This week marks a significant milestone in our conservation journey as we officially launched the Elasmobranch Education Program at Ngala and Bahari Primary Schools on Kenya’s North Coast.
This pioneering project is designed to raise awareness about the vital role that elasmobranchs—a group of cartilaginous fish that includes sharks, rays, and skates—play in maintaining healthy marine ecosystems.
The program focuses on educating environmental club members in three primary schools and extending its impact to five Beach Management Units (BMUs), ensuring that both the younger generation and the fishing community are equipped with knowledge and resources to contribute to elasmobranch conservation.
Why Elasmobranchs Matter
Elasmobranchs are apex predators in the marine food chain, playing a critical role in regulating the population of other species and maintaining the balance of marine ecosystems. Their decline due to overfishing, bycatch, and habitat destruction has far-reaching consequences, leading to the destabilization of marine environments.
Despite their ecological importance, these species are often misunderstood and are frequently targeted in unsustainable fishing practices, including shark finning and ray harvesting.
The Urgency of Conservation
The North Coast of Kenya is home to a variety of elasmobranch species, many of which are now considered endangered or vulnerable due to unchecked fishing and a lack of public awareness. The absence of comprehensive conservation efforts in local communities exacerbates these challenges. As both fishers and local residents depend heavily on the ocean for their livelihoods, the depletion of elasmobranchs threatens not only biodiversity but also the sustainability of coastal economies.
Our Approach
Funded by Coral Reef Care and coordinated by Bahari Hai Conservation, this project leverages a community-centered conservation approach to reach two key audiences:
- Students—through hands-on environmental education programs integrated into school curricula.
- Fishermen—through direct engagement with Beach Management Units (BMUs), where fishing practices and resource management are discussed and enhanced with sustainability principles.
At the core of the program are custom-designed educational kits that have been tailored to effectively engage young students and adult fishermen. These kits include interactive materials, videos, and participatory activities that cover:
- The ecological importance of elasmobranchs and their role in maintaining marine biodiversity.
- Threats to elasmobranch populations, including overfishing, pollution, and habitat destruction.
- Sustainable fishing practices, promoting alternatives to harmful methods like shark finning and ray hunting.
- Community involvement in conservation, emphasizing the responsibility that local stakeholders have in protecting marine ecosystems for future generations.
Program Objectives
The Elasmobranch Education Program is more than just an awareness campaign—it is a call to action. By educating local communities, we aim to:
- Reduce the unsustainable exploitation of sharks and rays through targeted educational interventions and community engagement.
- Promote sustainable livelihoods, providing fishers with alternative income-generating opportunities and empowering them to become stewards of the marine environment.
- Foster intergenerational knowledge transfer, ensuring that the younger generation grows up with a deep understanding of marine conservation.
- Strengthen community resilience, by aligning conservation efforts with the long-term well-being of coastal economies.
Engaging Donors for Long-term Impact
This program is positioned to have lasting effects on marine conservation in Kenya, but its success depends on sustained support from partners, donors, and local communities. By investing in this initiative, donors will not only be contributing to the protection of endangered species but also to the empowerment of coastal communities whose livelihoods are intimately tied to the health of marine ecosystems.
Scaling the Impact
With additional funding, we envision expanding the program to more schools and BMUs along Kenya’s coast. Scaling the project would allow us to engage with a broader range of communities, implement deeper conservation research, and introduce more comprehensive livelihood alternatives, such as eco-tourism, that benefit both local economies and the environment.
A Partnership for Change
We extend our deepest gratitude to our partners Coral Reef Care, Bahari Hai Conservation, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), and all participating schools and BMUs. Their commitment to marine conservation has made this project possible, and we look forward to a future where sharks, rays, and local communities thrive together.
