Aug 4, 2026 |
Communities in Memba and Mossuril, in Nampula, are set to receive the first direct payments for the results they have achieved in protecting and restoring mangroves.
According to Wildlife Conservation Society Mozambique (WCS Mozambique), which is part of the consortium implementing the Blue Future project in those two districts, the first results verification mission has already been carried out in the field and confirmed that the communities involved are indeed meeting the criteria set. The organisation announced that the initial payments would be made during July.
The mechanism rests on two simple indicators, which marks a departure from conservation models based solely on material support or training. Communities are paid if the success rate of planting activities stays above 60 per cent and if there is no cutting in the remaining mangrove areas that are in good health. The message that has accompanied the initiative in the field is "Fazer bem e ganhar também" [or in englisg: “doing well and earning too”].
The system is known as payment by performance and was designed together with partners and with the communities themselves. WCS Mozambique reports that people reacted with surprise at the prospect of earning real sums for their contribution to an ecosystem whose benefits are both local and global, and considers that the formula could raise the success rates of mangrove protection initiatives across the country.
The move forms part of the wider Blue Future programme which, according to Biofund , runs from 2022 to 2027 in the districts of Memba and Mossuril, is funded by the Blue Action Fund and other international donors, and aims to reduce the vulnerability of coastal communities to climate change, strengthen coastal protection and promote livelihoods based on natural resources, particularly fishing.
The project also provides for the preparation of a proposal to create a new sustainable use marine conservation area along that stretch of coast, co-managed by local communities, according to ProAzul.
The link between mangroves and financing is not new to the project. Between 2023 and 2024 a feasibility study was carried out on a blue carbon project between Memba and Mossuril, intended to establish whether the revenue generated by selling carbon credits in a small scale project would offset the costs of design, validation, monitoring, issuance and verification, according to the Blue Future page. Payment by performance emerges as a more direct way of getting value to the communities without depending on that market.
The area covered stretches from the mouth of the Lúrio River to the southern boundary of Mossuril district and brings together coral reefs, seagrass and mangroves, in a context where Memba faces problems of deforestation and soil erosion.
Photos: WCS Mozambique
