Conservation

• Kiwayu Safari Village is constructed entirely from local natural materials. There is no concrete, nails or coral bricks, only soft mekeka matting (made of woven palm leaves) on the soft sand to walk on. The timber poles come from local mangroves, and are sustainably harvested by the local population under the management of Kenya Wildlife Service and Kenyan Forestry Department. All the furniture in the lodge is made on site by two Kiwayu carpenters, using mainly mangrove poles.
• The dried palm leaf matting used at Kiwayu, called mekeka, is all hand-woven by the women of the surrounding villages. The dried palm leaf for the roofing, called makuti, comes from the women of Faza Island who specialise in this product.
• There is an ongoing refurbishment programme at Kiwayu as the attrition from wind and salt is fast, which provides continual employment and revenue (direct and indirect) for many families in the area.
• Fish, Crab and Lobsters are all purchased from local fishermen from Mkokoni and Faza.
• Up to 65 % of the staff are from local villages: Mkokoni, Kiwayu and Marani.
• Kiwayu runs a bednight scheme whereby the payment of US$ 9 per guest per night is given to the Mkokoni Community Conservation Group for expenditure on education, mainly aimed at secondary school bursaries for Lamu Secondary School. At present there are 26 sponsored students in the programme. This programme is also financing a medical student at Eldoret Medical College to eventually help in the dispensary at Mkokoni; also for the first time, two Mkokoni students are studying at Kenyatta University in Nairobi.
• The formation of the 'Kiwayu and Mkokoni Conservation Area Trust' this year will help to secure and preserve the surrounding area, and also provide a corridor connecting the two Reserves here: the Kiunga Marine Reserve and the Dodori Reserve. The aim of the Trust is to promote conservation, education and sustainable development of the area.