Gazi mangrove restoration project

Submitted by Richard Taylor 7th July 2012 15:14

The WD-NACE team visited the womens' community group in Gazi who maintain and manage a mangrove ecosystem restoration project. Gazi Bay is bordered by 6.2 square kilometres (2.4 square miles) of mangrove forests, an important fish breeding habitat and coastal protection area, as well as supplying local livelihood incomes and sustainance in fish, fuel and building materials (see picture above).
The project, with support from the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI), has replanted mangroves in some of the forest areas degraded by overextraction and logging since the 1970's. Local materials have been used to build a timber walkway around part of the restoration site (see picture below), where local tour guides from the womens' community group share their knowledge and tell their story about how they helped to replant the area. Eco-tourism currently employs several women and attracts up to 300 visitors per month.

Acknowledgement:

This work was funded by the Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation programme (ESPA) as project number NE/I00288X/1. ESPA is funded by the Department for International Development (DFID), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), as part of the UK’s Living with Environmental Change Programme (LWEC).