Sep 22, 2026 |
Ten future community managed marine areas in the districts of Mocubela and Namacurra, in Zambézia, were georeferenced at the end of August.
According to Likhulu Foundation, the campaign ran from 26 to 31 August, was the second of its kind and covered seven community managed fishing areas and three resource recovery areas. The fieldwork was carried out by technicians Carlos Litulo and Marcelo Justino Levene.
The mission is the result of a partnership between Rare, the Wildlife Conservation Society Mozambique and the Likhulu Foundation, under the Joint 30x30 Funding Initiative. According to the foundation, the data collected will feed the national database of community conservation areas and count towards the national targets of protecting 30 percent of ecosystems.
The two designations have different regimes. A community managed fishing area allows catches subject to a management plan, under Ministerial Decree 83/2023, while a resource recovery area is established inside it and closes fishing, either temporarily or permanently.
Zambézia is the province with the largest marine area under local management in the country. According to the national assessment authored by Marcos Pereira, Carlos Litulo and Raquel Fernandes for the Likhulu Foundation, in May 2024 there were a total of 107 areas of this kind in Mozambique, covering 1 168 564 hectares, of which 611 652 in Zambézia, spread across 26 initiatives.
The same assessment points to the weaknesses of the system. No area had been published in the Boletim da República, 63,2 percent had no management plan and the lack of money is the main complaint from communities, followed by the absence of demarcation buoys. In Zambézia, these organisations had an average income of 437 dollars in 2023, against an estimated annual need of 1 612 dollars.
According to Rare, the model applied in the country combines fishing areas managed by communities with no take reserves inside them. Mozambique's coastal artisanal fishery is worth around 90,5 million dollars.
Fotos: andbeyond.com | Fundação Likhulu
