Abstract

Climate variability and change affect many coastal settlements, islands and lowland countries as result of sea level rise (SLR). Mombasa, an island is a coastal settlement in Kenya coastal region with inhabitants of about 1.2 million. It hosts East Africa’s largest seaport. It is a major tourist destination along the Indian Ocean. As a coastal settlement, Mombasa had experienced several flooding in past decades due to climate variability and change. Its increasing population and fast urbanization have exposed the area to flood related hazards. Consequently, three mostly flooded towns: Kisauni, Nyali and Changamwe in Mombasa were surveyed to access the role of indigenous knowledge in mitigating climate change induced flooding impacts on human settlements and livelihoods and to enhance adaptation. The study used binary logistic regression (BLR). Primary data were obtained using open ended questionnaire randomly amongst residents using Likert IQ scale. Secondary metrological data were obtained from the Kenya Metrological Department. It was found that low environmental education and climate change awareness on sea level rise are the main reasons for low community preparedness and less adaptation plans. Also, tourism and commercial activities contribute to the lower local community’s efforts to climate change adaptation action plan. It can be concluded that in order to achieve national efforts to mitigate impacts and enhance boost climate change adaptation and resilience in Mombasa, local and national governments and their including partners ought to excite more supports to Kenya’s National Adaptation Action Plans by increasing science based environmental education, public awareness and integrating county specific climate change adaptation polices into national education system and construction framework that provides sustainable alternatives to overreliance of sea wall to protect Fort Jesus and other historic and tourist attraction sites naturally based resources and enhance conservation.

Keywords: Climate change; Flooding; Sea level rise, Adaptation and mitigation