Page 8 - Kenya Report

The Situation
Degradation of Mangrove forests

About 4 mangrove forest communities exist along the Kenyan coastline. They include the riverine
mangrove forests, fringe mangrove forests, overwash mangrove forests and the basin mangrove
forest. The distribution and survival of each of the mangrove forest community is dependant on the
frequency of tidal flooding, soil type, salinity, drainage and plant interference (ROK, 2017). The tidal
pattern and the shore’s level above sea level greatly influences the depth to which mangroves are
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inundated. Fluctuation in the ocean water salinity as a result pollution significantly affects the growth of
mangrove forest. Hard soils with extreme levels of alkalinity result in poor drainage and waterlogged
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conditions, which stagnate the growth of mangrove forest. Plant interference results into competition
for space between the mangrove ecosystem and other plants growing along the coastline. Sea level
rise poses a major threat to mangrove ecosystems through sediment erosion, inundation stress and
increased salinity at landward zones

The mangrove cover in Kenya has been on the decline over the years. Between 1985 and 2010,
about 9,698 hectares of mangrove cover, with Tana River and Kilifi recording the most loss as shown
in table 1 The reduction in mangrove cover is attributed to over-exploitation, encroachment into the
mangrove ecosystem for other land uses, pollution, flooding, sedimentation, poor linkages between
different stakeholders and climate change.

Table 1: Trends in Mangrove cover in Kenya 1985-2010

% loss as at
Place 1985 1992 2000 2010
2010
Lamu 23,371 22,629 20,661 20482 12.4
Gazi-Vanga 14,049 13,602 12,945 12,790 9.0

Tana River 10,434 9,119 7,350 6,450 38.2
Mombasa 3,360 3,075 2,846 2,816 16.2

Mida Creek 3,300 3,184 3,009 2,939 10.9
Kilifi 474 274 123 114 75.9
Total 55,288 51,883 46,934 45,590 17.5
Source: Kurui et al, 2012

Bleaching of the coral reefs
The El Nino event of 1997-98 affected some of the coral reefs leading to bleaching and to date,
recovery of the affected coral reef has been poor. Some escaped the bleaching effects due to their high
coral cover and diversity (Obura, et al., 2017). Efforts have been made through regional monitoring
and reporting, policymaking and development of international and national network of scientists to
maximize recovery (FAO, 2012). For instance, through the Nairobi Convention, the Eastern Africa
countries set up an Inter-governmental Task Force on coral reefs in 2002. Other pressures of coral
reefs come from climate change, over-fishing, deforestation, poverty, pollution, unplanned tourism
and poor land management practices.

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