Preserving Kenyan mangroves

This training day was organised by CFI to recognise the 5th anniversary of the COP 21 Paris Agreement and was held in Kwalé County, in an area where mangrove forests are growing. The event brought together journalists – including a member of RFI’s Swahili editorial team – and local and scientific community representatives, in particular from the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI), the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), and the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD).

The workshop’s participants discussed the impact of climate change on biodiversity and agriculture, and also addressed respect for the way of life in mangrove-based communities and how to improve this. They also reflected on how they could pool the efforts made by all stakeholders to better protect these ecosystems, which represent a delicate interface between land and sea.
At the end of the workshop, the journalists visited the mangrove in Gazi, where they witnessed the effects of climate change on biodiversity first hand and were able to produce reports that will help raise public awareness of a major challenge to overcome, if humans are to thrive alongside nature.