Sponge cultivation transforming lives

ZANZIBAR Sponges offer a lifeline in new lifetime after climate change

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AROUND 10 in the morning each day, women in hijabs and loose long dresses wade through Zanzibar’s turquoise shallow tides to tend their sponge farms - a new lifeline after climate change upended their former work.

Rising ocean temperatures, overfishing, and pollution have steadily degraded marine ecosystems around the island, undermining a key source of income for locals in Jambiani village who long depended on farming seaweed.

Instead, they have turned to sponge cultivation under a project set up by Swiss NGO Marine Cultures.

Hot temperatures have killed seaweed, and declining fish stocks have driven many fishermen to quit, said project manager Ali Mahmudi.

But sponges — which provide shelter and food for sea creatures - tend to thrive in warmer waters.