Aug 24, 2026 |
At least 175 locally managed marine areas have been identified as the basis of the coastal conservation network Mozambique is putting together, which will have Machanga and Moma as pilot sites.
According to FAO in Mozambique, these areas form part of a national framework of other effective area based conservation measures, known by the acronym OECM, which aims to protect 12.5 per cent of the country's marine environment.
The eligible areas are being assessed against criteria that determine whether they deliver lasting outcomes for biodiversity, and not only for fisheries management. The instrument recognises zones located outside formal marine protected areas, where conservation is secured through community management or co-management. These include fishing areas managed by communities, mangrove and seagrass restoration sites, sacred sites and coastal corridors of sustainable use.
According to the same organisation, the districts of Machanga, in Sofala, and Moma, in Nampula, were chosen as pilot sites. Both face mangrove degradation, marine pollution and overfishing, but they retain community systems for resource management. In Moma, communities protect at least two marine sanctuaries, and in Machanga it is traditional beliefs that underpin community enforcement. The two cases are being used by the National Directorate of Environment as models for replication in the rest of the country.
The national roadmap for the period between 2025 and 2035 has already been validated and the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan is being updated to integrate these measures into land use planning. In June of this year, eight national and international partners signed a declaration of commitment in Maputo to support implementation of the framework, during the third Growing Blue Conference, held alongside the fourth Marine Biodiversity Conference. The signatories include the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Mozambican networks Likhulu and ReGeCom.
The process comes out of a national dialogue held earlier this year. According to the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership, that meeting validated the terms of reference of the technical group responsible and the national roadmap, steps the organisation considers decisive to make the instrument operational and to widen the country's conservation network.
The Mozambican target fits into a global commitment. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted in 2022, requires countries to conserve at least 30 per cent of terrestrial, inland water, coastal and marine areas by 2030, drawing both on protected areas and on these other measures.
The fieldwork is taking place under the second phase of the joint project of the South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission and the Nairobi Convention, implemented by FAO and by the United Nations Environment Programme with funding from the Swedish cooperation agency. It includes training of community fisheries councils in the ecosystem approach, restoration of coastal ecosystems and support for alternative income activities for women and young people, among them small scale aquaculture.
The instruments still needed to make the framework operational are also being prepared. A consultancy is drawing up a national manual applicable to terrestrial and marine areas, and a legal review is preparing the legislation needed to formalise the system and align national reporting with the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Photo: FAO Moçambique
