Influence of co-management on the sustainable management of marine resources in Shimoni and Wasini areas of the Kwale county, Kenya

Abstract

The research study investigated the influence of co-management of marine resources for sustainable development. Co-management is said to be the ideal management tool for sustainable management of marine resources and ensuring that stakeholders are involved in decision-making and management of their resources. The study was undertaken to generate knowledge on the influence of co-management on sustainable management of marine resources. As a result the study area picked had to have some background in co-management. The study was conducted through survey research design using questionnaires semi-structured interviews and focus group discussion used on the sample size of 145 that was picked. The collected data was coded and fed into SPSS 19 for analysis which was represented in terms of simple percentages and frequencies and cross-tabs. In addition chi-square was used to test the hypotheses. The results of the study focused on three variables in co management, institutional design, community participation and socio ecological dynamics. The results showed that 95% of the respondents perceive that the institutional design for co-management as adequate. Community participation is a key ingredient of co-management which was proven right with 82.5% in agreement that communities‟ role in co-management were clearly defined and they were also involved in the decision making process. Lastly 92.5% of the respondent said that IK is valuable and was not only applied in co-management but it was also effective in its application. In conclusion the study shows that co-management has a lot of positive influences in conservation as well as the well being of community members. Therefore the researcher concluded that co-management is an adequate planning and management tool for sustainable management of marine resources. It was recommended that an improved intergovernmental and interagency partnerships are needed to address cross-cutting and emerging issues in co-management.