KCWA – KENYA’S FIRST LOCALLY MANAGED MARINE AREA (LMMA).

LMMA’s have gained popularity globally and are known by many different names, including ‘community marine protected areas’ and ‘community-managed areas.’  In Kenya, they are known as ‘tengefus’.  Their size and contexts vary widely, but all share the common element of promoting local management of marine and coastal resources. LMMAs have proven highly effective in reducing local conflicts over fisheries, conserving marine biodiversity, and improving catches.

As the first LMMA in Kenya, KCWA’s programme focuses on empowering coastal communities to manage their own marine resources.  Our work has guided national fisheries policy and legislation, and has been replicated by 19 coastal communities and NGOs, along hundreds of kilometres of Kenya’s coastline.

To achieve a sustainable solution to marine conservation there has to be an element of enterprise.  This gives fishermen and their families the choice and opportunity to improve and change their livelihoods.

The KCWA has developed effective and adaptive conservation strategies and governance systems that have taken us on the path towards sustainability and climate change resilience.

Developing LMMA networks

KCWA’s experience in promoting community-based coastal management in Kenya has shown that peer-to-peer learning is a highly effective tool for building community capacity and catalysing the local adoption of community-based management efforts; communities tend to learn and understand much better from each other than from outsiders delivering formal training.

KCWA is working with The Oceans Alive Trust to link Kenya’s numerous LMMAs into a network to promote the exchange of know-how, experiences and ideas. The cornerstone of this network is a regular meeting of LMMA representatives, providing an invaluable opportunity to meet face-to-face, share experiences, explore common issues and develop collaborative solutions.

Recent successes include the creation of a second marine protected area in Bureni. As well as supporting national environmental management agencies, our work also pioneers the use of or customary, community-based legislation such as the Kuruwitu Beach Management Units to support and reinforce marine and coastal management.