- As at January 31, women's groups had planted and restored over 200,000 acres of mangrove trees across the region.
- Mangroves are an integral part of the ecosystem in Lamu and other coastal counties as they provide habitats and ample breeding grounds for fish.
Women in Lamu are leading mangrove conservation campaigns to restore the forest that has over the years been destroyed.
Women's groups have planted over 200,000 acres of mangrove trees in the region.
The women are from Pate, Faza and Ndau islands in Lamu East and Kililana and Kwasasi in Lamu West.
Mangroves are an integral part of the ecosystem in Lamu and other coastal counties as they provide habitats and ample breeding grounds for fish.
They are also largely used in the region for wood and boat building.
Lamu Old Town is a historical town whose entire architecture is tied to mangroves.
Mangrove wood and extracts are also used in tannins and dyes and in traditional medicine.
However, over-harvesting, converting mangrove areas to other land uses, infrastructure development, pollution and climate change have contributed to a loss of one-fifth of Kenya’s 60,000 hectares of mangroves since 1992.
Over 60 per cent of Kenya’s mangrove forest cover lies in Lamu county.
The mangrove tree has over the years been exploited resulting to over-harvesting without replanting, a factor that has in the long run affected the forest cover not just in Lamu but across the country.
In February 2019, the government lifted the ban on mangrove logging in Lamu but gave conditions under which loggers were to operate to ensure sustainable harvesting of the trees.
Among other conditions, the loggers are to plant more mangroves every time and everywhere they harvest the mature ones so as to ensure the forest cover remains unaffected.
There are however concerns that loggers in the region are not adhering to the replanting directive, a move that has resulted in the dwindling of the mangrove population in Lamu.
There are reports that the ban could be reimposed to save the situation.
According to a report by the Kenya Forest Services, over 32,000 acres of mangrove cover have been lost due to careless harvesting.
Amina Shalo, the spokesperson and leader of the Faza Women Group, said theirs was a call to save nature and ensure the future is not lost in the hands of a few greedy individuals.
“With the support of the KFS, the Kenya Wildlife Service and private entities like the Northern Rangeland Trust we are saving the mangroves here. We are women and we know just how important trees are for the family and even for business. We are reclaiming these mangroves one at a time,” said Shalo.
Ndau island community mangrove conservator Amina Salim urged residents to embrace mangrove conservation.
Over 30,000 families that are directly dependent on the mangrove trade were adversely affected by the nationwide logging ban imposed by the government on February 24,2018.
Salim urged locals to reminisce on how tough life was for them during the ban and seek to conserve the mangrove lest the government decides to re-impose it.
“Life was hard but now we seem to have forgotten and are doing exactly what we shouldn’t. It’s possible for people to still make money from mangroves while at the same time conserving them, it’s doable,” she said.
Pate Women Conservation Association chairperson Rafia Aboud observed that mangroves support livelihoods of communities in the region and the entire coastal region as such must be conserved.
Lamu county Kenya Forest Service conservator Evans Maneno said his office was aware of loggers operating without permits and not replanting as directed and termed it a crime.
“Those with licenses are doing well because they don’t want to risk losing them. We are however having an issue with illegal ones who have decided to not obtain permits but still log. We however commend the women groups for the role in lifting the mangrove cover,”said Maneno.
Mangrove logging is among the key economic activities in Lamu with monthly returns of over Sh5 Million.