Application of remote sensing and GIS in the management of mangrove forests within and adjacent to Kiunga Marine Protected Area, Lamu, Kenya

The status of mangroves within and adjacent to Kiunga Marine Protected Area (MPA) were assessed by means of aerial photographs and intensive ground truthing. Vegetation maps (1:25,000) were produced on GIS environment making it possible to store, retrieve and analyze various types of information very quickly. The maps together with the digitized information provide important tools to the management of mangroves of Kiunga MPA since various proposed treatments can now be entered and summarized thus providing useful overviews for planning, implementation and monitoring. The present inventory revealed that the existing mangrove forests within and adjacent to Kiunga MPA have a net standing volume of 2,354,004.85 m 3 in 16,035.94 ha. There are eight species of mangrove trees, of which Rhizophora mucronata and Ceriops tagal are dominant. The standing volume ranges between 6.85 to 710.0 m 3 ha -1 for stem with diameter above 5.0 cm. The average volume of the entire study area was 145.88 m 3 ha -1, which corresponds to a stocking rate of 1736 stems per ha. Given its high potential productivity and regeneration, mangroves within and adjacent to Kiunga MPA have excellent prospects for sustainable exploitation.