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SGF project for capacity building in Kenyan mangrove-based communities (28/07/05)

Good morning everyone:

Below is a brief report by Lucia Scodanibbio, Assistant Advisor for Africa here at the Secretariat, on an interesting Ramsar Small Grants Fund project on capacity building in mangrove-based communities in Kenya. There's also a Web link to the illustrated final report.

Best wishes, Sandra Hails, Ramsar Secretariat

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The Ramsar Secretariat has the pleasure to announce that Kenya has just brought to completion a very successful project aimed at empowering local communities to use mangrove resources sustainably for their and the environment's benefit. Entitled "Training and Technical Assistance on Aquasilviculture and Apiculture to Mangrove based communities in Kenya", the project's objective was to provide training and technical assistance focused on skills and knowledge related to beekeeping, beehive construction, crab culture, crab cage and pen construction, mangrove re-forestation, conservation and sustainable exploitation. As stated in the final report submitted to the Secretariat, the project was carried out in a participatory way by involving government institutions and local NGOs which either already had working partnerships with mangrove-based community groups or assisted in choosing grassroots groups for training by this project.

In total, 14 community groups living adjacent to the mangroves have been trained by the project.

As concerns the silviculture component, ten potential reforestation sites were identified in collaboration with the relevant local groups, and mangrove tree nurseries were set up in each. The species planted consisted of the common species Rhizophora mucronata, Ceriops tagal, Avicennia marina and Sonneratia alba, amounting to a total of 22,395 mangrove trees planted. It seems that the trees are well tended and all of them will most likely survive to be mature trees.

On the aquaculture side, it was deemed necessary to have a training component on crab-tending after a survey revealed that the mud crab Scylla serrata could be collected from the mangrove swamps throughout the year. It was also revealed that there is a group of specialist mud crab collectors who engage in this occupation and who sell them to tourist hotels, but however fetch very low prices due to the crabs generally being of small size. After the training, two crab pens and 18 crab cages were constructed and stocked. A total of 115.2 kg of mud crabs were harvested from the crab cages. The pens were harvested once, producing a total of 168 kg of a mixture of prawns (Penaeus monodon, P. indicus, P. semisulcatus), fish and crabs. At the moment, a committee has been set up to visit the major tourist hotels in Mombasa, Kilifi and Malindi to find out the seasons when their highest demand for the giant mud crabs is and the best prices offered.

Training on apiculture covered aspects such as:

By the end of the project period, twelve beehives were constructed and three of them cropped once producing 13.9 kg of honeycomb. Since knowledge on construction was acquired during the training sessions, and as more experience is gained, it is hoped that other groups will make an effort to construct hives on their own and eventually apiaries are started. In the meantime, a committee consisting of one member each from the 14 groups has been set up to visit the various supermarkets and retail outlets to identify buyers for the honey and wax.

In addition, an intensive education and awareness campaign was mounted targeting schools and colleges in Mombasa, Kwale and Kilifi Districts. The purpose was to make the young people aware of the ecological, social and cultural importance of mangroves, and hence the need to exploit them in a sustainable way. A total of 23 schools and colleges were visited and lectures given. 14 of the schools were also transported to the project sites to see the work being done with the community groups and to take part in mangrove planting exercises.

Once more, we congratulate Kenya for having undertaken such a hands-on project, which is especially significant in the context of the discussions taking place this year, on the link between wetlands wise-use and poverty alleviation. The Ramsar Secretariat strongly hopes to see more such initiatives in the future!

Lucia Scodanibbio, Assistant Advisor, Africa

[The illustrated final report of the SGF project is available at http://ramsar.org/sgf/sgf_rpts_kenya.htm].