Location: Tudor Creek
Region: Mombasa
Type: Tree planting
Project Activity: Restoration
Mangrove forests play a significant role in the protection of the coastlines around the world, providing highly valuable ecosystem services to coastal communities. Benefits include reducing the impact of waves and storm surges, improving water quality, reducing soil erosion, providing nursery grounds for a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic species, and supporting coastal tourism.
Mangroves once spanned 1,641 hectares of Tudor Creek in Kenya, but today, only a few hundred hectares remain due to anthropogenic threats of urbanization and demand for firewood.
This project has planted 798,500 mangrove seedlings to restore the degraded mangrove forests of Tudor Creek, together with our community-based local partner Brain Youth Group, who will also be benefitting from the socio-economic programmes provided through the project.
Community members are trained and incentivized to ensure the long-term growth and survival of the mangroves that further support additional sources of livelihood, such as beekeeping and chicken rearing.
A total of 109 women and 113 men have been actively engaged in the project through seasonal and permanent employment opportunities. These positions support the on-going monitoring and maintenance of the planted mangroves.
Furthermore, the project has enabled the financing of 100 beehives which are installed in the mature mangrove stands found within the planting areas. The local community is trained on the harvesting and processing of mangrove honey. Each beehive is estimated to generate approximately 10 kilograms of honey per harvest. This provides an additional source of income for several women, most of whom are single mothers and widows, allowing them to feed their families and send their children to school.
This project is restoring over 100 hectares of degraded land within Tudor Creek, leading to improved soil conditions of the region that had previously remained bare the last 15 years.