Mangrove Restoration through Adopt-A-site Program (UoN and Big Ship C.B.O)

Big Ship Community Based Organization focuses on mangrove restoration, community empowerment and solid waste management. Having been incepted in 2010, the organization has actively restored over 15 hectares of degraded mangrove zones in Tudor Creek. click the image to download report

Working closely with Kenya Forest Service under the Mombasa Kilindindi Community Forest Association (MoKiCFA), as one of the most recognized user groups in the region, the organization convenes various interested parties to restore mangroves using a collaborative approach called Adopt-A-Site.

Environmental and Biosystems Engineering Students Association (EBESA) from the University of Nairobi endeavored to understand the critical marine habitat and in relation to their academic scope embraced the Adopt-A-Site model by participating in active mangrove restoration in the Big Ship restoration site. This report accounts for the mangroves planted in partnership of EBESA (University of Nairobi) and Big Ship C.B.O on 21st September 2019 at Big Ship mangrove restoration sites in Ganahola in Tudor Creek.

Site assessment was done to determine the most suitable zone to plant the mangroves. Site assessment is crucial to ensure that the planted mangroves demonstrate high survival rate. Species selection was also done based on the prevailing mangrove species at the identified site and the neighboring zones. In this case, the selected species were Rhizophora mucronate, Brugeria gymnorrhiza and Ceriops tagal. Wildings and propagules were used for planting at a spacing of 2m apart. The GPS coordinates were taken to enable mapping of the area. Photographs were also taken enable visual presentation of the study area. The total number of mangroves planted was 530 in an area 0f 0.208 hectares.