| one publication added to basket [225110] | Moving coastal management forward: Kenya progress report 1994-1999
Coast Development Authority, CDA (2001). Moving coastal management forward: Kenya progress report 1994-1999. [S.n.]: Mombasa. ISBN 1-885454-41-4. 18 pp.
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- Coast Development Authority, CDA
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| Abstract |
Kenya, like a country with a coastal environment, recognizes its great importance and significant contribution to the overall national economy. The natural resources related to the marine and coastal environments comprise highly productive and biologically diverse ecosystems, which, for a long time, have played a considerable role in attracting human populations and settlements. The same coastal resources also form the basis for the tourism industry, a significant financial asset. Unfortunately, while tourism creates employment, it also causes some degree of environmental degradation, and conflict over the use of resources. it is now recognized that the ever-increasing needs of the growing coastal population put Kenya’s natural resources under intense pressure. Though there have been many government policies aimed at conserving coastal resources for sustainable development, the complexity of the coastal environment requires a more holistic concept. These sector-oriented efforts undertaken so far have failed to recognize the relationships and interconnectedness of the coastal environment. in the past, important resources that had symbiotic relationships with others were managed separately. This has been the genesis of coastal management issues. Inadequate planning and rapid growth have been major factors contributing to the degredation of Kenya’s coastal resources. There has also been a decline in importance of the traditional livelihoods based on natural resources, such as fisheries, which have been replaced by multiple other uses of the coastal environment. As a result, water quality has declined, shorelines have experienced marked erosion, and coastal systems have been observably degraded. At the same time, there has also been an increase in resource user conflicts. These coastal management problems require the attention of multi-sectoral partners, collaborating in an integrated approach to their solution. Until recently, the lack of institutional mechanisms to adequately address these complex multi-sectoral problems begged for action. Thus, in 1994, a multi-institutional planning team headed by the Coast Development Authority (CDA) recognized the need for an overall framework, and initiated one of Kenya’s first integrated coastal management (ICM) processes. This report, therefore, presents the origins of ICM in Kenya, provides the status of ICM initiatives spanning 1994 to 1999, and gives a hint at emerging plans for managing Kenya’s coastal environment and resources. |
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