Economic impacts of marine protected areas: A case study of the Mombasa Marine Park

Abstract

The conservation of the marine environment is an integral part of the broader initiatives of environmental conservation in Kenya. A major motivation for the delineation of marine protected areas (MPAs) in Kenya has been the promotion of tourism and also the need to conserve marine biodiversity for posterity. However, the conservation of marine resources in Kenya has led to certain resource-use conflicts between national conservation agencies such as the Kenya Wildlife Service and local fishing communities. The study reported in this paper sought to examine the economic implications of the Mombasa Marine Park on a local fishing community, and thus provide an insight into the factors that lead to such conflicts .....