Lamu’s decade-old culture and heritage has played an immense role towards the conservation of the mangrove forest cover in the county.
About 61 per cent of Kenya’s entire mangrove forest cover lies in Lamu.
In Lamu, mangroves are directly tied to the culture and heritage of the region with all structures, boats and other amenities being put up using only mangroves.
However, the trees have over the years been exploited, resulting in over-harvesting without replanting, a factor that has in the long run affected the forest cover not just in Lamu but across the country.
Mangroves have for long been at the verge of extinction especially at the coastal strip owing to continued cutting of the mangrove for firewood, construction, pulp production, charcoal burning and use for animal fodder by residents.
Apart from harvesting, Lamu has also been losing millions of mangroves which are felled to pave way for the establishment of mega national projects such as the Lamu Port at Kililana.
However, three years after a ban on mangrove logging was lifted by the government in Lamu, the Kenya Forest Service had recognised and lauded efforts the local community in ensuring the cover is maintained even as they use them for commercial and subsistence purposes.
The ban had been imposed in February 2018 as a mitigation measure against the prolonged drought spells and water shortages in the country.
The Lamu ban was lifted in February 2019 but with conditions for loggers to ensure sustainability of the mangroves.
Speaking on Wednesday, the Deputy chief conservator of Forests and the KFS Charity Munyasia said Lamu residents had kept to all directives given by the ministry once the logging ban was lifted thus ensuring an increased mangrove cover.
She admitted that the culture and traditions of the Lamu people has largely enabled them to embrace sustainable harvesting of mangroves.
Among other conditions, the loggers are to plant more mangroves whenever they harvest the mature ones to ensure the forest cover remains unaffected.
They are also to obtain permits of operation from the KFS office in Lamu and must prove they possess adequate experience in mangrove harvesting.
They are also required to prove they have a clear market for the logs once harvested.
“The community here has replanted the harvested mangroves on a large scale and have even increased the cover by ensuring places that didn’t have mangroves now have them and we are glad the forest cover here has increased,” Munyasia said.
She urged coastal counties to emulate Lamu and ensure the preservation of the mangrove trees for a better future.
“The people of Lamu have been able to achieve 100 per cent mangrove recovery in just three years since the logging ban was lifted. If the rest of the coastal counties do this, we would be able to fight every challenge brought on by climate change and live better,” she said.
Lamu county rakes in more than Sh10 million monthly being returns from mangrove sales with over 30,000 families’ livelihoods being directly dependent on mangrove logging, which translates to more than half of the region’s entire population.
-Edited by SKanyara