Mangrove forests shrink as illegal logging persists

 

The shrinking of mangrove forests is hurting the marine ecosystem, a tragedy slowly unfolding in Lamu county.

Mangroves are a group of trees and shrubs that grow in the coastal inter-tidal zone and a key component in the protection of fragile coastlines from erosion and storms.

According to a report by FAO Africa’s regional office, Africa has lost at least 500,000 hectares of mangrove forests in 25 years, and the loss might be huge since there is no existing latest data.

FAO said the state of depleting hectares of mangrove has received insufficient attention as required whenever deforestation topics are being discussed by environmental stakeholders.

As a result, the effects of the depletion can be felt by both humans and the environment, especially water species that depend on them for survival.

Lamu county, being an island, most of its residents depend on the marine ecosystem as fishers and in day-to-day activities.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC), an environmental organisation based at the Coast, notes that Lamu accounts for about 60 per cent of Kenya’s mangroves and is spread on 61,271ha.

Most of the islands in Lamu use mangrove in building their homes, while some have turned mangrove harvesting into a business by selling the trees to non-residents.

At Pate Island, most of the houses are constructed using these precious trees, meaning the rate of its degradation would have been higher were it not for governmental restrictions imposed on its harvesting.

George Maina of TNC blamed the decline in mangrove cover on over-exploitation, conversion pressure, pollution and climate change.

He said illegal logging is the main reason for deforestation since the loggers do not follow guidelines put in place before cutting down the mangroves.

Maina said degradation is not only depleting the resources available within its boundary but also affecting the productivity of the adjacent coastal waters.

“Lamu’s dependency on mangrove is very high, and that is why there are degraded areas. This represents areas that are clearly felled as well as sites where quality poles have been decimated,” he said.

Aerial view of Faza village on Pate Island surrounded by mangrove
Image: MALEMBA MKONGO

MANGROVE REHABILITATION

It is for these reasons that TNC established a women-led project on the rehabilitation of mangroves. The initiative is done in conjunction with like-minded conservancy organisations, such as the Northern Rangeland Trust (NRT), Pate marine community conservancy, KWS and Lamu county.

The project is currently being implemented by women in Kiunga and some of the villages in Pate Island. Maina said they have been able to establish a nursery for the mangrove seedlings.

The environmentalist said the restoration activities are not only meant to ensure sustainable use of Lamu’s mangrove ecosystem by the local communities but also to contribute to national and global efforts to fight climate change impacts.

He said supporting and strengthening the capacity of Lamu communities gives them room to protect, manage and restore the mangrove habitat as they benefit from its existence.

Zulfa Hassan, the chairwoman of Mikoko association, said they plan to plant at least 50,000 seedlings annually for the next five years.

They have already planted 35,000 seedlings in the last one year.

“We build using mangrove therefore the usage of these trees is high in our community. But we now have a motto that, we plant before we harvest, “she said.

Hassan said the plan to plant before harvesting will ensure the harvesting is systematic and has to be authorised by relevant authorities, meaning no one even the residents can cut the oceanic trees without documented approvals.

This measure will also be able to weed out the illegal loggers.

Mikoko’s efforts to protect their mangroves have been by boosted by establishment of Lamu marine patrol unit that mane the ocean round the clock.

STRATEGIC PLAN

According to TNC, the restoration programme was started after holding participatory meeting with residents, fishers, local conservancy groups and other stakeholders.

The initial step was to identify the problem on how, when and who caused the degradation of mangrove, and thereafter identify areas which needed restoration.

They later assessed the ecological characteristics of the degraded mangrove sites to ascertain whether they can effectively be planted.

To ensure full participation of residents, TNC and NRT conducted training sessions on mangrove restoration methods and proceeded to plant at selected sites.

The organisation architectured the programme to fully involve the residents in the monitoring and restoration plan who would access changes, impacts and success.

“With the design, members shared lessons with the community and also taught other community members to replicate the plan,” he said.

 Maina said this was their first step in helping to establish new Community Forest Association (CFAs) in Lamu to deepen connection with other community-led conservation initiatives.

He said the overall plan is to support at least 25 hectares of degraded mangrove areas.

The organisation is expected to support the CFA to develop a Participatory Forest Management Plan (PFMP) and a harvest plan for the Kiunga-Pate Island mangroves, where communities and partners identify and map degraded mangrove and natural regeneration areas to restore and rehabilitate.

These efforts have been sustained with improved community policing and protection of mangrove areas from human activities by strengthening ongoing community surveillance and enforcement mechanisms to control unregulated exploitation of mangroves.

The CFA and PFMP will help guide and enhance biodiversity conservation and people’s livelihoods, while ensuring the sustainable use of mangrove forests.

When people living next to forests protect them

They earn from tree seedlings and beekeeping, while protecting trees

NEWS

1 MONTH AGO

PROTECTION POLICIES

Mangrove protects our fragile coastlines from erosion and storms. The forest also helps fisheries thrive by increasing the productivity of the fished species.

It also enhances biodiversity, stores carbon, improves water quality, sustains livelihoods and provides local community employment.

There is a huge opportunity to increase the cover of mangrove through enrichment planting and natural regeneration.

Mangrove ecosystem restoration has the potential to support the return of lost mangrove goods and services by increasing the mangrove resource base.

Experts call for guidelines and framework to protect the aqua marine trees.

For Lamu, TNC and NRT and other stakeholders have established frameworks that involves local communities in the Pate Island and Kiunga, especially fisheries, beach management units (BMUs) and community wildlife conservancies. These communities help in implementing the laws put in place.

They have built local capacity to collaboratively manage mangrove forests by first empowering them through tailored training on governance and the importance of mangroves.

TNC said they have succeeded in ensuring the mangroves are protected from illegal logging or unapproved cutting of the trees.

They are now collaborating with other stakeholders, such as Kenya Forest Service, Lamu government and Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute.

They are also bringing together local communities and CBOs as well as government agencies, NGOs, expert groups, private sector and other actors to develop harvest plans for targeted mangrove blocks to guide sustainable mangrove harvesting and enhance community benefits.