大象传媒

鈥淢y father used to tell me that in one night when they went out fishing they used to come back with 70 or 80 kilos of fish, but at the moment they鈥檙e doing the same but coming back with one kilo or half a kilo.鈥�

Mida Creek, on Kenya鈥檚 coastline about two hours north of Mombasa, rightly has a reputation for being a birdwatcher鈥檚 paradise. Surrounded by mangrove forests, its beaches teem with crabs and other crustaceans 鈥� which in turn bring in migratory birds from around the world. Juvenile sea turtles hide in the safety of the roots.

Fish used to flood in, tempted by the bounty of food it offered, but in recent years stocks have plummeted because of pollution 鈥� and the people living there struggle to feed their families.

So a number of local people have set up groups to try to promote 鈥榚thical tourism鈥� 鈥� encouraging people to stay within the creek, use the boardwalk the community has built, and to turn to locals as tour guides. The Bidii Na Kazi women's group (meaning 鈥榚ffort and work鈥�) receives funds to replant the waning mangroves and runs a small kitchen and restaurant. And the community also holds regular trash collections to try to keep the creek pristine.

For Africa Daily, Alan @kasujja speaks to two people who grew up there: Hassan, a local tour guide whose father is a fisherman and Eunice who volunteers with the women鈥檚 group. But can they stem the tide of pollution?