PI: Dr Timothy Stojanovic
A new School of Geography & Sustainable Development (SGSD) Global Challenges project has been funded in coastal Kenya to help mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on local communities.
Watamu, on the Kenyan coast, is home to Watamu National Marine Park (“Haven of the Green Turtle” and a Marine Protected Area). It is an area that relies heavily on the tourist industry and where many live a hand-to-mouth existence. A Rocha Kenya is a partner conservation NGO that has been working in the area since 1999. Their work includes research, environmental education and community conservation.
In an area already experiencing economic insecurity and with no social security, the Coronavirus pandemic has meant the loss of all tourism and caused enormous job loss, in both the formal and informal sectors. Many are struggling to afford food. As a result, pressure has increased on the already fragile marine environment, with people engaging in illegal fishing, such as the use of poison, and over-harvesting. This project will provide an alternative of short-term, paid employment to community members. The project will employ a team of ‘Marine Scouts’ to monitor the marine and coastal ecology, take part in clean-ups and discourage illegal activity. This will help to prevent ecosystem degradation while also building understanding of conservation, including skills development and certification which could help lead to future employment. The project will also help to tackle poverty by offering financial inducements for local people to complete mobile phone livelihood surveys. Each survey will pay enough for a household to buy 10kg of rice, enabling communities to purchase basic food supplies.
It is hoped that the project will protect the marine environment and improve the social welfare of communities for whom COVID-19 has been extremely challenging.
The work is led by Dr Tim Stojanovic as part of a wider GCRF project on “Community Capabilities and Marine Protected Area Governance”, involving Dr Althea Davies (SGSD), Dr Maria Dornelas (Biology), interns from the Schools fo Biology and SGSD and NGO partners. The rapid response work is one attempt for us to respond in a smart way to the COVID-19 crisis.
Funding is from the Scottish Funding Council through the rapid response funding stream of St Andrews Global Challenges Research Fund.