Supporting Small-scale Fisheries and Blue Carbon Potential
Seagrass meadows are vital coastal ecosystems that store carbon, support fisheries, protect shorelines, and sustain the livelihoods of coastal communities, yet their contribution to climate action and fisheries management remains under-studied.
Along Kenya’s south coast, communities in the fishing villages of Jimbo and Vanga have established the country’s only seagrass-focused Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs) to conserve seagrass and the resources they support. Supported by the University of Antwerp Climate Fund and implemented with Kenyan partners including Technical University of Mombasa (TUM), Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI), Coastal and Marine Resources Development (COMRED), and the respective Beach Management Units (BMUs) of Vanga and Jimbo, this project will assess seagrass health condition, associated fisheries, blue-carbon potential, community benefits and the effectiveness of local management approaches in the seagrass LMMA (protected areas) versus free access areas.
A key focus will be strengthening community capacity to monitor and conserve seagrass ecosystems, generate evidence to inform fisheries management and explore future opportunities for sustainable blue-carbon and conservation financing. The project aims to provide practical lessons that can be applied by coastal communities in Kenya and the wider Western Indian Ocean region.