**3.3 Major drivers of amphibian habitat degradation**

Human activities contribute directly or indirectly to amphibian decline. In Kenya, for instance, unregulated industrial, rapid human population growth, expanding urban and agricultural areas, poor infrastructure and residential waste pose major threats to rivers, lakes and wetlands. This is predicted to decrease the resilience of ecosystem and biodiversity while increasing the prevalence of water borne diseases and parasites. This will result in the decline and extinction of amphibian species across the globe. In some urban areas, for instance, the insufficient basic services such as solid waste removal, untreated sewerage being discharge to water ways often causes water pollution and destruction of amphibian ecosystems.

Notably, human activities have drastically reduced species habitats and degrade their ecosystems. From our survey in Shimba Hills Ecosystem for example, the bush burning (as shown in **Figure 4**), drainage of wetlands, livestock grazing and plantation of exotic tree species (Eucalyptus sp.) has degraded species habitats and limit

**Figure 4.** *Bush burning as method land clearing in SHE (Source: Author 2017).*

areas of occupancy of species such as *Afrixalus sylvaticus* that had been recorded in rice schemes in former habitats in Kaloleni.
