The area finally selected for the pilot farm is near the mouth of Ngomeni Lagoon. It is about 600 m southwest of Ngomeni village and just a few metres from the only dirt road towards Malindi. Its boundaries are as follows:
N - Ngomeni Lagoon
S - Open tidal flat
E - Mangrove swamp
W - Ngomeni Lagoon
The pilot farm comprises about 50 ha. An aerial photograph (Fig. 1) shows its location.
About 60 percent of the site was originally covered with mangroves, moderate to thick stands of Rhizophora being on the low portions and a few Avicennia on the higher grounds. Soil types range from sandy to silty loam, and to heavy peat where Rhizophora was dominant.
Land elevation, based on tidal observations during the period of the consultancy, is estimated to correspond to from 2.8 to 3.3 m tide levels, Kilindini reference station (tide predictions for Malindi are the same as for Kilindini Mombasa, except for the difference in time of +5 min for Malindi).
