Kenya Launches National Plan to Protect Blue Carbon Ecosystems

Coastal wetlands—such as the mangrove forests and seagrass meadows that fringe coastlines—are among the most carbon-dense ecosystems on Earth, capable of storing carbon in their waterlogged soils for millennia. These “blue carbon” ecosystems also serve as nurseries for fisheries, shield the coast from floods and storm surges, and sustain the people who fish for a living—benefits that help coastal communities adapt to a changing climate.

On June 17, at the 11th Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa, Kenya, the host country launched its first national plan devoted to such ecosystems. The Blue Carbon Ecosystems Nationally Determined Contributions Implementation and Investment Plan lays out how Kenya intends to deliver on its climate and coastal wetland conservation pledges by 2035. It provides specific targets, identifies who is best placed to lead implementation, and sets out how to pay for the work.

“The plan sets a clear target: conserve all existing mangroves, restore three-quarters of those degraded, and extend protections to at least 22,000 hectares [54,000 acres] of seagrass meadows,” said Dr. Deborah Mlongo Barasa, Kenya’s cabinet secretary for environment, climate change, and forestry, while announcing the initiative. “The plan moves beyond conservation planning and moves blue carbon ecosystems to being recognized as strategic economic and development assets.”

Nationally, these ecosystems keep more than 75 million metric tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. The plan projects that protecting and restoring them will cut coastal storm damage by 10% to 20% by 2035—avoiding an estimated $200 million to $500 million in losses—and raise fisheries productivity by as much as 25%, directly supporting between 300,000 and 600,000 coastal households.

Kenya has long understood the value of these coastal wetlands. Mikoko Pamoja, a community-led project launched in 2010 on the country’s south coast, was the world’s first to fund mangrove conservation through the sale of carbon credits. Kenya went on to include blue carbon in its 2020 nationally determined contribution (NDC)—the commitments individual countries make under the Paris Agreement to reduce emissions and the impacts of climate change—and has reinforced that commitment in its subsequent five-year update.

“Mangroves and seagrasses are central to how Kenya meets its climate commitments,” said Michael Okumu, deputy director of climate change negotiations and finance at the country’s Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, and Forestry’s Climate Change Directorate. “This plan combines ambitious coastal wetland targets with an accountable path for delivering on them.”

5 priorities, shared objectives

The NDC plan organizes its work across five areas:

• Conserving and restoring blue carbon ecosystems.
• Strengthening community stewardship and livelihoods.
• Scientific research and monitoring.
• Governance and policy.
• Sustainable finance.

The work will be carried out by national agencies—such as the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI), the Kenya Forest Service, and the Kenya Fisheries Service—and the six coastal county governments, alongside the communities that tend these habitats every day. Together, by 2035, they aim to protect the roughly 60% of Kenya’s mangroves that are still healthy, restore three-quarters of those that have been damaged, and safeguard at least 20,000 hectares of seagrass. In all, Kenya holds an estimated 61,000 hectares of mangroves and 39,000 hectares of seagrass.

“Kenya’s coast is among our greatest economic and natural assets,” said Dr. Davies Makilla, director at the Kenyan State Department for the Blue Economy and Fisheries. “This plan gives every actor—from all levels of government and the private sector to development partners and coastal communities—a clear role in protecting it and a clear path to the investment that will make that protection last.”

Funding has often been the missing piece for plans like this one. Delivering on Kenya’s plan will cost an estimated $600 million by 2035. The country aims to raise the money through a wide range of financing mechanisms, such as carbon markets under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, blended public and private financing, and partnerships with businesses.

Built on engagement, grounded in science

The Kenyan government engaged stakeholders to develop the plan—with support from The Pew Charitable Trusts, Pew’s in-country partner Fauna & Flora, and other nongovernmental organizations and technical experts. Multiple rounds of public consultations across the six coastal counties, a national comment period, and a national workshop brought together the agencies, county governments, scientists, and community representatives who will carry out the plan. It pulls Kenya’s research, policy, community action, and financing into a single framework with shared targets.

The plan also builds on a deep base of Kenyan science. One of its five priorities is research and monitoring: tracking the extent and health of mangroves and seagrasses, and measuring the carbon they store so that restoration can be verified over time. The KMFRI leads world-class research on blue carbon ecosystems and co-leads the Large-Scale Seagrass Mapping and Management Initiative (LaSMMI), a regional effort to map, manage, and protect seagrass meadows along the East African coast.

“For years we have built the science that demonstrates the value of these vital ecosystems and how quickly we are losing them,” said Dr. Jacqueline Uku, a chief research scientist at KMFRI and the Kenya lead for LaSMMI. “Seagrass, in particular, has been overlooked. This plan puts that evidence to work and commits the country to conserving and restoring them.”

The launch in Mombasa marks the start of the hard part: turning a plan into results. The goals are set and the roles assigned. What the decade ahead will test is how quickly Kenya and its partners can put the funding to work and see the plan through. 

Kim Jensen is a senior manager and Thomas Hickey is a project director for The Pew Charitable Trusts’ advancing coastal wetlands conservation project.