Entangling in Mangrove Mobilities : A Multispecies Ethnography of Mangrove Forests in Kenya

This thesis aims to understand why mangrove forests in Kenya are attracting (inter)national attention and examine how intersecting mobilities and performances are reconfiguring mangrove forests into global places of attraction. By examining the effects of global attention, the unequal power dynamics between (inter)national 'hosts' and 'guests' are revealed. Centering mangrove forests in this multispecies ethnography elucidates the multiple and complex flows of mobilities and performances occurring from (inter)national actors. Mangrove forests are attracting global attention through research, conservation, and (eco)tourism. Entangling myself in this research allows me to encounter mangrove forests as both a 'place to play' and a 'place to conserve', following the concept 'Places to Play, Places in Play' by Mimi Sheller and John Urry (2004). Within them, there are numerous mobilities taking place such as collecting biodiversity data, carrying mangrove seedlings, participating in tourist activities such as mangrove floats, to videos being posted on social media. All of these 'mangrove mobilities' are reshaping mangrove forests into global places of attraction.