Coast Development Authority participated in the 2019 African Public Service Day Celebrations (APSD) on 21-23 June 2019 that was held at KICC and emerged top in the category of ‘the Most Promising Innovation’ nationally. During the celebrations CDA also emerged second runner-up in the category of ‘Best Youth Empowerment Programme’ in the continental award which hosted 20 countries from Africa. The Authority displayed how it is rehabilitating hundreds of hectares of coral reefs in Wasini Island, Kwale County, which have suffered from bleaching leading to a decline in fish catches.
CDA Managing Director Dr. Mohammed Keinan said many factors come into play that affect corals such as climate change, human activities, such as dumping of waste, cutting mangroves cutting and sedimentation. Healthy coral reefs provide shelter for many species of tropical animals, provide a habitat for numerous species and serve important ecological functions resulting in the need to restore them.
CDA is implementing coral reef restoration through the Kenya Climate Change Adaptation Programme (KCCAP); a national programme funded by the Adaptation Fund under the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC). The integrated programme aims at building resilience and adaptive capacity to climate change among vulnerable communities in Kenya. CDA is spearheading KCCAP activities at the Coast Region, which cover three counties namely Kwale, Taita-Taveta and Kilifi.
The programme is geared towards increasing climate change resilience to the effects of sea-level rise and shoreline changes through Integrated Shoreline and Mangrove Ecosystem Management (ISMEM) in Vanga and Gazi villages. Some of the adaptation interventions that have been carried out include: mangrove rehabilitation, coral reef rehabilitation and protection, shoreline stabilization and erosion as well as accretion control.
KCCAP in collaboration with the Wasini community members is rehabilitating the coral reefs, through a natural recovery process which will later be replicated in other areas along the coastal line. CDA together with key stakeholders developed and validated the National Coral Reef Restoration Protocol to aid in the restoration processes. This guideline will be helpful in restoration activities in Kenya. The effort to rehabilitate corals is being carried alongside mangrove planting in Kwale County. So far, CDA has established 5 nurseries and planted 171,045 seedlings in Gazi and Vanga villages.
