Abstract:
Customs and traditions of cultural landmarks which kept the landmarks’ memory
alive through time have been eroded by infiltration of western culture, modernism
and population increase. Kit‐Mikayi is a cultural landscape regarded as sacred by the
local community and one of the major potential tourist attraction destinations in
Nyanza Province, western part of Kenya. Despite the sites’ unique geomorphology
and appreciation of its other natural components, little objective information is
available about the inherent landscape and associated cultural values. Besides, no
study has been conducted on visual quality assessment to examine the inherent and
associative values of Kit‐Mikayi, for understanding landscape qualities for protection
and sustainable conservation. The objective of this study was to investigate the
major landmarks and environmental aesthetic value of Kit‐Mikayi cultural site. The
study involved identification of biophysical elements at the site and assessment of
the community’s perception and judgement. The study employed survey research
design, questionnaires and observations through eight photographic records taken
at sixty three (63) selected sites representing different features. The results show
that biophysical components associated with the site were major landmarks. The
respondents perceived the site for ecotourism with median of four for conservation.
The findings shows that the highest median was three on naturalness, Kruskal Wallis
test showed high significance difference (p<0.0001) amongst respondents
perception who preferred the site to remain natural for diversification in utilization
of the resources to avoid overdependence.
