Mangrove Monday!

The Marine team have been working hard this week on setting up for a new survey technique in the mangroves on the southern side of Wasini Island, adapting methods used elsewhere in Kenya to assess abundance and biodiversity of tree species. The mangroves are an extremely important coastal habitat, helping not only to stabilise sediment and trap runoff which protects coral reefs but also providing homes and food resources for many species.

The team tags out and measures the new mangrove transects

Monday was a hot day, but 3 teams of volunteers braved the mangroves (and mud) to mark out, measure and tag two transects and a navigational ‘spine’. It may have taken 4 hours, 70 litres of water and ruined 12 pairs of shoes, but we were thrilled with the progress we made.

A well deserved break after a hot morning!

Surveying will start next week and the aim for each transect is to survey tree species, canopy cover, tree height and diameter of the trunk. This will give us an indication of the coverage and density of the mangrove forests and also sets us up to compare results with other areas such as Shimoni.

Mangrove Monday!