Title
Community driven awareness and advocacy initiatives in restoring sea turtle populations and management of the marine environment: Experiences from Kenya
Author(s)
Maina, Douglas; Kawaka, Joan A.; Machaku, Rose B.
Published
2023
Published Version DOI
https://doi.org/10.25923/pc94-bm94
Abstract
Developing successful sea turtle conservation initiatives has to involve communities as a way to invoke their consciousness as well as increase their capacity to manage and conserve their natural resources. Community based initiatives also give projects local ownership and acceptance and largely contributes to their sustainability. The Kenya Sea Turtle Conservation and Management Trust has over the years employed a community- based approach in its conservation interventions. Local Turtle Conservation Groups (TCGs) formed all along the coast are the bedrock of these initiatives, carrying out activities such as habitat rehabilitation, sea turtle data collection, in situ nest protection, tagging and release as well as community education and awareness. The groups also collect data on the Kilograms of litter collected from the beaches during clean-ups and numbers of mangroves planted. A project was initiated to develop and implement a comprehensive and targeted public education, awareness and advocacy program to enhance community contribution and participation in the conservation of sea turtles. Education and awareness carried out though this project reached many indigenous populations and greatly built the capacity of community groups involved in marine conservation activities. Based on the importance of adopting community-based conservation approaches, the Turtle Conservation Groups were studied to find out what makes some successful than others in performing common conservation activities. From the project, it was learnt that coastal communities that depend entirely on marine resources for their livelihoods are often a strong force in depletion of sea turtle populations. Apart from the indigenous knowledge on sea turtles by local coastal communities limited information is known and available to the general public leading to little effort to conserve these species. Appreciation of the value and the need to conserve sea turtles resulted from adequate and consistent public awareness and education programs which aimed to change people’s attitude towards conservation. It was also clear it is important to initiate and support income generating projects that are pegged on conservation. Such enterprises include those hinged on ecotourism, such as tour guided boat rides, mangrove board walks, bee keeping, crab culture and camping in mangrove ecosystems. Alternative livelihood options address poverty issues and motivate local communities to sustainably conserve the environment. Long terms organizational capacity, self-governance skills and sustainable natural resource management skills were found to be the core strategies for the conservation project sustainability. The Turtle Conservation Groups who were the main implementers of the project within the communities benefited through training on awareness and advocacy skills, leading many to adopt turtle awareness programs which will ensure continuity of awareness campaigns. The trainings on turtle monitoring, patrols and recording, has helped to ensure that the already existing monitoring programs were therefore strengthened and improved.

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