Changare John, a local from Gazi village, knows the comforts of such successes. In a region that hardly receives enough rainfall for crops, John struggled to provide for her family by selling flatbreads and cooked beans at the roadside. During the low season, when there are few visitors in the village, she could hardly break even. Since she joined the Mikoko Pamoja project as a member, her fortunes have changed for the better.
“My three children are in school thanks to the bursary they get from the project,” she says. “When they get sick, I do not have to worry about medical fees because our health centre is also supported by the project.”
The local fisherman Abdallah Mohamed, who is not involved in the project, has also noticed benefits. “The fish returned after the community stopped taking firewood from the mangroves. Our indigenous trees are also thriving because there are fewer disturbances,” he says. “This project is really a game changer.”
With more blue carbon schemes set to roll out in Kenya, Gazi and other villages could soon see additional benefits from their conserved mangrove forests. As well as absorbing carbon, these forests are a natural buffer to some of the worst effects of climate change, including storm surges and, to an extent, rising sea levels.
As the world’s mangroves are steadily being lost through urban development, and the expansion of agriculture and aquaculture, projects like Gazi’s show that it is both possible and profitable to save the forests that can protect against climate change.
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