There has been ongoing replanting of mangroves in degraded parts of the forest. In addition, mapping to establish current status of the mangrove forest was completed. The community information center provides crucial services to the community as a training center with committee members and village elders being trained at the center in beekeeping and mangrove forest conservation. However, improper disposal of plastic waste still continues to pose a challenge to the project. Seacology Program Manager Karen Peterson and East Africa Field Representative Dishon Murage visited the project in March 2013 to meet with the community members and discuss the successes and challenges regarding the conservation area. Seacology has since provided a small grant to the community for safety equipment so that village women can safely harvest the honey from the hives provided as part of the project’s sustainable development initiative.

A total of 50,050 mangrove seedlings have been replanted in Makoba, Fujoni and Mafufuni Villages, while a total of 28 people from Muwanda and Mafufuni Villages have been trained in beekeeping and provided with protective gear for honey harvesting. Construction of the information center in Mafufuni Village is complete; the official opening of the center was attended by the Hon. Vice President of Zanzibar Seif Ali on March 1, 2012. The replanted mangrove site continues to serve as an area of interest for local communities and schools, with a number of students, especially from Muembe Makumi Primary and Secondary Schools, visiting the site. The project also continues to provide support to enforcement of regulations regarding harvesting of mangroves; infractions have reduced noticeably, with only a few minor cuttings of small-sized mangroves observed in a few villages.

Progress has been made in the following areas: mangrove replanting, monitoring of the community forest, site selection for the information center, and development of alternative livelihood programs. Meetings and training sessions have been conducted in the seven villages where village leaders were taken through a one day training on mangrove replantation. As a result of this exercise, replantation activities have already been initiated in Makoba and Mafufuni villages with a total of 2,050 seedlings planted by 33 community members. Monitoring of the community mangrove forest close to three villages of Makoba, Mafufuni and Fujoni has been conducted and minor destruction of the mangroves has been noted through cutting of small poles mainly for fishing dhows. Previous cutting down of tall trees has reduced as the patrol didn’t note new cuttings except as reported above. A number of beehives have been brought and distributed to Fujoni and Makoba villages. However, the project is not able to assess their performance as they are still at infancy stage. Site selection and clearing has been done for the community information center. The project team has already started the process to procure materials and other requirements. It is planned that actual construction should start in December, 2011. Albeit the project has made some progress, there are a few challenges noted. These are availability of mangrove seedlings since the period from September to October is not the season for natural seed propagation by the mangroves. Signs of encroachment into the protected mangrove forest were noted in Mafufuni and Makoba villages. There is a recommendation that the project leaders consult with the village elders to clearly demarcate the extent of the mangrove forest in the two villages.