| Mombasa Marine National Park | |
| Map: | Kenya |
| Relief: | 1 |
| Coordinates: | -4.0667°N 86°W |
| Area Km2: | 10 |
| Established: | 1986 |
Mombasa Marine National Park and Reserve is a marine park and national reserve in Mombasa, Kenya. The park is 10 km (2,500 acres) while the reserve is 200 km (49,400 acres).[1]
It is located on the coast near tourist areas and is a popular beach because of the snorkeling and diving; other activities include taking a boat ride, recreational fishing, windsurfing, water skiing, and viewing the other wildlife on land and underwater.[2] It is the most frequently visited of Kenya's marine parks. It has coral reefs in its waters. The reserve also provide a home to a variety of marine species including crabs, starfish, stone fish, cucumbers sea urchins, corals, turtles, sea grasses and migratory birds including crab plovers.[3]
The Marine park is characterized by warm tropical conditions varying at the surface between 25 °C and 31 °C during the year, stable salinity regimes and moderate nutrient levels.[4]
Through legislation in 1987, the area was officially recognized as a National Park to prevent damage to both the park and the communities surrounding the park due to over-fishing, coral reef stripping, and revenue lost resulting from less tourism.[5] The park was also recognized as a marine park to protect the coral reefs and animals who were the target of fishing and trophy-hunting. While the legislation was supposed to protect wildlife and marine-life, fishing and poaching persisted. In 1992, night-time patrols were introduced to curb wildlife poaching and legislation was introduced to ban fishing; it wasn't until 1994 when both poaching and fishing ceased and the area was under full protection.[6]