By Mazera Ndurya
Kwale County, Kenya: Over the years conservation was always seen as a clever way of denying people opportunities to exploit their God-given resources. This was more pronounced within coastal communities who grew up exploiting resources such as mangroves with reckless abandon.
But things started changing when the negative effects of over-exploitation started to manifest as witnessed in reduced fish catches, loss of sources of livelihood due to depletion of resources, and exposing communities to vagaries of hunger, massive soil erosion, and sedimentation which in turn led to the destruction of mangroves and breeding grounds for fisheries.
However, there has been a new shift in the way communities perceive climate change and the need to conserve the environment. In Kwale County, there have been a number of activities focusing on alternative sources of livelihood and in turn reducing pressure on the marine ecosystem.
As the world grapples with the ravages of climate change, two small villages on Kenya’s Coast and south and west of the Port City of Mombasa have joined the campaign to fight global warming by keeping the environment clean.
One thing that stands out in Jimbo and Tsunza villages is the commitment to environmental conservation that is being undertaken by the communities through conservation groups that are doing impressive work restoring mangroves and improving livelihood while creating awareness of the need to conserve nature.
A walk across Jimbo, a village of about 1,000 inhabitants, one does not fail to notice black gadgets in almost every homestead outside in the scorching sun. A closer look reveals a black container filled to the brim with water for heating and treating.
This is the Solvatten kit, a combined portable water treatment and water heating system that has been designed for off-grid household use mainly in the developing world. It is an easy, innovative solution that provides access to clean, hot water to people worldwide.
Jimbo is one of the areas in Kenya and the world that has joined the long list of beneficiaries of a game-changing technology with the sole aim of helping vulnerable communities without reliable access to clean and safe water.
Jimbo is known for its sardines that are consumed in the entire coast region and beyond. Interestingly, the work of handling the sardines that land at the port every day from the fishermen is left to women.
However, it is an arduous task that requires high hygiene standards because after landing and weighing, the sardines are boiled and then dried.
Due to the large quantity of firewood required to boil tons of sardines every day, there was a serious threat of the mangroves being depleted. Mangroves provide the best firewood as well as building materials.
The road to where Jimbo has reached in terms of economic growth as a result of conservation was not easy.
The chairman of Jimbo Environmental Group Mwichambi Kai Mtoro, who has seen the village transform into a globally acclaimed conservation hub said it was a bitter pill but the fruits are now evident.
“Initially, everything was in a mess. There was wanton destruction of the mangroves. The roads were dilapidated, houses were mainly built with and thatched with palm fronds and the poverty levels were quite high,” he said.
This was happening despite the huge fishery resource especially sardines that have made the village one of the richest at the moment boasting one of the most successful blue carbon trading projects under the Vanga Blue Forest (VBF) project.
Mtoro said things started changing for the best when they took the initiative to start conserving the environment through beach clean-ups and an aggressive mangrove restoration campaign.
Much of the interventions in Jimbo are geared towards reducing pressure on mangroves and ensuring that the marine ecosystem is not decoyed.
“Among other organizations that have supported the Jimbo community include the European Union through the Community Development Trust Fund (CDTF), The East African Wildlife Society, the Anglican Church, and most recently the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),” said Mtoro.
The FAO project has seen the installation of modern, hygienic energy saving stoves that have drastically reduced the amount of firewood used to boil the sardines.
Mtoro says that everything about the village is about conserving the environment. He adds; “We no longer use mangroves for firewood and although our women use firewood, it comes from terrestrial trees but even then most of the households have installed energy-saving stoves which take very few pieces of firewood and retain heat to last longer.”
Out of the 96 households in Jimbo, 44 already have energy-saving stoves installed.
The biggest milestone for the community comprising three villages of Jimbo, Vanga, and Kiwegu is the blue carbon project under the auspices of the Vanga Blue Forest (VBF) initiative.
Harith Mohamed, a founder member of VBF said they have witnessed intensive restoration and conservation of mangroves attracting buyers from the voluntary carbon market internationally.
“The conservation of mangroves has paid off in so many ways from an increase in fish stocks by protecting breeding areas to social development through incomes from selling carbon credits,” he said.
VBF is operating on 460 acres of mangrove forest that the community has planted and is conserving and so far the community has earned over Ksh10 million from the sale of carbon credits.
However, the money is not shared among the communities, it is used to fund community projects and some of them include the Juma Boy Secondary School laboratory, Kiwegu Madrassa, and a nursery school in Jimbo.
VBF has two fully employed staff who run the project.
“We have just received Ksh7.9 million from the sale of carbon in the second round of payments and stakeholders will be sitting to identify the projects to be funded,” said Mtoro.
Today, Jimbo is a brand new village different from what it was about five years ago. It has transformed from a village with mud and palm fronds thatching to one resplendent with bigger and permanent houses that have toilets as opposed to latrines and people relieving themselves in the mangrove forest.
Most of the houses then were built using mangrove poles but with the proceeds that have come as a result of investment in conservation and environment development, the housing has changed to brick and iron sheets.
“The residents embraced expert advice to turn the village into a vibrant economic hub and the most interesting thing about our village is that the richest people are women, thanks to a thriving sardine trade,” said Hussein Bakari, the Jimbo Beach Management Unit (BMU) chairperson.
Bakari says the cash flow in the village is quite high and on average the port can generate an income of up to Ksh1 million in one day when the season is good. This money circulates in the village giving the community every reason to continue safeguarding the environment.
The flair and confidence with which the residents of Tsunza Island in Kwale County talk about their stake in the marine ecosystem left no doubt on the extent that conservation can do to a community.
The visitors from self-help groups under the banner of the Crane and Wetland Conservation Nandi, Trans Nzoia, Uasin Gishu, Kisumu, and Kakamega counties who were on a benchmarking tour of Jimbo and Tsunza marveled at how such small communities can reap big from ecosystem conservation.
Tsunza is a haven for bird watching and excursions because of the lagoons laced with mangrove forests, a labyrinth of canals and waterways that mix with the salinity of the ocean, and the freshness of the rivers that drain into the Indian Ocean through the Mwache Creek.
It is one of the leading producers of protein-rich and lucrative shrimps that breed at the estuary from the Mwache River into the Indian Ocean.
However, were it not for the community initiative consolidated through Community Touch (COMTOUCH) Kenya, a Community-Based Organisation (CBO) that was founded in 2007 by environment conservation enthusiasts, there would be nothing to talk about in Tsunza.
Said Bidu, one of the founders of COMTOUCH has a lot to say about the community efforts that have seen major local and international partners including the European Union channel their resources to help boost their conservation efforts.
“During the years 2000 to 2010, there were various NGOs working in Kinango and the larger Kwale county but as the Tsunza community, we did not feel the impact of their work and thought of coming up with our own organization that would really touch the community hence the name “COMMUNITY TOUCH KENYA.
“Immediately after forming the organization, we did a resource mapping in all our areas of work and the following were some of the major resources that were at our disposal that we were to protect and develop in order that our community would benefit in the long run. These included the mangrove ecosystem, lands, riverine ecosystem, and the Chonyi sacred forest (kaya),” said Bidu.
Bidu says what keeps the community together is the principle of benefit sharing.
“Each beneficiary group or individual is brought to the table before any commencement of any project and is agree on how to share the benefit and this has for many years impressed our donors and partners that’s why we’ve managed local, national, and international programs effectively.
“From the previous funding, we’ve seen groups securing up to Ksh960, 000 as dividends after selling mangrove seedlings. From this members have bought goats, build permanent houses and others have established businesses ranging from Boda boda to mini shops,” he said.
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