Kenya's 'Mother Mangrove' and Women Leaders Push for Local Voices in Ocean Conservation
MOMBASA, Kenya — As delegates gather for the first Our Ocean Conference on African soil, women leaders from coastal Kenya are sharing stories of community-led marine conservation and urging global policymakers to centre the voices of small-scale fishing communities—especially women—in decisions that shape the future of the ocean.
The push comes as the conference opens in Mombasa, a setting that underscores the stakes for tropical coastlines where livelihoods and ecosystems are tightly intertwined. According to reporting from AllAfrica, small-scale fisheries are essential to the livelihoods and food security of coastal communities on tropical coastlines around the world, yet they are often overlooked in global discussions on ocean conservation.
'Mother Mangrove' Leads Restoration on Pate Island
At the heart of this movement is Zulfa Hassan, known in her community as "Mama Mikoko"—Swahili for "Mother Mangrove." Hassan leads the Mangrove Restoration Initiative on Pate Island in Lamu County, where she has inspired women to rehabilitate damaged mangrove forests, restoring marine life and securing livelihoods.
Her conservation journey began in 2018 after members of her community participated in a learning visit to Madagascar. "We saw how communities were conserving and restoring mangroves and we were inspired to bring this back to our community," she said, according to AllAfrica.
Back in Lamu, many residents viewed mangroves primarily as a source of firewood, building materials and income. Few understood the broader ecological role the forests played in supporting fisheries, protecting coastlines, and sustaining local livelihoods. What began as a self-help group for women evolved into the Mangrove Restoration Initiative, now open to broader community membership.
Hassan's efforts have already restored over 30 hectares of mangrove forest, a significant achievement for a region where these trees are critical to both biodiversity and climate resilience.
Mangroves: Carbon Powerhouses at Risk
The importance of mangroves extends far beyond the local scale. Mangrove forests are among the most carbon-rich ecosystems on Earth, storing significantly more carbon in their soils than tropical or temperate forests. According to reporting from AllAfrica, mangroves store four times more carbon than rainforests, and their soils hold up to 50 times more carbon per surface area than tropical forests and ten times more than temperate forests.
Beyond carbon storage, mangrove ecosystems support significant marine biodiversity and human well-being. Fish breed in these habitats, coasts are protected from erosion, and sediments and contaminants are filtered before reaching corals and seagrass. Mangrove roots can also trap floating pieces of plastic in the open ocean, making them a natural defense against plastic pollution.
Yet these forests face threats from unsustainable harvesting and a lack of awareness about their ecological value. The restoration work on Pate Island is a direct response to those pressures, with women playing a central role in reversing years of degradation.
Women's Voices Take Center Stage
Hassan was among the featured speakers at a special conversation titled "Women's Voices Are Key to the Future of Kenya's Ocean," held on a lawn overlooking the Indian Ocean. The discussion brought together three women whose work spans fisheries, conservation and community leadership: Hassan; Raabia Hawa, founder and director of the Ulinzi Africa Foundation; and Amina Komora, a fisher from the Sanye community in Lamu County.
The moderator was Dr. Christina Chemtai Hicks, a professor at Lancaster University, a Pew Marine Fellow, and an Oceana board member, whose research focuses on fisheries governance, conservation, food justice and nutrition. Joining the conversation was Kate Walsh, acclaimed actress, ocean advocate and Oceana ambassador, who is using her platform to push global policymakers to look beyond clinical data and confront the human toll of marine degradation.
Walsh emphasized the importance of local communities in conservation, a theme echoed throughout the session. Hawa, who has faced challenges as a woman in the conservation field, highlighted the barriers that women in coastal communities still encounter—from limited access to decision-making spaces to unequal recognition of their contributions.
A Call for Inclusion at a Historic Conference
As the Our Ocean Conference convenes in Mombasa—the first time the event has been held on African soil—advocates are making a clear demand: small-scale fishing communities, especially women, must have a significant voice in decisions that impact the future of marine and coastal ecosystems.
The reporting from AllAfrica notes that small-scale fishing communities are increasingly recognised for their role in climate resilience. Their stewardship of marine and coastal environments is vital not only for local livelihoods but for global efforts to combat climate change and protect ocean health.
For Hassan, the message is personal. Her journey from a self-help group to leading a community-wide restoration initiative illustrates what can happen when local knowledge and women's leadership are given space to thrive. As she put it, the inspiration from Madagascar was brought back to Lamu—and has since grown into a movement that is restoring mangroves, protecting coastlines, and securing a future for the communities that depend on them.
This article is based on reporting from AllAfrica.