ABSTRACT

Considering the diversity of habitats along the Mozambican coastline and the economic importance of littoral waters, remarkably few coastal areas are under protection – only 4.4 per cent of the continental shelf (East African Marine Ecoregion, 2004). Although Inhaca and Portuguese Island Reserves (IPR) were established in 1965 and Bazaruto National Park in 1971, it was only after 2001 that a substantial area of marine environment came under effective protection. The little that had been under protection prior to that had not been administered and regulations were not enforced. For example, in Bazaruto, there was no permanent park warden before 1989 and the management plan was drafted only in 1990 (Dutton and Zolho, 1990). Very little marine environment is managed in the older coastal reserves, such as Marromeu, Pomene and Maputo that protect terrestrial endangered species, as the protected area usually ends at the high tide mark. One exception is the Maputo Special Reserve, which protects marine turtle nesting sites (see Figure 21.1) (Louro et al. 2006). However, with the recent enlargement of the entirely marine Bazaruto Archipelago National Park (BANP) and the creation of Quirimbas National Park (QNP) – one third of which is marine – the total marine protected area increased from 620km2 to almost 3000km2 (MITUR, 2002, 2004). 1