CORAL GUARDIAN
REEL PROJECT: conservation through involvement.
Since the start of 2024 we we have established a partnership with the French non-profit organization Coral Guardian on the REEL Kilifi project (Restoring Reef Ecosystems for Enhanced Livelihoods) Coral Guardian was founded in 2012, dedicated to the conservation of coral ecosystems, raising awareness, and scientific research involving local communities. Coral Guardian has created the Blue Center program to accompany and support organizations around the world in the development of participatory coral ecosystems’ conservation and sustainable development.
REEL PROJECT
VISION
To develop and implement adapted, accessible, and sustainable coral restoration technologies and practices that empower traditional fishers in Kuruwitu Co-Management Area, to restore their depleted coral fishing grounds and improve their livelihoods through direct and indirect benefits, leading to a wider adoption of these practices by other surrounding communities along the Kenyan coastline.
In this regard, the project will develop solutions that will accelerate the outreach to local, regional and international communities on the importance and on their role in the conservation of coral reefs on the Kenyan coast. It will also aim to provide economic returns to the communities that encourage their participation and willingness to get involved in the conservation of the coral reef fisheries ecosystem.
Ultimately, the joint horizon is to accelerate the impact of both organizations on coral reefs and traditional fisheries conservation within the 12,000 ha Kuruwitu Co-Management Area (KCMA), and in the whole Kenyan coastline, based on the scale-up of Oceans Alive Foundation’s coral restoration project and on mutual learning.
GOAL
The overall goal of this collaboration is to reinforce, develop and scale-up the participative coral restoration models implemented at the Kuruwitu Conservation Welfare-CBO Community Conservation Area in Kenya, in order to empower the local, regional and international communities in the implementation of new approaches to protect and restore coral fisheries ecosystems. This will be made using the Community Conservation Area as living classrooms for training new ventures, sharing experiences, following an ecosystem-based approach to restoration that suits the socio-economic context of local traditional fishing communities.