GVI Kenya

Friday the 27th of November celebrated the Muslim holiday Ede.  The Mkwiro villagers were busy all day cooking feasts with their families, and to join in the fun we decided to dedicate our day to cleaning up their beautiful mangroves.  Mangroves are home to many critters and we spent much of our clean-up avoiding crab holes and watching the crabs scurry out of our way.  We spent about two hours cleaning up garbage and debris that has accumulated over many years on the beach.  At high tide the water reaches up high enough to carry this garbage back out to sea and so it is important to keep it as clean as possible.  In the future, the villagers will participate in the clean-ups and learn the importance of protecting their beaches.  After seeing the amount of garbage we collected in just a small area in a short time I think it will occur to them how much is actually littered. Hopefully it will come as a shock and they will want to change their habits.

 Beach clean up

Two hours in the hot sun was hard work, but it was very rewarding to know we were directly affecting the environment. Among the trash was some pretty neat stuff too! I found a shipwreck emergency packet of drinking water from a Chinese ship and there were plastic bottles that would crumple at your touch, they must have been decades old.  The trash we found can be burned, and the glass can be recycled.  Mohammed, a man in the village, uses flip flops for jewellery and so we donated the ones we found to his workshop!

 Marine team in the mangroves

I look forward to doing more clean-ups with the community involved and passing on the awareness of the environment. If only twelve of us participated in the beach clean-up and left with over 15 bags full of trash, old flip flops and glass bottles, imagine what the community could do. A little bit will certainly go a long way. 

Sarah Watson collecting flip flops and water bottles

Nyuli Community Conservation Group is a new group of villagers from Mkwiro village, who are interested to establishing a community marine protected area off Nyuli Reef, which is close to Wasini Island. They are going to have 10 rangers, who are going to be patrolling the area to stop illegal fishing (mainly ring nets and spear gun-fishing) and 22 tour guides, who will take tourist to snorkel on the pristine coral reef of Nyuli or on dolphin-watching tours to see the different species of dolphins and whales.

 Amber and Cody during the “interacting with tourists” lecture
GVI met with the group to know how we could help them and they asked GVI to educate them on the importance of conservation and also to train them on working with tourists. And last Friday GVI volunteers and staff gave lectures on marine conservation as a whole, whales and dolphins (their behavior, morphology and diversity), as well as mangroves.  We were very happy to see their high level of enthusiasm and interest. The main message we tried to get across was for them not to overfish or use illegal fishing techniques, and I am pleased to say they understand the importance of these issues and how they relate to conservation.

 Ebrahim acting as a tour guide, and Cody as a tourist
 

On Monday we gave lectures on sea turtles and reef fish which I think was quite intense, so when a lecture on “Interacting with tourists” followed the class got involved and they were laughing at each other role playing at being tour guides. Other than being entertaining, I honestly believe that they will make brilliant tour guides. At the end of the week they will have an exam on what we taught them so fingers crossed!!!

Sarah Watson explaining the different families of reef fish

On our second day at Funzi, we were awoken to a panoramic view of dawn over the island which made our 6am wake up a lot easier.  Our first port of call was to the Turtle Nesting Beach a good 45 minute walk from our base. The beach is not only a place which can be used by tourists but more importantly, is where the Turtle Club is trying to carry out their research for turtle numbers and nesting behaviour.

As we are used to early wake ups at GVI, everyone was awake and ready to go. Even at that time it was already getting hot but the walk was pleasant.  Our walk took us again through the village and forests of Funzi.

 Funzi Island forest

Walking through the forests you got a sense of its history, having been there for centuries. With tourists and foreigners only having visited and settled over the past 40 years, the forests remain mainly untouched.  However, we were soon to discover that this was quickly changing. As we got closer to the beach area, the landscape changed to strips of cleared land on either side of us which had only months previously been forest.  It was very disturbing to see such a distinct contrast.  As we walked further, the cleared land again changed to newly planted eucalyptus plants. Only 10 minutes from the beach, whilst on the public footpath, we were stopped by guards and told very bluntly that we had to head back.  Our early morning trip had been cut short.

Unfortunately a foreign landowner had taken most of the land on Funzi and made it his own.  As a result, a majority of the land is being utilised at the detriment of the wildlife and the islanders. For us all, witnessing this conflict between conservation and development at first hand was very disappointing, we were of course keen on seeing the beach for ourselves, we were all aware and more concerned about the long term impact this would have, restricting the Funzi Turtle Club carrying out vital monitoring of the turtles and limiting tourist access, especially knowing that this was a public footpath.

Deflated, we headed back and after a short break to calm our frustrations, reflect and refuel we started our morning of lectures, more determined and conscious of the importance of our relationship and the positive difference that needed to be made.

 A member of the Funzi Turtle Club having a closer view of the parrotfish family

Lectures started with Mangroves and were followed by Tourism and Marketing. Interest was again high and discussions were held.   It was clear that the Club members had many years of experience and that knowledge and skills could be shared.

As we all knew, although it was a positive and productive 2 days, this is where the work actually started.  Lectures were followed by a debate about the challenges faced and how they could be approached. Challenges faced were:
• Funding
o All Turtle Club Members are unpaid volunteers, spending a lot of their time on projects including regular mangrove planting, beach clean ups etc.
o Landowner paying Fishermen 500KSH for each turtle caught.  How can the club compete with this as they want to ensure that turtles are in fact released and at the same time, use the Fishermen to monitor them?
• Fishermen
o Ways to convince fishermen to release the turtles caught.
o Education of over fishing and ways this can be reduced
• Time
o Finding the time to do this when all work is by volunteers who have family and other commitments.

Secondly there was a discussion around planning for tourism activities.
• Beach clean ups which would be an activity and raise awareness
• Camping / nesting beaches
• Handicrafts such as the flip flop necklaces
• Visits to the stunning white beaches of the Sandbar
• Crocodile River
• Mangrove visits and planting
• Visits of the historical sites such as the Kaya
• Dolphin sightings
• Homestays and cooking classes

 Handicrafts made of flip-flops

For me, this was one of the highlights of my 5 weeks. Not only was I so lucky to get to visit this beautiful Island, but I was fortunate enough to meet many of it’s wonderful residents, all so eager to make our short stay pleasurable.

 GVI staff, volunteers and Funzi Turtle Club members

In this age of air travel and discovery it is very rare to find a place on earth that is not heavily frequented by tourists, but you will currently have trouble finding Funzi on Google Maps.  It is exciting to this that we can make a positive difference before a few people begin to destroy this beautiful place.  It was wonderful to work so closely with such an active Club on such a worthwhile project and although I will be leaving before it even gets underway, I am certain that with the enthusiasm and dedication I saw and by working together and sharing knowledge and ideas, we’ll get there. 

Chantal Woodun

As part of GVI’s marine research programme here in Mkwiro, we conduct interviews with the local fishermen on the island.  The people here have been fishing for generations, and spend more time out on the water than anyone.  They can provide invaluable information about sightings (of dolphins, whales, turtles, dugongs etc), catches, pollution and illegal activities. A GVI volunteer Hooi Ling, tells us about her day conducting interviews.

The villagers on the island are Muslim so we made sure we had our head, shoulders and knees covered before we set off for our excursion. As usual, the children greeted us with loud, enthusiastic “Jambo! What is your name?” as we walked through Mkwiro village. Some of the faces were familiar because we were working with the community last week teaching them English and Creative Arts, and playing sports and singing songs with the children. A few of the children had learnt Mandarin phrases and it warmed my heart to hear them greet me with “Ni hao” (how are you) and “Huan yin” ( welcome).

 A sacred ibis, seen from the mangroves

After about 15 minutes, we reached the mangroves. Felicity explained the importance of mangroves for preventing soil erosion and creating a breeding and feeding ground for fishes and birds. We learnt how mangrove trees survive in salt water by growing roots, which protrude above ground for oxygen and shed leaves to discard excess salt. The trees also grow long, green seed pods which float around at high tide before setting itself in the ground at low tide. She pointed out tiny gastropods (snails and sea slugs).

Fiddler crabs fascinated me!!! The male crabs have one very enlarged chela which they use to wave in a circle to establish territory and to attract females. When lots of fiddler crabs waved together, they looked like they were doing a Mexican wave; quite comical to watch.  And the number of amazing birds you see from the mangroves is just incredible!  We saw herons, african fish eagles, a sacred ibis and a knigfisher! 

When we arrived in Wasini village, we looked for the local fishermen and found a few young men who could speak English and were willing to translate Kiswahili for us. I interviewed a 55 year old fisherman who had been fishing for over 20 years. GVI had a comprehensive interview to find out from local fishermen such things as the types of fish they had caught, fishing equipment, whether their catch had increased/decreased over the years and which fishing grounds they used. We also asked them about the dolphin and turtle population and the level of damage caused to their nets. After the interview, fishermen informed us that the local villagers had set up a committee since 2003 to protect the Wasini reef from fishing and coastal pollution.

Another beautiful sight – a western reef heron 

Annica and I ate some local food (chapatis with a nice cup of hot ginger tea) while the others (Flick, Kirsty and Mila) visited the coral gardens. The coral gardens consisted of dead corals surrounded by mangrove trees and the local women’s group has built boardwalks around the corals. My highlight of the day was when I saw four bottlenose dolphins jumping and travelling with the tourist dhows.

Although I was not out on a boat today, it has been an enjoyable day learning about the mangroves and seeing the dolphins. Asante sana Flick!

Low tide amongst the mangroves revealed hundreds of tiny male and female fiddler crabs scuttling between little holes in the sand. The aim of our day though was to attempt to clean up some of the mountains of rubbish that travel the Indian Ocean currents from as far as south east Asia, to wash up on the East African coastline, trapped amongst the mangroves here on the southern shore of Wasini Island having floated through the Kisite Marine Park. Seeing all the cool little creatures that make the mangroves their home was an added bonus!

The open beach, exposed by the receding water, was so covered in small gastropods (and occasionally hermit crabs in shells they had commandeered from the gastropods) that we could not set foot on it for fear of crushing a delicate little home, and had to content ourselves with watching a group of yellow-billed storks through the trees. The male fiddler crabs put on a bit of a show for us and performed a strange sort of Mexican wave display with their one large claw; whether this was to try and attract the ladies or warn off others we weren’t quite sure.

All along the tide line seaweed intermingled with broken pieces of plastic, glass bottles, plastic bags and bottles, toothbrushes and flip flops. A five by ten meter path along the beach yielded five bin liners of rubbish and a bucket of glass, which was all we could carry back with us. It would take an army to clean all the debris that collects here from other parts of the world, and even then you’d be left with the feeling that just as much would be deposited after the next high tide. Walking back to base under the strain of our rubbish bags did, however, leave us with a small sense of achievement and as they say ‘every little bit helps’!