Our PGR Amina Hamza was part of a group hosting the visit of Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon of Norway to the Mikoko Pamoja project in Gazi Bay, southern Kenya, on Wednesday 23rd November 2022. Amina guided the Royals’ tour around the mangrove forest and responded to their concerns about the impacts of coastal development in Kenya with insights from her PhD work highlighting the importance of prioritising mangrove conservation to reduce the impact of flooding and erosion along Kenya’s shoreline.
The Mikoko Pamoja project was the world’s first community-based project selling carbon credits from restoring and protecting mangroves. The project was initiated with the support from the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI), where Amina works as a senior scientist. Sweden is the major buyer of the projet’s carbon credits and Norway has supported the Vanga Blue Forest project, which replicates the Mikoko Pamoja project to protect 460 hectares of mangroves closer to the border of Tanzania in southern Kenya. The Royals were accompanied by Kenyan Government dignitaries including the Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of the Environment and Forestry, the Governor of Kwale County, the local Member of Parliament, and the CEO and scientists from KMFRI. Part of the joint royal visit was at the invitation of the United Nations Development Programme, to which the Crown Prince is the Goodwill Ambassador and the Crown Princess is an Advocate Emerita for the UN’s Global Sustainable Development Goals.
On 8th November 2022, Amina had her viva, where examiners recommended the award of PhD following minor modifications on her thesis entitled “Understanding changes in mangrove forests and the implications to community livelihood and resource management in Kenya“. Well done, Amina! Amina was supervised by Dr Lu Esteves and Dr Marin Cvitanovic from the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences and Dr James Kairo, from KMFRI.
These photos of Amina and the Royals during their visit to the Mikoko Pamoja project have appeared in the Daily Mail online: Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden looks elegant alongside Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon in Kenya | Daily Mail Online
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