How is tourism a blessing and a curse for an environmental treasure?

“My father used to tell me that in one night when they went out fishing they used to come back with 70 or 80 kilos of fish, but at the moment they’re doing the same but coming back with one kilo or half a kilo.”

Mida Creek, on Kenya’s coastline about two hours north of Mombasa, rightly has a reputation for being a birdwatcher’s paradise. Surrounded by mangrove forests, its beaches teem with crabs and other crustaceans – which in turn bring in migratory birds from around the world. Juvenile sea turtles hide in the safety of the roots.

Fish used to flood in, tempted by the bounty of food it offered, but in recent years stocks have plummeted because of pollution – and the people living there struggle to feed their families.

So a number of local people have set up groups to try to promote ‘ethical tourism’ – encouraging people to stay within the creek, use the boardwalk the community has built, and to turn to locals as tour guides. The Bidii Na Kazi women's group (meaning ‘effort and work’) receives funds to replant the waning mangroves and runs a small kitchen and restaurant. And the community also holds regular trash collections to try to keep the creek pristine.

For Africa Daily, Alan @kasujja speaks to two people who grew up there: Hassan, a local tour guide whose father is a fisherman and Eunice who volunteers with the women’s group. But can they stem the tide of pollution?