Climate Action Kenya Project #26814

Restore Corals for 400 Fisherfolks in Wasini

by Africa Nature Organization

Restore Corals for 400 Fisherfolks in Wasini

Project Report | Feb 9, 2018
Progress Report 3 - Coral Restoration in Wasini

By Moses Ziro | Project Leader

Janet Mueni, Abdalla Juma and Mohammed Kassim

The report coveres activities implemented between September 2017 to 25th January 2018. The following activities were implemented and targets achieved in this period.

Coral Transplant

The tranplant of corals began in September 2017 to replace dead corals in areas already rehabilitated. 50 corals have so far been transplanted to replace corals that had died due to disturbances by illegal fishermen. No new areas were replanted.

Patrols

The Wasini Beach Management Unit (BMU) has been able to undertake beach patrols, thanks to the boat donated by the Kenya Coastal Development Project in 2017. The scouts are able to do day patrols and at least 3 night patrols per week. By December 2017, four notorious illegal fishermen had been arrested and presented to the State Department of Fisheries for further action. No new illegal fishing incidences have been reported in 2018.

Tourism

Tourist visits to the island and the coral transplant site has started to pick up. At least 5 visitors are received each week since November 2017. The Wasini BMU has been using their boat to ferry visitors from the mainland to the island. The business has not picked but at least they are able to colect revenue enough to cover cost for patrols.

Award

The Wasini BMU was the recipient of the best BMU along the Kenyan coast in 2017 by the Pwani Mazingira Awards spearheaded by the National Environmental Management Authority. The recognition was partly due to the improved coral transplant and protection efforts by the Wasini BMU.

Donations

The project stakeholders held a project review meeting on 15th January 2018. The meeting was attended by the project leader, Abubakar Ahmed, Chairman Wasini BMU, Omar Abdalla, Secretary, Mohammed Kassim (Assistant Secretary), Nazo Mohammed (Treasurer), Biasha Mohammed (Chairlady, Wasini Women Group), Sanura Ali Kassim (Committee) and Janet Mueni, Programme Assistant, Africa Nature Organization. After reviewing the project progress, the meeting resolved to concentrate their efforts on the coral transplant component of the project and strengthen night patrols as well as promote visitor traffic to the site.

It was, however, evident that more support is required to sustain the coral transplant activity with the level of donations received. We, therefore, call upon all friends and well wishers to continue supporting us in this endevour.

Thank YOU!

Links:

Donate NOW

Permalink

Sep 18, 2017
Restore Coral for 400 Fisherfolks in Wasini Island

By Moses Ziro | Project Leader

This report covers the period June to August 2017.

Green Tourism Summit 13 to 15th June 2017

The project was represented at the Annual Green Tourism Summit, a multi-stakeholder platform to inspire action towards a sustainable tourism sector in East Africa. It is a multi sectoral, multi stakeholder platform for learning and sharing knowledge on green and sustainable trends in tourism as well as global developments that impact on the industry.The theme this year was ‘Tourism and the SDG’s – Opportunities or Challenges‘. The Summit attracted participants from community-managed conservancies, tour operators, government officials and civil societies working in the tourism sector. Speakers were drawn from South Africa, Zambia, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Kenya. Their were lesson drawn from the Summit including how to integrate sustainability into community tourism, managing challenges in community tourism, eco-rating of tourism facilities and how to market tourism facilities including the use of social media. The lessons learnt are being used to prepare a community tourism module and to develop a tourism strategy for the project.

Preparations For Coral Transplant

The period between June to September are not conducive for coral transplant owing to water turbulence. No corals were transplanted during this period. However, 87 coral discs have been made and two coral bed nurseries prepared. More coral discs and coral beds will be made in September 2017 and coral transplanting be done in October 2017.

In kind Contribution

The Kenya Coastal Development Programme donated a patrol boat to Wasini Beach Management Unit to enhance surveillance. This was in response to our plea for support to arrest illegal fishing within community-managed marine areas. The boat, with a capacity of 12 persons, is currently being used for patrol. A more comprehensive patrol programme is being developed for effective surveillance.

Donations

The project has so far received roughly USD 1800 out of the target USD 50,000. The in-kind support for the patrol boat covered USD 15,000 of our overall budget. We, however, still require funds to support the coral transplant to cover at least 3ha and strengthen Wasini island community managed marine tourism.

Permalink

Jun 12, 2017
Progress Report - Restore Corals for 400 Fisherfolks in Wasini

By Moses Ziro | Project Leader

Wasini Island Community Leaders

The Coral Restoration and Community-Managed Tourism Project held two meetings with project beneficiaries to refine the implementation plan. The meetings were held on 20th March 2017 and 24th May 2017, involving the committee spearheading the coral transplant component and leaders of community groups involved in tourism activities within the island. The meetings had initially been planned for beach management units of Mkwiro and Wasini but due to increased interest from community groups with a stake in tourism, the invitation was expanded to include them too. Noatble among the tourism stakeholders were the Wasini Women, managing the Wasini Coral Garden and Board walk, and Mkwiro Eco-friendly Conservation Group involved in managing and recycling wastes (flipflops) on the shores of Mkwiro beach.

Based on the resources so far raised through GlobalGiving, it was evident that not many project activities could be implemented. At least USD 1500 had been raised and there was need to prioritize on the activities to be implemented. Patrol of the community-managed marine areas was ranked highest, above coral transplant and the development of community managed marine tourism. Ten community scounts were identified to spearhead patrols and are being supported by Wasini and Mkwiro beach management units as well as the village chief and the village elders of the three villages of Mkwiro, Wasini and Maji ya Nyuma. The activity has kicked off with at least 2 notorious illegal fishermen identified and action taken on them.

The community leaders resolved formed the Wasini Island Community Developement Organization, to promote Wasini Island as a tourism destination. A committee of 7 members were elected including 2 women from the three villages. They were also mandated to oversee the project activities.

The coral transplant activities will resume in July when the windy and rainy season are over.

The funds raised have enabled project activities to kick-off. However, the continued implementation of core project activities such as the coral transplanting and purchase of a patrol/tourist boat will require more support from you, your family, friends and networks.

Links:

GlobalGiving Donation Link

Permalink

‹ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.