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Seagrass Meadow Biodiversity Monitoring - Vanga Bay, Kenya
The Vanga Seagrass Project protects 225 hectares of seagrass meadows in Vanga Bay, southern Kenya, home to 14% of the country's total seagrass coverage and multiple IUCN Red List endangered species. The project works with four fishing communities encompassing over 18,000 people, implementing seasonal closures and gear restrictions to allow seagrass and fish populations to recover. As fish stocks rebuild, food security and household income are expected to improve, with 60% of credit income flowing directly to local communities. To issue Plan Vivo Biodiversity Certificates, biodiversity data points must be collected starting with baseline data. You fund this monitoring, data processing, and analysis directly through Earthly.
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Project information
Protecting Kenya’s seagrass meadows with fishing communities
Vanga Bay, southern Kenya, holds around 14% of all seagrass in Kenya across 225 hectares, supporting 9 seagrass species and multiple IUCN Red List species, including green turtles, hawksbill turtles, and dugongs. Seagrass in the region is declining at 1.6% per year, driven largely by destructive fishing practices such as seine netting, threatening both the ecosystem and the livelihoods of fishing communities that depend on it. The Vanga Seagrass Project aims to reverse this decline across two sites, Mwarembo-Spaki and Jibweni-Bazo, through four core interventions: seasonal closures, gear restrictions, enforcement patrols, and environmental education.
The project seeks certification under the Plan Vivo Nature standard, making it one of the first biodiversity projects developed for a marine ecosystem. Once certified, revenue from the sale of Plan Vivo Biodiversity Certificates will fund long-term conservation activities and community development across four participating villages. Before credits are issued, the project requires operational funding to cover data collection and processing.
Monitoring takes place across 28 sampling points using Remote Underwater Video, photo quadrat transects, and satellite remote sensing. Data is processed and analysed annually by Okala, producing a shareable report on project progress. By supporting this monitoring, you directly contribute to protecting one of East Africa's most ecologically significant coastal ecosystems, one that stores carbon, buffers coastlines, and sustains the fish stocks that local fisherfolk depend on for food and income.
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Intervention
Restoring and Protecting Wetland Ecosystems
Location
Kenya
Credit Type
Innovation
Sustainable Goals
Project performance
The Earthly rating
The Earthly rating is the industry-first holistic project assessment. Earthly researchers analyse 160+ data points, aggregating information across the three vital pillars of carbon, biodiversity and people. Projects in Earthly's marketplace all exceed a minimum score of 5/10
Carbon
24.2
tonnes of organic carbon are stored, on average, in the top 30cm of soil per hectare of seagrass
Biodiversity
225
hectares of seagrass protected
Social
60%
of the revenue goes directly to local communities
Project impact
Local impact
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Positive for people
The communities across Vanga, Jimbo, Jasini, and Kiwegu have low socioeconomic status and depend heavily on fishing for food and income. Fish catches in the region have declined over recent decades, and without long-term protection for the seagrass, this pressure would continue. Around 80% of the 10 most-caught fish species in the bay associate with seagrass habitats, meaning seagrass health and fishing income are directly linked. As meadows recover within the protected areas, fish populations are expected to rebuild and spill over into surrounding fishing grounds, improving catches, food security, and household income across the bay.
Beyond fisheries, the project delivers direct community investment. The adjacent Vanga Blue Forest mangrove project provides a proven model, having previously funded feminine hygiene products for schoolgirls, youth training in scientific skills, and emergency relief for widows and disabled community members. These commitments are expected to continue under the seagrass project, with spending priorities set through open community meetings.
The project formally includes women, youth, and people with disabilities in decision-making, giving groups historically excluded from resource management a structured role in project governance. Awareness campaigns on seagrass ecology, biodiversity, and the link between healthy seagrass and human livelihoods are delivered through community barazas, village posters and leaflets, and engagement with Beach Management Units and village elders.At least 60% of income from PVBC sales flows directly to the four villages, split by population size, giving communities direct control over how funds are used. To issue credits, biodiversity data points must be collected, including baseline data, and your support funds this directly.
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Good for earth
The primary drivers of biodiversity loss in Vanga Bay are destructive fishing practices, particularly seine netting, anchoring, and the use of poison and dynamite. Overfishing of invertivore species has also led to rising sea urchin populations, which overgraze seagrass beds. Without intervention, seagrass cover will continue to shrink, fish catches are projected to continue declining, and IUCN-listed species including dugongs, green turtles, and hawksbill turtles will face greater pressure as the habitat they depend on is lost.
The project addresses these threats directly through four interventions. Seasonal closures shut the project areas for 10 months of the year, giving seagrass meadows time to recover and fish populations time to rebuild. Gear restrictions ban destructive methods and limit fishing to legal, artisanal gear only. Enforcement patrols, carried out four times a month by boat alongside two dedicated surveillance scouts, ensure compliance. Community education raises awareness of the ecological and economic value of healthy seagrass, building long-term behavioural change among local fisherfolk.
Together, these interventions are expected to reduce fishing pressure, allow natural seagrass regeneration, increase fish biomass, and support recovery of species that depend on dense, healthy seagrass meadows. A spillover effect into surrounding waters is anticipated as fish populations increase. Monitoring is essential to track whether these interventions are working.
By tracking changes in fish communities, epibenthic macroinvertebrates, and seagrass cover, the project builds a clear evidence base for ecological recovery. Remote sensing tracks seagrass extent at the landscape scale, while in-water surveys detect finer changes in species composition and abundance.
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