Lagoon of Life: Kuruwitu on BBC
The Kuruwitu community and Vipingo Ridge are collaborating to drive positive change in the community for all stakeholders, as such, every achievement for the community is a cause for collective celebration.
The Kuruwitu Conservation and Welfare Community Based Organisation (CBO) has pioneered a collaborative approach to creating a sustainable community-led conservation area at Kuruwitu, including the site of the Vipingo Ridge Beach Club. The ground breaking work to restore coral habitats and set a template for governance and shared accountability has resulted in global awards and even a recent visit from King Charles III. Read about His Majesty’s visit HERE.
BBC Earth reports on the Marine Sanctuary
This community conservation area or ‘tengefu’ is once again on the international stage as Marine Conservationist, Oceans Alive Trust spokesperson and long time advocate, Ledama Masidza presents this BBC Earth piece, highlighting the amazing progress of the tengefu as well as the resilience of the community:
With 17 million Facebook followers on BBC Earth, this is a fantastic platform to highlight the work of the tengefu since 2003 and the challenges to truly remaining constant to the goals of the projects in changing and globally uncertain times.
In the film Ledama describes the ‘lagoon’ within the Marine Sanctuary, out from the shoreline of our sliver of paradise, as a ‘fish bank’. It is one of the reasons that we believe this is one of the most exciting places to snorkel in Kenya. Not only do you see species diversity significantly higher than many other places, but on a guided snorkel, led by members of the community, you are able to see the structures and practices that have recreated coral habitats and provided food and shelter for the ecosystem to flourish.
By visiting the Kuruwitu site to snorkel, you not only get a unique experience, you also support the local community. Our drive to support ecotourism is part of the wider community activity to create sustainable livelihoods, alongside fishing, collaborating to support each other.
About Ledama Masidza
Kenyan Ledama is a passionate Marine Conservationist and Head of Partnerships and Program Development at Oceans Alive Trust. A wonderful talent, identified and supported by the visionary Oceans Alive team, he travels globally working with a number of organisations to promote change. Recent activities include speaking at COP28 in Dubai, joining a gender justice session to discuss Women and the Changing Tide: Addressing Inequities in Small-scale Fisheries and Aquaculture and being part of a recent cohort at the CNN Academy - Climate Reporting Program in Abu Dhabi. He is a fantastic advocate for indigenous food systems, community-led development and Kenya.
Learn more about the latest Kuruwitu related news at Vipingo Ridge:
