Beach Clean-Up

WSCSD-Kenya is the lead volunteer coordinating organization for the Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Clean-up program in Kenya. We mobilize individuals and volunteers from public and private organizations, not for profit institutions, community-based organizations, and corporates from all walks of life to take part is this annual event. We also conduct monthly beach clean-up events along Galu Beach in South Coast by encouraging volunteers to visit the beaches and remove trash to keep our beaches clean. The data on the trash collected from the clean-up events is shared with Ocean Conservancy’s Ocean trash data index to help in research and education on marine ecology. We segregate the trash collected from the beach into recyclable, reusable, and compostable to ensure that they are disposed safely to avoid chances of the trash collected getting back to the beaches.

Sustainable Tourism

WSCSD-Kenya promotes sustainable tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social, cultural, and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of tourists, the industry, the environment, and host communities. We believe that Kwale County, especially Diani Beach is one of the world-class tourist destinations that needs a suitable balance between environmental, economic, and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development to guarantee its long-term sustainability. The aim of WSCSD-Kenya in its advocacy for sustainable tourism is to increase the benefits and to reduce the negative impacts caused by tourism for destinations by incorporating cultural heritage into tourism activities to create formal job opportunities for local communities.

Conservation without Borders challenge

Conservation without borders challenge is an annual art contest open for students with interest environmental conservation within the Msambweni constituency. The project will focus on going blue, meaning sustainable use of marine resources for economic development and environmental sustainability. The challenge has three levels for primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions that bring together participants from diverse backgrounds to share their opinions, ideas, and insights on various conservation themes and issues in Kwale County. The program will engage students and local communities in essay writing, art creation, carvings, photography, drawing, creative and innovative presentations, environmental education, and training and conservation workshop. The community projects aim to sensitize students and local communities to practice conservation within their localities. The idea of WSCSD’s Community Project was nurtured by the organizations commitment to encouraging collective responsibility for the environment as enshrined in its constitution. The implementation of the Conservation Without Borders Challenge program aims to create awareness among the local communities and students in Msambweni on the importance of environmental protection, the need to prevent environmental degradation and pollution, the importance of conserving biological biodiversity, and various way of implementing environmentally responsible and sustainable development projects. The categories under which the student art competition will be held are;

1. Quiz challenge
   (Random questions on marine ecology, ocean biodiversity, plastic pollution, and marine debris),
2. Essay competition
   Random questions on marine ecology, ocean biodiversity, plastic pollution, and marine debris.
3. GoBlue Innovation:
   Innovative ways of dealing with Solid Waste management, Closed loop Recycling technologies, and Solving Plastic Pollution.
4. Art Competition:
   Poetry, Drawings, Graphics, Info-graphics, Photography, and Painting of images that portray the sad state of plastic pollution on the beaches due to human activities.
5. Public Speaking:
   Recording videos/audios about marine conservation and plastic pollution and then posting on social media.
6. Project Green Challenge:
   This is a 30-day challenge, each day with a conservation theme to encourage students to embrace conscious and sustainable livelihoods, behaviors, and practices while in school, college, and campus.

Inter-sectoral value addition

WSCSD-Kenya takes advantage of the intersection between different economic sectors to promote the creation of new products and services with economic, social, and tourism value. Our cross-cutting sectors of intervention are;
1. Tourism and Cultural Heritage: Tourism and Cultural Heritage resource center
We intend to achieve this goal through the development of the Tourism and Cultural Heritage resource center in association with the marine environment, fisheries, research, education, social action, capacity building, enhancement of creative, technical capacities in local communities through the development of business plans, marketing, publicity, and media outreach to leverage their competitiveness in the international tourist market.
2. Entrepreneurship: Mazingira Art and Entrepreneurship
We tap into the cultural heritage, innovation, creativity, and intellectual property of the local communities to produce goods and services with cultural, social, and economic significance. Our intervention nurtures entrepreneurship skills that contribute to the creation of formal employment and leverage the competitiveness of tangible and intangible cultural heritage as source of tourist attraction. We do this by dentifying and incubating innovative business startups that integrate tourism, cultural heritage, creativity, intellectual property rights, and marine environment to create economic, social, and cultural value to the local communities.
3. Technology: Utamaduni Na Utalii Mtandaoni
This project encourages the adoption of technology in the field of sustainable tourism and Cultural Heritage through the use of an online library for wide dissemination and marketing of products and/or services made from the intersection of cultural heritage, creativity, and innovation of the local communities. This digital platform will be communication, advertising, and marketing campaign tool for WSCSD-Kenya to promote access to sustainable tourism and local cultural heritage to new internal and external markets.
4. Education: Science without borders challenge
The Science without borders challenge focuses on the creation and expansion of festivals and international professional fairs in sustainable tourism and Cultural Heritage through formal education and professional training projects.
5. Innovation, Creativity, Intellectual properties/Job Creation: Community Waste Recycling Plant
WSCSD-Kenya operates a local solid waste recycling plant where marine debris and trash collected during beach cleanup is sorted, segregated, and safely disposed of to prevent the chance of the trash getting back to the beach. The waste recycling plants employ 100 local communities that convert the recyclable trash into reusable products and combustible trash into compost manure for agricultural use.

Conservation, Research, and Education of Keystone species

In the effort to protect Indian Ocean, the WSCSD-Kenya mobilizes funds and supports for its research, conservation, and education projects within the South Coast of Kenya. Our focus is primarily on charismatic threatened marine wildlife and megafauna, and more specifically on elasmobranchs (sharks, rays and skates) and their habitats. Most of our projects in this field have the capacity to make a real difference to the health of the oceans and to the survival of threatened aquatic species and habitats. With a view to achieving this aim, WSCSD-Kenya nurtures students and early career scientists working on exceptional projects, on remarkable species or habitats and/or in unique locations. WSCSD-Kenya aims to support research, conservation or educational activities capable of attracting significant public attention to genuinely increase public and government awareness of the urgent need to protect the marine environment. WSCSD-Kenya works with its students and research members to undertake public awareness and environmental educational activities(giving talks, issuing press releases, etc.

Advocacy, Civic Education, Publicity, Awareness, and Storytelling through Photography

At WSCSD-Kenya, we have a strong history of undertaking marine conservation and education projects and believe that to truly translate knowledge into effective, meaningful change we must communicate through engaging stories. We nurture and encourage our members to tell success stories of conservation through photography. Among the major themes of the photography story telling are marine creatures, beach pollution, plastic debris, mangroves, coral reefs, fisheries and the role of the local communities whose lives are intertwined with marine life in conserving marine resources. WSCSD-Kenya targets early career and emerging storytellers aged above 18 years with no more than five years of professional experience in any photography-related discipline. We aim to encourage new voices with new perspectives and photographic approaches.

Seaweed Farming

Seaweed can play a huge role in fighting climate change by absorbing carbon emissions, regenerating marine ecosystems, creating biofuel and renewable plastics as well as generating marine protein. The seaweed grows underwater for 45 days. When it reaches one kilogram it is picked and dried, then packed in bags to be exported to countries like China, Korea and Vietnam where it is used as medicines and shampoos.

WSCSD-Kenya trans local communities along the south coast of Kenya on seaweed farming to equip them with skills and competence in making soap from their seaweed at the Zanzibar Seaweed Center, a business that started as an NGO in 2009. At their homes, they mix water, ground seaweed powder, coconut oil, caustic soda and essential oils in a large plastic tub. WSCSD-Kenya helps the seaweed farmers market their soaps to both local and international markets. As seaweed levels decline, local communities find way to increase the value of their work.

Green Jobs and Formal Employment

On 24th November 2022, European Union, Jumuia ya County Za Pwani, Kwale County department of Trade, Tourism, and ICT, Camoes, and World Student Community for Sustainable Development (WSCSD-Kenya) launched the Tourism Cultural Heritage Business Development Project under the GoBlue Component 1, output 3 on growth (grants for business) aimed at accelerating the engagement of women and youth in the tourism sector.

The project which is funded by the European Union and Camoes at a cost of KShs. 6 million aims at supporting 400 women and youth-led agribusiness enterprises across Kenya. It is projected to create of 1000 job opportunities. It addresses key challenges that hinder youth and women from tapping into the immense potential in the tourism, culture, and heritage of the coastal communities while tapping on the ICT and unexploited potential of the hidden treasure in the sector.

The Tourism Cultural Heritage Business Development Project is being implemented jointly with Kwale county governments department of trade, tourism, and ICT and Jumuia Ya County Za Pwani to benefit local communities in Kwale. A Digital Business Incubation, Innovation, and ICT Hub has been set up in Ukunda, Kwale County to provide training, business advisory, and financing to enable women and youth to gain the requisite skills needed to scale their businesses in tourism, culture, and heritage sector.

WSCSD-K is placing a call for applications to enroll women and youth tourism, culture, and heritage entrepreneurs into the project. Successful applicants benefit from tourism, culture, and heritage entrepreneurship opportunities available within their localities as well as the other services offered within the Digital Business Incubation, Innovation, and ICT Hub.