Watamu Marine Association, Kenya: Managing Kenya's premier beach resort.
WATAMU NEWS
Here we'll bring you regular news and events from Watamu, keeping you informed of life on the beach!
Here we'll bring you regular news and events from Watamu, keeping you informed of life on the beach!
The International Symposium on Capacity Building for Sustainable Oceans, hosted by The Nippon Foundation was attended by WMA's chair Justin Kitsao representing Kenya with 20 other countries, hosted by the Nature Conservancy.
In July 2016 Watamu Kenya was represented by Justin Kitsao, our chair at this exciting international symposium. For the full report, check out International Symposium Capacity Building for Sustainable Oceans FINAL OUTCOMES REPORT JULY 19-20, 2016
Justin was part of the presenters focusing on
educating and connecting.
The Honorable Dr. Jane Lubchenco,
U.S. Science Envoy for the Ocean, U.S Department of State and Distinguished
Professor, Oregon State University, highlighted in her video message the
power of good science, collaboration, and working together to find innovative
solutions to solve complicated problems. She noted that "it is possible to
recover the bounty of the ocean if we are smart about how we do it" and that
investing in nature is the smart way to invest in people and our future.
Mr. Justin Kenga, from the Watamu Marine
Association, Kenya, presented the local solid waste
management program which has created local solid
waste management enterprises to address the threats
to marine environment from marine debris. Their
program started with recycling old flip flops into
souvenirs, now they have established recycling
centers which attract academic interests as well
as tourists, created new jobs and incomes to
25 communities, and reduced pollution on the beach
which is key to local tourism. They have facilitated
community action and been cleaning beaches once a
week for the last 6 years. He described how youth from
local communities are involved, with these activities
and the suite of educational programs provided to
hundreds of children and adolescents.
Mr. Kenga
noted that the government supported the
cross-sectoral benefits of this work: the fact that the
youth were involved, jobs were created, and services
were established that protected tourism and fisheries
industries.
He highlighted that having government
support for the program was important, and
commented that one of the challenges for the
program was to secure land and infrastructure to
start recycling facilities.
Also see: http://www.watamu.biz