Kenya’s National Environmental Manage Authority (NEMA) has given the go-ahead for a landmark conservation project on the Kenyan coast to manage marine and coastal resources with the local communities there.

"We have defined the multiple use areas, started receiving funds for the use of the resources and we are more organized as a community," said an excited Said, a fisherman from Kibunyi Beach Management Unit.

The initiative to support the establishment of seven Community Conserved Areas (CCAs) in the South coast of Kenya is a first in community conservation in Kenya.

NEMA gave the project a green light based on an Environmental Impact Assessment report. This approval marks a landmark step in conservation with CCAs being recognized as a tool for managing marine and coastal resources jointly with local communities in Kenya.

Fauna and Flora International (FFI) and the East Africa Wildlife Society (EAWLS) have been working with local communities and other stakeholders to establish these CCAs, which seek to improve livelihoods and conserve biodiversity. The CCAs are jointly managed by the Fisheries Department and BMUs along the south coast, which were established under the Fisheries Act that devolves many aspects of marine resource management to local communities. The project is supported by the Darwin Initiative.

By Joy Juma, Fauna and Flora International