By Cece Siago | siagocece1@gmail.com
The tide is low in Vanga Bay, a small fishing town on Kenya’s southern border with Tanzania.
Fishing boats rest on the exposed shoreline on a Friday morning as fishermen repair some of the boats while others repair their torn nets in preparation for the next trip later in the day.
A few meters away, 28-year-old Meali Mohammed Maule settles into her office just near the sea. Beyond the window lies the ecosystem that now defines much of her work. Mangrove forests, seagrasses and the water that sustains thousands of livelihoods along Kenya’s Southern coast.
Growing up in nearby Msambweni, Meali never doubted that her future would be connected to the ocean. It was always there and she would see when the sun rose and beautiful horizons at sunset.
“We used to stay just by the ocean and I was fascinated by it,” she says. “I felt safe around it. I was very confident that whatever I wanted to do in my career had to involve the ocean.”
Today, Meali serves as Project Coordinator for Vanga Blue Forest, a community-led blue carbon initiative in Vanga, near the Kenya-Tanzania border.
Through mangrove and seagrass conservation, the project she has spearheaded for over a year now helps local communities generate income from carbon credits while protecting and restoring critical coastal ecosystems.
But her journey into conservation was not easy.
After graduating with a degree in Maritime Management, Meali began her career as an intern in the Vanga Fisheries Office under the Kwale County Government. She later joined the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI), where she gained experience working with communities and developed a deeper understanding of the ocean, shifting her career focus.
It is also during this period that she learnt diving, becoming one of the few female certified divers in Kenya in 2023. But it started as a challenge considering that she is Muslim.
“There was a time when I would be the only woman on a boat. I am Muslim woman from the Muslim community and I could tell that some people found it unusual. That did not stop me,” she said, adding that she would ensure she’s nicely covered even during the dives.
Her experienced improved when she later met Dr Juliet Karisa, a Kenyan senior scientist and diver who guided her through together with other female divers.
While it may be a sport to some, Meali’s diving involves going deep into the water to set up fish cages, restore coral reef, monitor seagrasses and collect species for further research.
Diving remains her passion and she also does snorkeling on her free time. “She says she can spend at least 120 minutes underwater on a single dive, which she considers a personal achievement.”
“It gets better with time. I used to feel scared at first, but with more experience, I got used to staying below the water,” she said.
Her work aligns with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14, which focuses on ‘Life Below Water’ and aims to ensure that seas, oceans and marine resources are conserved and used sustainably.
Back in Vanga, she continues to led the community through her project of protecting 915 hectares of mangroves. Meali believes that in whatever initiative, the community has to be given priority.
Although Vanga is remote, Meali has used digital platforms such as LinkedIn to share the work being done there, reaching young audiences locally and globally.
While in Vanga, the sensitization of mangrove and seagrass conservation goes beyond board rooms and her office.
Instead, she organizes football matches and walks to ensure that the message reaches everyone in the community.
She also gives career and mentorship talks in nearby schools, to educate them about opportunities in the conservation and ocean ecosystem, besides fishing and selling fish.
“I want to bridge the gap between scientific concepts and everyday realities. The community needs to understand that their future depends on the health of the ocean and it’s a collective responsibility,” she said.
“Communities should always be treated as shareholders in any conservation initiative. When it involves restrictions, an alternative should always be given,” she added.
Though still young and leading diverse people some who her older than her, she said the secret is communication that builds trust over time.
Her work has increasingly taken her beyond the shores of Vanga. A certified diver, postgraduate student in Environmental Science at Pwani University, and advocate for community-led conservation, Meali has represented coastal communities in international forums, including COP29 in 2024.
“I learned the importance of speaking out,” she said.
At the Our Ocean Conference last week, she represented her community in Mombasa, Meali’s priorities were networking with other young people.
She was also part of a panel in a session ‘Closing the data finance gap for locally led action’, among other panelists where she was the youngest.
The conference, held in Africa for the first time, brought together heads of state, organizations and conservation leaders to discuss the future of the ocean, including pollution, transparency, climate change and opportunities for collaboration.
“What made it especially beautiful was getting to bring in the perspective of Vanga Blue Forest. The voluntary carbon market has a trust problem right now. Buyers worry credits do not reflect real additional impact,” she said after the session.
“On the other side, communities often worry they are not seeing a fair share of the value they are creating.”
She explained that her model offered an example of how to close the gap, explaining the about the impact of mangrove incentives.
“When given an opportunity, own it. And that is what I am doing in my position. If this succeeds, it means more funding and more benefit to my community network,” she said.
Her hope is that there will be more young people in the ocean conservation space in the coming years, while the locals will keep protecting the treasure that shields them from climate change effects.
“What we do here may seem small,” she says. “But it has an impact globally.”
©MESHA Features 2026
This story was produced as part of the 2026 Our Ocean Conference Fellowship organized by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network.
