Kilifi Women Lead Mangrove Restoration and Beach Clean-Up for World Environment Day

To mark World Environment Day, Echo Network Africa Foundation (ENAF) translated global climate goals into tangible community action today by joining forces with local grassroots networks to plant 1,000 mangrove seedlings and conduct a massive beach clean-up across the vital Mida Creek ecosystem.

The successful field deployment, driven by ENAF’s Blue Economy and Climate Action Initiative, was executed in close partnership with the Jivunie Vi Smart (JIVIS) CBO, one of ENAF’s key Local Implementing Partners in Kilifi. The entire exercise was spearheaded directly by local custodians, including Mida Creek Beach Management Unit (BMU) Chair Maulid Ngana, Community Forest Association (CFA) Chair Twahir Kiraga, and Dabaso Mwanzo Mpya Group Leader Beatrice Ngundi, who mobilized local women’s groups to lead the restoration.

For the women of Kilifi, wading into the tidal mud to secure these seedlings is a matter of household survival. Many of these women are active actors in mariculture and coastal economies, depending directly on a healthy creek for their daily income and family well-being. By restoring the mangrove canopy, the community is actively protecting critical fish breeding grounds, reversing coastal erosion, and building long-term climate resilience against severe environmental shocks.

Parallel to the planting, the community-led beach clean-up tackled local sanitation and public health, proving that environmental protection and community health go hand in hand. By matching local leadership with institutional backing, this initiative stands as a prime example of how grassroots partnerships can turn climate policy into immediate, life-changing economic and ecological benefits.