Today, myself and our newest KESCOM intern Ben, were lucky enough to be invited onto Funzi Island to meet with the Funzi Turtle Club, and some old friends, a Swedish couple who had been working with us in 2009 on this project!
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| The new information centre overlooks the beautiful beach |
Funzi is an idyllic mangrove island on the south coast of Kenya, with incredibly sandy beaches and friendly people. GVI has been supporting the turtle club since 2009 with their various conservation activities and giving training. The club has recently had a new education and resource centre built through KESCOM, sponsored by Seacology, and this has sparked a wave of action amongst the group members for progressing the conservation and alternative likelihood efforts on Funzi.
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| The club members put forward their hopes for the future |
We met with the members of the group and discussed their hopes for future action, their current training needs and ideas for bringing in a small income to the members of the group. For example overnight camping nearby the nesting beaches, boat trips and island tours, traditional Swahili lunches and community football matches are all attractions tourists could be getting involved in on Funzi in a completely authentic experience. The information centre also needs furnishing and some information panels and displays about the group. It was clear that GVI could play a significant role in helping them achieve their aims and we hope Ben will be living on the island for the next couple of months to do just this. Watch this space for updates!
New Year visit to Funzi Island
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