Developing locally managed marine areas: Lessons learnt from Kenya

Coastal communities in Kenya are increasingly adopting Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs) and by 2015, 24 had been established. Coastal communities perceive the objectives of these LMMAs are to primarily conserve fisheries and marine resources and secure alternative sources of income. In this study we examined if there are generic approaches in how these LMMAs were established, that can be used for developing national guidelines as well as have application to other locations in the western Indian Ocean region. The study involved a literature review of all documents available on the LMMAs and key informant interviews.