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Environment and development in coastal regions and in small islands |
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Environment and development in coastal regions and in small islands |
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CSI info 7
SUSTAINABLE COASTAL DEVELOPMENT:
COMMUNICATION AND EDUCATION IN THE COASTAL AREAS
OF KENYA
B. A. J. Mwandotto,
Coast Development Authority, Kenya
INTRODUCTION
In 1995 the Integrated Coastal Area Management (ICAM) initiative in Kenya based on the National Environment Action Plan (NEAP) and other international protocols brought together hoteliers, researchers, planners, resource managers and relevant university departments to profile the problems confronting the coastal residents outside Mombasa town. To consolidate the issues in the study area and endorse strategies to address them, other stakeholders had to be included to complete the evaluation and make a comprehensive list of suggestions. These were administrators, boat operators, mangrove traders, fishermen and tourism service providers. A lead institution for co-ordinating the effort was identified.
Through this participatory process, the issues to be addressed were identified as rapid urbanization, decline in reef fisheries and water quality, erosion of the shoreline, degradation of other coastal ecosystems and use conflicts. Both short and long-term strategies to solve the problems were also evolved and synthesized in a ‘strategies’ document to be implemented by various pertinent institutions/people based on mandate, experience and technical/fiscal capability. To start with, some demonstration projects are being put in place to show off the real value of ICAM as a tool to manage coastal resources. To sustain the efforts, voluntary technical working groups on the various issues were put in place and will execute and oversee the implementation of the various strategies on behalf of a secretariat and a multi-institutional Coastal Management Steering Committee (CMSC). As a Co-ordinator of the project for the last four years I would like to share here my experience with colleagues in the region.
FORMAL EDUCATION
Formal education empowers and fully integrates an individual into his immediate and global community. The level of formal education in the majority of our coastal communities is low. As a result, the environment and the biology of the resource base is not fully appreciated nor are conservation principles for sustainable use. For example, local stakeholders do not know that coral is a living organism that requires certain conditions for its continued growth and development. Their educational status also excludes stakeholders from knowledge of alternative uses of coastal products or substitution of other products to avoid overexploitation. The status also reduces risk taking in adopting new, appropriate and still affordable technologies. Fortunately, with the type and amount of research information available on the study site, the challenge to raise awareness and encourage participation in implementing specific development strategies is a feasible one.
CULTURAL EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
Cultural education and experience is knowledge that has been accrued over the generations by practice and habit. This cultural practice is therefore proven and it is definitely sustainable. Modern approaches to coastal management have to accept this information base and inter-weave the cultural experience with modern science in order to achieve the desired results. Custodians of cultural education tend to be resistant to parting freely with their knowledge. Appropriate incentives need to be evolved to reward the sharing of indigenous knowledge when it is sought for incorporation into planning development programmes. Such knowledge exists in boat making, sailing, night fishing, seasonal movements of pelagic fish schools, upwelling, selective fishing etc.
COMMUNICATION
The success of coastal projects will be largely determined by how good a working rapport is established among all the stakeholders including government and the beneficiaries/supporters of the projects. When bad communication/publicity is given about our coastal tourism, for example, appropriate communication should be given to correct the record in order to sustain an industry which accounts for up to 60% of total national tourism. Translation of policies, strategies and priorities into various local languages should be encouraged even though in Kenya we are united by a national language that originated from the coast. Our experience has been amply shared through national radio and international conferences and our strategy document has been put on the Internet by our collaborators at the University of Rhode Island. The proposed codes of conduct for our conservation areas and the environmental impact assessment procedures to be incorporated in the government environment policy are highly articulated. On-the-job training, training of trainers and refresher courses appear to be the most efficient methods of communication with target groups already engaged in specific enterprises; it updates the workers on the latest technologies and methodologies. The benefits cut across generations as you make future leaders aware of coastal problems early in their lives.
CAPACITY BUILDING
Another determinant of the long-term success of the ICAM process is the development of a critical mass of trained personnel, a functional national framework and a sustainable financing scheme tailored mainly from within individual countries. This development will guarantee intensification, expansion and nationalization of the ICAM pilot projects. Continued sharing of experience and extensive use of technical expertise from elsewhere is encouraged. In this way, national efforts will be regionally and internationally integrated.
