How King Charles III's visit to Kuruwitu conservation unravelled

King Charles III and Queen Camilla's visit yielded a bilateral partnership with mutual benefits for the country and the United Kingdom.

The King visited many places and interacted with Kenyans of different capacities.

During his visit to Kilifi, King Charles III toured Kuruwitu to learn more about community-led marine conservation.

The Oceans Alive Foundation in partnership with the Kuruwitu Conservation and Welfare Community Based Organisation (Kuruwitu-CBO) welcomed the King to their offices at Vipingo Ridge Beach on November 2, 2023.

The King toured the climate-smart kitchen model gardens and saw the positive impact of Oceans Alive's projects for families in the surrounding community.

King Charles III saw underwater footage from the marine protected area.

The King also met with the Kuruwitu Beach Management Unit and the BMU Women's Group who talked about their Cash for Trash project.

The Royal visit then moved to the ground-breaking coral restoration project at Kuruwitu where Oceans Alive Katana Ngala showed His Majesty different coral restoration techniques used at Kuruwitu.

King Charles sealed his support of the Kuruwitu conservation efforts with the commemoration of a coral restoration structure.

King Charles III cemented a plug into the structure before it was taken to the sea and launched - at his command - to its permanent position with the Community Conservation Area to initiate the King's Coral Village.

The reef structure, branded with the King's cypher, has 40 coral plugs which will grow over time to become an important part of the newly restored reef.

He then sat with the village elders and heard their stories of age-old traditional conservation measures.

"We are delighted and proud that His Majesty King Charles III saw for himself the community efforts for marine conservation in Kenya. He saw what can be achieved when a small coastal community gets together and acts on the challenges they face," Oceans Alive Foundation and Patron of the Kuruwitu Conservation CEO Des Bowden said.

"This has developed into a model, a living classroom to positively impact and inspire people, locally, nationally and across the world."

During his visit, the King was met by Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung'aro, area chief Salome Tangai, co-founders of Kuruwitu CBO Des Bowden and Dickson Juma and Kuruwitu CBO Chairwoman Maryam Jabali.