Inhambane Seascape Hope Spot

The coastline of the Inhambane Province in southern Mozambique is well-known around the world for its thriving biodiversity. The area is rated by the IUCN as a Globally Outstanding marine conservation area and acknowledged as a potential world heritage site by UNESCO.

Zoom in and out on the map to get a closer look at the Hope Spot!

For Dr. Andrea Marshall, local conservation biologist and co-founder of the Marine Megafauna Foundation (MMF), it is her life mission to see the coastline comprehensively protected.

Mission Blue has declared the Inhambane Seascape a Hope Spot in recognition of the spatial planning work being done in the area to develop a network of marine protected areas in the surrounding waters.

Releasing first leopard shark © Janneman Conradie

Mission Blue acknowledges Marine Megafauna Foundation and their partners’ work assisting the government of Mozambique as they strive to meet the UN Convention on Biological Diversity to formally protect 10% of its territorial waters by 2024, with the ultimate goal of protecting 30% of their marine resources by 2030.

Andrea tagging a wedgefish © Janneman Conradie

Marshall has spent 20 years in Mozambique and has dedicated her life to supporting the conservation of endangered marine megafauna species. Our overarching goal is to use science to underpin the comprehensive management of the protected areas that currently exist and provide justification for the expansion of those areas and new adjoining areas along the coastline,” she explains. 

Dr. Sylvia Earle Introduces the Inhambane Seascape Hope Spot

A plethora of large iconic marine megafauna species live off of southern Mozambique.

The Inhambane Seascape is described as an important region in Africa for creatures like manta rays, dugong and critically endangered wedgefish species.

Photo: Researcher freediving with manta ray (c) Andrea Marshall

Five species of sea turtles use provincial waters or nest along its shores and a number of rare and understudied species also inhabit coastal waters, particularly sharks and rays.

Photo: Green turtle (c) Andrea Marshall

Unfortunately, substantial areas in both the northern and southern ends of the province remain unprotected and unmonitored.

Recent increases in fishing pressure, both offshore industrial fishing and artisanal fishing along this coastline, in particular the relatively new use of gillnets and the increased use of seine nets and fish traps, have contributed to documented declines in sightings of manta rays, devil rays, whale sharks, wedgefish, sea turtles, and dugong.

Dugong (c) Andrea Marshall

Marshall describes MMF’s ongoing work and next steps to mitigate these threats.

“Our primary objective in the country is to safeguard the globally-significant marine megafauna populations that occur in the Inhambane Province by reducing their primary threats and supporting the development of a network of adjoining marine protected areas", explains Marshall.

The Bazaruto Archipelago National Park, in the north of the Province, was the first MPA in Mozambique. The Vilanculos Coastal Wildlife Sanctuary followed, providing an important buffer for the park and protecting a key estuary and mangrove system as well as reefs along the San Sebastian Peninsula.

Photo: Diver with snapper school Bazaruto Seascape (c) Andrea Marshall

Now a new even larger area of protection is being developed off Pomene, in the center of the province, directly to the south of the existing protected areas. Other northern and eastern extensions of the Bazaruto Archipelago National Park and the Vilanculos Coastal Wildlife Sanctuary are also being considered to respond to the needs of the threatened species these protected areas are charged with protecting.

Photo: Andrea photographing dugong (c) Andrea Marshall

To ensure the viability of long-term conservation efforts across the seascape, MMF is helping local MPA managers to design science-based strategies, ensuring the needs of the at-risk species are addressed.

Photo: Ranger training (c) MMF

“The species we study are rare and often endangered so we also integrate our results into regional and international strategies. Our data are often used to assess the conservation status of these threatened species globally on the IUCN Red List and intergovernmental treaties like the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).” Marshall explains.

Photo: Andrea with camera trap (c) Janneman Conradie

Marshall and her partners believe that the Hope Spot declaration can help provide the necessary attention that this region needs and they will continue to pioneer the exploration of this remote coastline and lobby for its formal protection. 

“The Inhambane Seascape is an area of incalculable importance, it’s the marine Serengeti of Africa,” she explains. “None of us will stop until it is properly safeguarded.”


About Marine Megafauna Foundation

The  Marine Megafauna Foundation (MMF)  was created in 2009 to research, protect, and conserve populations of threatened marine megafauna around the world. ‘Megafauna’ are large iconic marine species such as sharks, rays, and sea turtles. MMF is a 501c3 not for profit organization in the United States. In Africa they are headquartered in Tofo Beach, Mozambique, where they operate as Associação Megafauna Marinha (AMM). For more details on MMF please see  www.marinemegafauna.org  or learn more about their Mozambican projects  here . For regular updates on MMF’s work please follow them on  Twitter ,  Facebook ,  Instagram , and  LinkedIn .

The team tagging a bull shark (c) Andrea Marshall

The team tagging a bull shark (c) Andrea Marshall

Dugong (c) Andrea Marshall