A report by Abdulaziz Abdallah, YoD Coordinator at the TUI destination agency Pollmans’ Tours & Safaris:
“Majoreni has always been a fishing village. The men of the village have always used the fish stocks from the sea to feed their families. But in recent years their life situation took a permanent turn for the worse as the fish populations shrank drastically. This was the result of unsustainable fishing methods through the use of unsuitable equipment and overfishing. This made it clear to all the inhabitants of the village that the existing natural resources must be protected in order to safeguard their personal future and the future of Kenya.
On the morning of 30 August 2008 a special event in connection with the Year of the Dolphin campaign in Kenya began for the village. The event was led by Sally Mullens, an employee of Charlie Claws, and focused on acquainting Kenyan fishermen with sustainable fishing methods. The head man of the village, Salim Nzuma, affirmed that all the fishermen want to improve the way they fish. To this end, the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) provided financial support of 4,000 euros. This was used to purchase suitable fishing nets which were distributed to the fishermen in exchange for their obsolete and illegal nets. Their use will drastically reduce negative effects on marine biodiversity such as bycatch and reef destruction.
The symbolic exchange of nets with 24 fishermen of the village was conducted by Dixon Wariunge, UNEP Kenya Representative. The new nets meet the recommendations of UNEP/CMS and the Kenyan fisheries authority. The fisheries authority had already introduced an educational programme for fishermen in 2007 and on this day confirmed the continuation of this commitment in order to further encourage the exchange of obsolete equipment.
Representatives of TUI AG’s Environmental Management/Sustainable Development Department were present to celebrate the day. Since the start of the campaign in November 2006 TUI has been the main sponsor of all the Kenyan Year of the Dolphin events. The Kenyan youth initiative “The Dolphin Clubs” performed an impressive parade and school children sang songs about dolphins and marine life. In support of the initiative CMS donated Kshs 150,000 directly on site. The amount was handed over to the teachers from the ten schools involved, and school children received TUI YoD items to commemorate the Year of the Dolphin.
Next, trees were planted on a piece of land beIonging to the community. In response to the destruction of the mangrove forest in this area the inhabitants of the village planted endemic casuarina trees to cover their future need for building material and firewood.
The event was continued in Shimoni, the place where the Year of the Dolphin began in Kenya. Here Mr Lemargat, from Kenya Wildlife (KWS), reported on the positive response of the boatmen to the introduction of sustainable dolphin observations. The most progressive boatmen received a commendation from KWS.
Mr Gitau, KWS Senior Warden of the coastal region, assured the boatmen that they would continue to receive support from KWS, particularly those who accepted the Code of Conduct for dolphin observations.”
