Leap Mission to Kenya

No coral. No Fish. No communities.

When reefs die, fish disappear.
When fish disappear, livelihoods collapse. When livelihoods collapse, conservation fails. This is the reality facing parts of Kenya’s north coast. But it doesn’t have to be the ending.

In Partnership with Oceans Alive Trust
‍We first met the Oceans Alive team over a decade ago. What struck us immediately wasn’t just the science, it was the ownership. In 2013, Oceans Alive was founded on a simple but radical belief: Marine conservation only works when the community leads it.

Instead of closing reefs and telling fishermen what they could no longer do, they brought them to the table. Elders, fishermen, women’s groups, youth - all involved in creating one of Kenya’s first community-led Marine Protected Areas in Kuruwitu. And something remarkable happened. Fish stocks began returning. Coral ecosystems began regenerating. Alternative livelihoods began emerging. Because this wasn’t imposed. It was owned.
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Today, this model is now being adopted up along Kenya’s east coast - proof that conservation and community can work together.

And we've watched this growth year by year.

And This Is Where Leap Volunteers Come In
‍Our partnership began simply, sending small teams to help support specific initiatives. But over the years, trust deepened. Now, Leap volunteers aren’t an add-on. They are part of delivery.

Each year Oceans Alive sets measurable conservation and community targets - coral structures to install, jiko stoves to build, mangroves to plant, data to collect. We align directly to those goals. We are incredibly proud of the projects we support. We don’t do surface-level volunteering. We don’t “tick boxes.” If you join a Leap Mission, you step into real responsibility. You don’t come to observe the project.
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You come to help deliver it.