Save the Lamu Archipelago

Dear Friends of Lamu:

Most of us are watching uneasily as the plans for the proposed port are made in Nairobi among high-level government officials. The proposed port will affect many Lamu communities including the Swahili, the Boni, the Sanye and the Bajuni among others. It will also have an impact on economic activities like fishing and tourism that are an important aspect of our local economy. For instance dredging will occur which will decimate the marine life in the area adjacent to the coral reef of Manda Toto, 1,000 hectares of mangroves will be cut to make room for the port and the Dodori, Wange and Mgini Creeks will be closed. These are but a few of the consequences of the development of a port in Lamu.

LEPAC (Lamu Environment Protection and Conservation group), is a community-based organization in Lamu that began in 2009. The groups’ objective is to create awareness on the importance of conserving and protecting Lamu’s marine and land ecosystem from environmental degradation and unsustainable development. Currently, LEPAC’s attention is focused on the proposed Lamu port.

LEPAC believes that the government needs to

1. seek dialogue with the community to hear its concerns about the construction of the port and to take these into consideration in its planning

2. make public an Environmental and Cultural Impact Assessment Report

3. ensure that the environmental impact of the port is minimal

4. ensure that the local community benefits from opportunities from the development of the port

5. provide land reforms (as pertains to the new constitution) to be implemented before port plans are inaugurated

To realize these goals, LEPAC is working with a legal team from Natural Justice, an international NGO based in South Africa and The Centre for Minority Rights, based in Nairobi. Other institutional affiliations are: INUKA, an NGO started by John Githongo in Nairobi and Development Policy Management Forum (DPMF), a think-tank examining land and resources in Coast Province, as well as local community-based organisations including Sauti ya Wanawake, LAMCOT, Kenya Marine Forum, Wanaharakati Okoa Lamu, Imams, Baraza la Wazee, Shungwaya Welfare Association, Lamu Beach Management Unit, Muhuri, HURINET, Lamu Preservation Network, Chonjo Community Action Group and representatives from the Boni, Orma, Sanye, Swahili and Bajuni  communities.

With the assistance of the affiliated institutions, LEPAC has begun to sensitize local communities about the port project and it has begun to collect information about the community’s concerns if the port is built. This information forms a core for preparing a Bio-Cultural Community Protocol (BCP).

What is a bio-cultural community protocol? 1.      Bio-cultural community protocols are instruments that facilitate culturally rooted, participatory decision-making processes within communities with the aim of asserting rights over their communally managed lands and traditional knowledge. 2.      Community protocols are based on communities’ customary norms, values, and laws and set out clear terms and conditions to governments and the private, research, and non-profit sectors for engaging with communities and accessing their local resources. 3.      Community protocols facilitate conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity by ensuring that decisions regarding communally managed resources rest firmly with the communities who have served as stewards of these resources over many generations.

Community protocols are locally developed legal instruments that seek to address the lack of community involvement in the development and implementation of laws and policies that affect their communally managed lands, resources, and ways of life.

Collecting information to create a BCP is labour intensive. It means traveling to various villages in the area and islands in the archipelago, meeting with different indigenous communities, sensitizing them about the port project and gathering information as to how it will affect them in terms of continuity of their cultural values and their access to traditional resources.

LEPAC has organized a coordinating committee for facilitating the BCP. This coordinating committee is made up of representatives from affiliated groups and members of the indigenous communities in Lamu District. There are a total of 23 representatives that make up the BCP working committee.

How you can help

We need assistance to transport a team to Lamu East and Lamu West Constituencies in order to sensitize the communities and collect information. Each constituency will involve a 3-day visit in order to economise transportation costs to the outlying villages on the mainland and on the islands.

 To Lamu East (3-day trip)

Team of 8 BCP Representatives visiting 16 villages including Kiunga, Kiwayu, Dau, Kizingitini, Siyu, Shanga, Pate

                                                Total                Ksh 113,000 or US $ 1,500

To Lamu West (3-day trip)

Team of 8 BCP representatives visiting 10 villages including Mokowe, Bargoni, Mgini, Ndununui, Mkunumbi, Sanye areas x 2, Dide Warede, Pananguo and Witu

                                                Total                Ksh  82,000 or US $ 1,050                           

Budget Summary

Lamu East: 8 people on 3-day trip to 16 villages                                        Ksh 113,000

Lamu West: 8 people on 3-day trip to 10 villages                                       Ksh   82,000

                        Total Amount of Money Needed     Ksh 195,000 or US $ 2,550

Please help us to Save the Lamu Archipelago by donating money for our team to reach the communities that will be effected by the port project and to collect information in order to create the bio-cultural community protocol, the legal tool we use to lpress the government to be transparent, to provide an environmental impact assessment report, to carry out land reforms and to make sure that the port benefits the local community.

Send your donations today to:

Hadija Ernst, treasurer of BCP coordinating committee

tel 0722-859594

email: lamuprotection@gmail.com

For Cheques, please make payable to:

Lamu Environment Protection and Conservation Group

P.O. Box 64, Lamu 80500

For direct bank transfers:

Account name: Lamu Environment Protection and Conservation Group;

Account no. 1111279683

Bank: Kenya Commercial Bank, Lamu Branch

SWIFT CODE: KCBLKENX

Yours Sincerely,

Mohamed Ali Baddi

LEPAC Field Coordinator

  

LEPAC Members:

Famau Ahmed, Chair

Mohamed Ali Athman, Treasurer

Omar Twalib Mzee, Secretary

Mohamed Ali Baddi, Field Coordinator

Mohamed Awadh Guro

BCP Working Committee

Omar T. Mzee                      LEPAC

Mohamed Ali Baddi              LEPAC

Abubakar Al-Moody              Lamu Preservation

Noor Salim                          Sauti ya Wanawake

Raya Famau                        Sauti ya Wanawake

Mushsin Said Ali                  Riyadha Mosque

Idarus Alwy                         Swafaa Mosque

Ali Gabo                              Boni Community

Ali Godana                          Orma Community

Hussein Soud                      Baraza la Wazee

Abubakar Khatib                  Wanaharakati Okoa Lamu

Walid Ahmed                       Lamu Youth Alliance

Zainab Golo                         Orma Community

Mohamed Mbwana               Shungwaya

Atwaa Salim                        LAMCOT

Prof Ali Shekue                    Beach Management Unit

Hussein Miji                         Lamu Youth Alliance        

Omar Barisa Luma               Sanye Community

Female Rep                         HURINET

Female Rep                         Siyu Community

Hadija Ernst                         Chonjo Community Action Group

Mohamed Athman                Kenya Marine Forum

Umu Kheir                           MUHURI