TITLE:
Barriers to Community Participation in Governance Standards Setting for Sustainable Mangrove Management in Lamu County
AUTHORS:
Jamila Ahmed, Bessy Kathambi, Robert Kibugi
KEYWORDS:
Governance, Community Challenges, Sustainability, Stakeholder Engagement, Mangrove Conservation
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Forestry,
Vol.13 No.4,
October
10,
2023
ABSTRACT: Mangrove management requires an all-inclusive community engagement for
sustainability in protection and conservation of mangroves. Previously,
community participation was not considered pivotal but the rapid degradation of
mangroves has necessitated their participation. Despite much legislation
enacted, there are still challenges hindering community participation in Lamu
County and this paper seeks to highlight barriers perceived by the various stakeholders in mangrove
management. The study used a mixed methods approach to answer both qualitative
and quantitative research questions and a correlational research design to
explore all variables. The study shows that only 60% of the respondents agreed that there is lack of enforcement
in mangrove conservation through community participation. However, less than
50% agreed on the challenges of lack of good management in mangroves (46%),
lack of implementation mechanisms on mangrove conservation (47%) and lack of
consultation in decision-making processes for mangrove conservation (36%). This
demonstrates that lack of enforcement is
the greatest challenge to the implementation of standards for mangrove
conservation.