturnal mammals; this lifehistor trait works well for them as it
reduces competition with irds at water
and feeding spots. Indeed, the roal atsof Kano cit owe their continued
existence in this intensivel uranised
cit to the continuous existence of the
Kano palace gardens. The ats ma notsurvive in other fragments of green
spaces in the cit ecause the are too
exposed to humans and other species.
The stor of the roal ats of Kano cit
represents the ke challenges of uran
environmental sustainailit in
developing countries. In man Africancountries, uran planning professionalsand agencies have lost track of what to
do or how to go aout the usiness of
greening congested cities. However,ased on the example of the situation in
Kano, it is ovious that small pockets ofgreen areas can pla a tremendous role
in securing iodiversit. Importantl,indigenous institutions pla an even
greater role in this context. Indeed, theailit of the Kano palace to maintain its
greener for centuries is of great interest
to contemporar uran sustainailit.
It does not take speci䃙⼜c udgetar
allocations to maintain the roal ats,since that comes as part of the costs of
maintaining the palace gardens. Although
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the gardens are exclusivel for the use of
the mir of Kano and his closest famil
memers, the preservation of thegardens through generations and
dnasties is amazing. I am of the opinionthat pulic conservation organisations
should consider the use of the concept of
paments for ecosstem services, which,in this case, should entail making somefunds availale to the palace as a
compensation for keeping the gardens
so that the are maintained as a ase or
sanctuar for iodiversit conservation in
a rapidl and intensivel uranising cit.Indeed, there is need for more studies toexplore the nature of ecosstem services
of the palace gardens and ecosstem
services derivale from the roal ats, aswell as potential con솞⋐icts etween the
ats and humans in their foraging spaces.
Aliu arau
Kano
On The Nature of Cities
References
arau, A.. (2015) arau, A.., Macnochie,R., Ludin, A.N.M.; Adulhamid, A. (2015).Uran morpholog dnamics and
environmental change in Kano, Nigeria.Land Use Polic 42, 307–317.
arau, A.., Ludin, A.N.M., aid, I. (2013).ocio-ecological sstems and iodiversitconservation in African cit: insights fromKano mir’s Palace gardens. Urancosstems 16 (4), 783–800.
arau, A.. (2007) The Great Attractionsof Kano. Research and DocumentationDirectorate, Government House Kano.
Ghanem, .J., Voigt, C.C.(2012) Chapter 7– Increasing Awareness of cosstemervices Provided ats, In: H. Jane
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Russo, D., Ancillotto, D. (2015) ensitivitof ats to uranization: a review,Mammalian iolog – Zeitschrift füräugetierkunde, 80, 3, 205-212,
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