Lamu, Kenya

Why We Are Partnering to Restore Lamu County

Through a 154,000+ hectare (ha) landscape restoration initiative in Lamu, we aim to safeguard biodiversity, strengthen local livelihood options, and enhance climate resilience, ensuring the conservation of inland and coastal ecosystems for future generations.

In recent decades, an increase in degradation and climate change have jeopardized local communities’ livelihoods and threatened this coastal region's ecological significance. Drivers of forest degradation, such as unsustainable wood harvesting, El Niño flooding, and agricultural expansion have led to 14,400 hectares of mangrove and 112,000 hectares of inland coastal forest deterioration.

The reforestation, restoration and conservation of Lamu County’s mangrove and inland coastal forests are essential, given that they represent 60% of Kenya’s mangrove forest cover and provide important ecosystem services on a local and global scale. Mangrove systems in this region have supported the economy for centuries, with fishing communities receiving 70% of their income from Lamu’s natural fisheries. Beyond the intertidal zone, the inland forests support mangroves by capturing freshwater essential for their survival. They also serve as critical habitats for wildlife movement, including endangered species such as the hirola and Ader’s duiker, both types of rare antelopes.

How We’re Working Here

Since 2020, Eden has collaborated with government institutions, conservation trusts, and communities in Lamu County to restore and conserve mangrove and coastal inland forests. As we expand upon our work in Lamu, we are broadening the long-term impact on communities and the environment through a 20-year holistic landscape restoration initiative. We aim to support landscape restoration and conservation in the Lamu region in ways that foster the 4 Returns - instilling inspiration, renewing social connections, enhancing biodiversity, and generating economic benefits. This approach encompasses:

• Co-developing a comprehensive landscape restoration vision and project activities with communities, institutions, and other stakeholders.
• Sustaining ongoing mangrove restoration activities, building upon the successes and strategies implemented in our early work in Lamu.
• Integrating over 7,600 ha of active mangrove reforestation and restoration into the Lamu landscape program.
• Proposing the development of a mangrove buffer zone to support the forest's resilience against rising sea levels.
• Incorporating 10,000+ ha of inland coastal forest habitats into the landscape restoration program.
• Partnering with local communities to identify and develop activities to reduce the impact of fire and charcoal production across 49,000+ ha.
• Engaging 1,000 farmers in agroforestry programs to support food security, strengthen local economies, improve soil health, and foster knowledge-sharing in the region.
• Creating employment opportunities to support the implementation of the landscape restoration and reforestation project.

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Anticipated Impact

The effectiveness of our approach in Lamu is rooted in collaboration, underscoring the importance of collective support and action from local stakeholders, government institutions, and community organizations. By working together, we can make a transformative impact by creating substantial benefits for communities and the environment, including:

• A comprehensive landscape restoration and land-use plan, including high-priority restoration areas within the Lamu County landscape.
• Millions of indigenous trees planted and monitored over the life of the reforestation and restoration project, resulting in increased forest cover.
• Increased forest and grassland connectivity within the landscape to support wildlife, water movement, and other vital functions of this region.
• Enhanced protection of remnant forest and grassland mosaic, including landscapes that support the migration of elephants and critically endangered antelope such as the hirola (Beatragus hunteri) and Ader’s duiker (Cephalophus adersi).
• Livelihood opportunities through direct employment, seed collection, agroforestry programs, tree planting, new agricultural income opportunities, and complementary initiatives to be co-defined in later phases of project development.
• Establishment of a mangrove buffer zone to promote the resilience of mangrove forests against climate change.