Brain Youth Group – Community Focused Conservation

Brain Youth Group is an environmental conservation, education and awareness organization that seeks to tap into creativity, energy and initiative of the youth to provide for positive interventions in the management of the environment, educate and create awareness among the youths on sanitation, and to develop alternative businesses to provide the youth and women with employment, income and poverty alleviation in Mombasa County, Kenya.

Donors

We would like to thank the following donors for their support :

World Bank funded project in Kenya (KCDP)
UNDP-SGP
IDEA WILD
The Pollination Project
Slovak Aid
Population Service International (PSI)

About

We are community based organization called Brain Youth Group, formed in 2011 whose membership include youth of between 18-35 years of age. Our members come from the Junda sub-location, Kisauni constituency in Mombasa County, Kenya. We have planted 500, 980 mangroves (102 Ha) along Tudor Creek.

Tudor Creek mangroves forests once covered 1,641 ha, but because of urbanization, pollution, harvest, and climate change only 215 ha are left. Our goal is to plant 14,260,000 mangroves along Tudor Creek in Mombasa County, Kenya. But we know we cannot just plant them and expect them to survive.

That’s why we are providing training to community members on alternative businesses, supporting monitoring activities, and providing training to youth to serve as rangers as the forest begins to recover.

So far the organization has planted approximately 500,980 Mangrove seedlings along Tudor Creek with a survival rate of 87%.

Mission

“Work for sustainable development of Mombasa county by providing alternative sources of income while preserving the environment.”

Vision

“Totally restore the mangrove at Tudor creek and reduce poverty, unemployment and malnutrition in Mombasa County.”

Objectives

Plant mangroves at Tudor creek and reverse current mangrove deforestation.

Educate local villagers through trainings, restoration days, and beach cleanups on the important role that mangroves play in the ecosystem.

Develop and train community members on viable liveihoods such as creating fish ponds and bee hives as a source of revenue and employment for local community, honey and fresh fish.

Partners

Our work depends on the expertise and help of many local and international organizations, donors, and people like you.

Organizational partners include Trillion Tree Campaign, Ecosystem Restoration Camps (ERC), Small Feat Education, and Herpetofauna Foundation

Government agencies/government partners are Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Forest Service, Coast Development Authority, National Environmental Management Authority, Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, State Department of Fisheries.

Funding partners include World Bank funded project in Kenya (KCDP), UNDP-SGP, IDEA WILD, The Pollination Project, Slovak Aid, and Population Service International (PSI).

Projects

Ecosystem Restoration Camps

We have partnered with Ecosystem Restoration Camps to bring people from all over the world to our mangroves at Tudor Creek, Mombasa. Camp Mombasa Mangrove Forest welcomes conservationists, environmentalists, students, researchers, volunteers and people with interest in environmental conservation to visit.

Please visit our site on Ecosystem Restoration Camps to find out what our needs are and what you could be doing to restore mangroves and train community members. Activities include mangrove planting, mangrove nurseries establishment, fish pond renovation, honey harvesting and educating the local community.

Mangrove Restoration

Brain Youth Group works with volunteers to collect mangrove seeds, prepare mangrove nursery sites and nursery establishment, and plant the propagules at the degraded sites,. We educate the local communities on how select the right planting sites (Zonation) and kids and students on the importance of mangrove ecosystem and on how to plant mangroves as well.

Community Education

We do community sensitization and school outreach programs on mangrove restoration, marine farming, bee keeping, HIV/Aids awareness, beach clean ups and turtle conservation.

We believe that education can prepare the community to conserve and protect natural resources for a better use to sustain them by creating jobs and learning centers. Through mangrove restoration, we are aiming to establish ecotourism activities like nature walks, board walks, boat tours, and eco-friendly restaurants.

Marine Farming

We support marine farming by raising prawns and milk fish while we are preserving our environment. Through marine farming projects we are providing education, affordable fish, nutrition, income, and jobs to the community.

Bee Keeping

We are providing education, affordable honey and guiding the forest through the bee hives as the watch dogs inside the forest.

Sea Turtle Conservation

We are aiming to reduce turtle hurting/poaching through community sensitization of fishermen, school outreach programs, students participation on turtle conservation through beach clean up activities, covering open turtle eggs, removing turtle footprint along the shoreline. In addition, the Herpetofauna Foundation fund is aiming to boost reptiles and amphibians living within Tudor creek area by restoring their homes and their breeding grounds through mangrove restoration.