Poverty and unemployment are pushing people to destroy the marine environment, running the risk of having certain species of fish extinct.
The Tudor Creek, for example, has lost 87 per cent of its mangrove cover to human encroachment and activities.
But a youth group in Junda, Kisauni subcounty, in partnership with Equity Bank and other organisations want to rectify the situation.
Brain Youth Group is dedicated to conserving the Tudor Creek by planting and taking care of mangroves, and sensitising the community on the importance of the trees.
“Our main aim is to try and restore the mangrove cover to its normal level,” group founder and chairperson Mbarak Abdalla said.
Since 2011, the group has planted 1.2 million seedlings of different varieties of mangrove trees at the creek.
However, this year has been the busiest, having planted more than 150,000 trees largely due to the new partnership with Equity Bank.
Tudor Creek has lost 1,426 acres out of 1,641 acres of mangrove trees, which is about 87 per cent of the trees lost, according to Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute.
“This means a lot of effort is needed to restore the mangroves to their original acreage,” Abdalla said.
The youth group leader said apart from conserving the environment, the mangroves also create employment opportunities for fishermen who will benefit from increased fish.
Mangroves provide breeding grounds for fish.
“Once the mangroves are lost, fish will also reduce,” Abdalla said.
Equity Bank has this year dedicated itself to planting and managing 150,000 mangrove trees planted at Tudor Creek in May.
“They took 10 plots where we planted two species of mangrove trees at one-metre spacing,” Abdalla said.
He said 90 per cent of the trees were planted successfully, while four per cent died. Another six per cent are weak and need extra attention, Abdalla said.
The bank said the project was aimed at restoring the mangrove forest cover that has been in decline in the recent past due to human encroachment.
“By directly involving the local community [the youth], we want to bring about a sense of ownership,” the bank said in a statement.
So far, Equity Bank has planted 1.8 million trees across the country.
In Mombasa, the bank plans to plant 300,000 trees this season.
However, Abdalla lamented that residents have been negating the gains made by cutting the trees for charcoal, firewood and building materials.
However, through close collaboration with security apparatus in Kisauni, including the Kenya Forest Service, they have managed to significantly prevent such activities.
Abdalla said due to unemployment, people want to find any means necessary to make money, which includes burning charcoal, cutting firewood or getting construction materials out of the mangrove trees.
The youth group chairperson said there is a risk of losing some species of marine animals should mangrove destruction not be stopped completely.
“In Lamu and Vanga, for example, there are many fish because of the many mangrove trees that exist there. There are fewer mangroves in Mombasa therefore there are fewer fish,” Abdalla said. He said he plans to start mangrove restoration activities in Lamu.
“There is a possibility of having some species of fish extinct in the near future if care is not taken. The species will remain history,” Abdalla said.
Should the fish reduce, fishermen will have nothing to fish, frustration will increase and youth will get into crime to try and earn a living, according to the Brain Youth Group chairperson.
Already, he said, there are a species of birds that love flying over the mangroves and use them for various activities, which are now rarely seen because of reduced mangrove cover.
“At the Tudor Creek here, we used to see a lot of velvet monkeys, but now we rarely see them because of the reduced mangrove cover,” Abdalla said.
He called for more collaboration between the government, NGOs, corporates and individuals to sensitise the community on the importance of mangroves and be able to plant more of the trees.
Edited by A.N
