Climate-Smart Design for Diani-Chale Marine Ecosystem management and Improved Livelihoods for Coastal Communities

Marine protected areas (MPAs) throughout the world have been established and often promoted as tools for biodiversity conservation, fisheries management, tourism and education. Kenya has been in the frontline to conserve marine resources through establishment of 6 MPAs namely: Kisite-Mpunguti, Mombasa, Watamu, Malindi parks and reserves, Diani and Kiunga marine reserves. These MPAs fall under two management categories. The marine parks are typically no- take areas whereas the marine reserves are multiple use protected areas where sustainable use of natural resources is allowed including artisanal fisheries.

Since the establishment of MPAs in Kenya, there has been significant effort to put in place active measures to conserve and manage them to ensure that we derive the critical ecological and economic benefits associated with MPAs. Our focus area for this project is the Diani-Chale Marine National Reserve and adjacent areas. It is worth noting that, since the establishment of Diani-Chale Marine Reserve in 1995, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) attempted to actively manage the MPA. However, this did not last for long due to mistrust and conflicting interests between the local community and the government. The Diani-Chale Marine Reserve has therefore remained as a paper park for the past 25 years. Several attempts have been made to resolve the conflicts and initiate co-management with shared responsibilities and benefit sharing mechanism between the government and local community. The Diani-Chale Management Trust (DCMT) was established to act as a mediator between the government/KWS and the local communities and facilitate co-management approach. In 2016, we started the process of consultation and consensus building to fast track development of a management plan that would provide a framework for implementation of co-management of the MPA. The results of an initial community perception survey, indicated that 87% of those community members interviewed were willing to engage in a community led MPA management approach with technical assistance from the county government of Kwale and KWS as the lead government agency in MPA management. 

This lack of proper ecosystem management structures for the Diani-Chale MPA and adjacent marine ecosystem has indeed resulted in degradation of the marine resources. The primary drivers for the degradation are: the ever increasing population, rapid urbanization in nearby small coastal towns (Diani, Ukunda, Msambweni, Gazi and Kwale) that has led to rising or high demand for marine resources; overfishing; overcapacity and widespread use of unsustainable fishing gears e.g. beach seines; limited alternative source of income generating activities; unemployment and high poverty levels; land-based pollution due to poor solid and liquid disposal; climate change impacts resulting in frequent coral reef bleaching events due to rising sea surface temperatures.  

As the human population increases, the demand for fish has intensified resulting into increased fishing pressure in coastal areas and over exploitation of other marine resources. Considering that exploitation of marine resources plays a significant role in the economies and livelihood of coastal communities by providing food and income. We will focus on enhancing conservation and management of the Diani-Chale marine reserve and adjacent marine ecosystem in order to benefit from the fisheries spill-over effects of protection on adjacent fisheries.