Developing locally managed marine areas: Lessons learnt from Kenya

Common factors that we found associated with the development of LMMAs were informed and committed community members, past training in community based marine resource management, a supportive legal framework, external funding and opportunities for sharing LMMA information. The occurrence of an exchange visit to an existing LMMA was invariably the trigger for a community to establish their own LMMA. Weaknesses were seen in poor enforcement on the water and inadequate ongoing education and training. Further there was very little understanding of the costs of establishing and running a LMMA, therefore long term financial sustainability was problematic. Thus, although the rapid increase in the number of LMMAs in Kenya is a conservation success, their effectiveness will be thwarted if enforcement and financial management are not addressed.