By Charles Lucas Makio (Fisheries Manager – Bahari Hai Conservation), Rosalia Neema Changawa (Anti-poaching team coordinator- Bahari Hai Conservation)
Bahari Hai Conservation has played a central role in advancing coordinated marine conservation within the Watamu-Malindi Marine Protected Area by bringing together key actors; Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Forest Service, County Fisheries Service, local communities and conservation partners in environmental law enforcement and compliance. In 2025 the initiative strengthened fulltime anti-poaching patrols using SMART Conservation tool and a 3-month EarthRanger pilot enabling real-time monitoring and data driven enforcement across Malindi-Watamu seascape. Regional collaboration with the Mwambao Coastal Community Network enhanced shared learning and harmonised enforcement approaches between Kenya and Zanzibar. Joint community engagement campaigns with enforcement agencies, the Judiciary and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions improved awareness of marine wildlife crimes including turtle poaching, illegal fishing and mangrove destruction. Bahari Hai also became a learning centre for SMART Conservation tool while fostering a resource pooling framework that increased patrol coverage to 3-4 days weekly. Efforts to address weak prosecution led to a multi-agency advocacy forum pushing for fair (stronger penalties) for environmental crimes which has been a major gap in the past. Through the joint efforts, 272 estimated individual poached turtles remains have been recovered along the Malindi-Watamu coastline, 3 arrests have been made, 231 illegal gears have been confiscated, 4 community meetings held along with one regional learning exchange and 1 justice sector advocacy action.
