Exploring Ocean Literacy at the Lamu Fort

Have you been to The Lamu Fort lately, or ever? The Lamu Fort is a pillar of history located in the United Nations World Heritage Site - Lamu Old Town. History of the East African Coast from the 1800s lies there. Today, the Lamu Fort is a central point for residents of Lamu to host weddings, communal functions and our Education Center!

LaMCoT’s Education Center

Knowledge is power, and if shared widely, it is power multiplied. In an effort to share marine knowledge, we are partnering with the Lamu Fort to showcase our projects, including what young people across Lamu have created to communicate conservation. When you visit our Education Center, expect to see the following:

1. Turtle Banners from our Turtle Protection Program

2. Illegal Fishing Gear Information

3. Photographs from our Conservation Photography Workshop showcasing our Waste Management Program

4. Art Pieces from Bahari Yetu Festival 2024

   1. Turtle Banners

Get to meet TAMU, our banner turtle who will enlighten you on different types of turtles, their life cycles and interesting reproduction story. TAMU describes in detail the threats sea turtles face that has made them endangered species and tells you what you can do about it, to alleviate their suffering.

These banners, translated from English to Swahili by Bahari Hai, are a clear communication of our pioneer project at LaMCoT; the Turtle Protection Program running since 1992. In an effort to publicize the protection of sea turtles further, we partnered with AKTIONSGEMEINSCHAFT ARTENSCHUTZ (AGA) E.V. to bring this banner idea to life. For months, we collaboratively edited the content originally created by AGA to align the message with Lamu's marine environment and community: you should totally make a point to see those eye-catching banners.

2. Illegal Fishing Gear Display

Lamu is Kenya’s most diverse fishing zone, with most villages depending on the ocean for economic sustenance. The fishing practices have largely been sustainable, but thanks to the increasing demand for fish at the East African Coast, illegal fishing gear is used from time to time.

On display, we have information about different gear used at sea, and which of them are illegal. Given that the community frequents the Fort for social activities, it is nice to know that they will be coming across this information often.

3. Photographs by Young Photographers

We had 20 young people aged 13 - 24 take part in a photography & storytelling workshop last year, ahead of Bahari Yetu Festival 2024. Fully sponsored by the Portuguese Embassy in Kenya, we partnered with experts from The TonyWild Foundation to lay a basic foundation of photography, under the theme “conservation with every click.”

The assignment for this workshop was for the learners to take photographs that tell a story from our Waste Management Project. Catch the detailed description of the winning pieces and the photographers on TonyWild's WildStories, and then head over to the Lamu Fort to see these pictures on display!

4. Children’s Art from Bahari Yetu Festival 2024

If you have been here long enough, you know about Watoto Day - the day we had fun with a purpose! As one of the activities of the day, we had kids from our schools in attendance of the festival compete in creating art pieces with a visual appeal and environmental conservation message under the theme “Guardians of the Deep.”

Ama Primary School was the first of our 14 Environmental Kindness Clubs to visit, and they loved seeing their art piece among the ones exhibited. We encourage you to bring your young ones along to see the art on display; it is fun and educational.

Visit the Lamu Fort

We plan on having a long-term partnership with the Lamu Fort for effective community sensitization and ocean literacy. We are creating an archive of these displays that will be used for a digital exhibition on our website. Stay tuned for that.

Until then, see you at the Fort!

Written by Evelyn Kimori