Mangroves asked me for more power

Mangroves are trees that grow along muddy beaches of our oceans in a thin space called the inter-tidal zone. There are 9 species of mangroves in Kenya covering a total of about 53,000 ha. Lamu county commands the largest share with about 33,500 ha, Kwale (8,800), Kilifi (6,600) and Mombasa (2,200). To survive in this environment, mangroves have evolved special apparatus to tolerate saline water and breathe under ocean water. Mangrove forests are scenic and valuable for recreation and tourism. In cities such as Mombasa, these wonderful forests sink carbon dioxide, diffuse urban heat islands and provide the last line of defense against strong ocean tides and wind to protect urban structures from disasters such as flooding and cyclones. As breeding sites and shelters for marine life, mangrove conservation not only protects the livelihoods of vulnerable groups in urban centers who are solely dependent on fishing, but also protect affordable and nutritious sources of protein for a majority of urban dwellers.


As we move into a future defined by climate change and globalization, mangroves will increasingly provide a solace for biodiversity, coastal livelihoods, tourism, public nutrition and safety. Sadly, this solace remains evasive as Kenya marks a 20% loss of its mangrove cover. Mangroves contend endlessly with ocean pollution, overexploitation, unsustainable mining and aquaculture and poor waste management. Salt mining cleared about 10,000 ha of mangrove in Ngomeni, while an additional 244 ha has been lost to the more than five oil spill accidents in Makupa and Port Reitz creeks. Fuel wood and spoil dumping have each destroyed 100 ha in Karawa (Kwale) and Mokowe (Lamu) respectively. These declines are anticipated to worsen with huge developments such as the Dongo Kundu bypass and the Standard Gauge Railway projects and rapid urban expansions at the coast. Also contributing to this is the overwhelming sewage discharges into the creeks, currently estimated at over 4000 tons of raw sewage per year. The impacts are already showing, for instance coastal erosion has risen to about half a meter a year implying a 10m loss of coastline since 1971. Fishermen have also lamented the declining catch and attribute it to mangrove losses.


The solutions need not to come from replanting or rehabilitating. As we learnt from a community-based group that rehabilitates mangroves in Mkupe (Tudor Creek, Mombasa), the long-term solutions to mangrove conservation require a novel intervention that will circumvent the power struggles that exclude communities from decisions to clear or harvest mangroves. Beach management units are community-based organizations created by the fisheries regulations (2007) and alongside other self-help groups and community forest associations, they are the legal custodians of marine and coastal resources at the grassroots. This law authorizes them to conduct conservation and surveillance of the resource for which they work with passion and serious financial and logistical constraints without any external support to sustain this fading paradise for posterity. Nonetheless, the national agency, Kenya Forest Service authorizes excisions without due ecological and impact assessments and with no regard to the fates of livelihoods of millions. I strongly believe that by building the capacity of these grassroots organizations to assume and exercise legal authority and engage cordially with national and county bodies we may extend the life of mangroves, broaden benefits-sharing and enhance the resilience of our coastal urban ecosystems.


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