New research from Kenya’s Lamu Archipelago suggests that protecting carbon-rich seagrass does not necessarily require excluding the people who depend on coastal ecosystems. 

In the seagrass meadows of Kenya’s northern coast, researchers found that soil carbon stocks in a community-managed marine area were statistically comparable to those in a formally protected marine area. At the unmanaged site, stocks were substantially lower. 

For Simangele Sithole, a PhD researcher at the Wyss Academy for Nature and the University of Bern, the finding speaks to a question that has shaped several years of her research: can climate and biodiversity goals be pursued in ways that also recognize the role of local communities? 

“Climate mitigation should not come at the expense of the communities who depend on nature,” says Sithole. “Our findings show that blue carbon stocks in the community-managed area were comparable to those observed in the government-managed protected area.” 

Published in Scientific Reports in May 2026, the study provides the first field-based estimates of soil organic carbon in the seagrass meadows of the Lamu Archipelago. 

The researchers compared a Marine Protected Area (MPA), a Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA), and an unmanaged area. In the upper 30 cm of sediment, average carbon stocks were 89.16 Mg C per hectare in the MPA, 68.58 Mg C per hectare in the LMMA, and 39.56 Mg C per hectare in the unmanaged area. No statistically significant difference was detected between the MPA and LMMA. 

But protection status was only part of the story. Sediment type was the strongest predictor of carbon storage, while seagrass canopy cover, disturbance, and water temperature were also associated with differences between sites. The researchers therefore caution against interpreting management type as the sole cause of higher carbon stocks. 

For Sithole, that complexity is itself an important lesson. 

“Conservation is about more than drawing boundaries on a map,” she says. “Good governance needs to be combined with strong ecological evidence if we want to understand what is actually helping these ecosystems retain carbon.” 

The findings add much-needed data from East Africa, where seagrass blue carbon remains comparatively under-researched. They may also help inform future discussions around marine spatial planning, restoration, blue carbon policy, and conservation finance. 

The research was conducted with co-authors Cornelius Okello and Margaret Awuor Owuor. Fieldwork was funded by the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA) and depended on the support, trust, and participation of communities in Lamu. 

For Sithole, the publication is also a personal milestone: the first paper from her PhD after several years of fieldwork, laboratory analysis, data interpretation, and revision. Her next research will explore how blue carbon science can connect with conservation finance and policy in Africa.