Policy & Advocacy

Policy Design

Marine and coastal resources provide the world with a range of critical ecosystem services, from biodiversity and culture, carbon storage and flood protection to recreation and amenity opportunities. Fisheries alone provide multiple benefits to poor and impoverished coastal communities in many developing countries.

However, the importance of these resources is often understated or ignored mainly because markets do not easily capture the values of marine and coastal ecosystem services. Consequently, those who manage coastal resources often do not consider these values when choosing how to use these assets. This has led to over-exploitation and degradation of the resource reducing the quality and effectiveness of the services they provide

Designing robust regulatory mechanisms to allow markets to flourish around coastal areas while conserving marine assets is critical. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), payments for ecosystem services (PES) and other policy tools are often viable and effective tool to reward resource users for improved natural resource use practices. MMS works with communities and local governments to identify and design policy approaches that can help harness market forces and benefit marine ecosystems.

Advocacy and Awareness

MMS advances Increased use of economic incentives for sustainable marine and coastal ecosystem management, aligning social and ecological outcomes. These could include payments for ecosystem services, certification schemes and other market-based instruments.

MMS advocacy efforts helps improve understanding among policymakers of the economic value of marine and coastal ecosystems.

Reports

Mozambique Market Systems Assessment

Mozambique is home to one of the world’s most diverse hotspots of marine life with 900 species of reef-associated fishes, 400 species of mollusks, 70 species of hard and soft corals, 122 species of sharks and rays, 5 of the 7 species of turtles that exist worldwide, the last viable population of dugongs in the Western Indian Ocean, 740 species of sea and coastal birds, and 2,910 km2 of mangroves. Nurturing these assets are large intact ecosystems, such as the Zambezi River delta, which contains the second largest contiguous mangrove habitat in Africa that provides a nursery for juvenile fish and key marine species⏤the Zambezi mangrove stand has in fact increased in size by around 10% over the past two decades to 37,034 hectares.Mozambique’s marine and coastal resources are woven into the national economy.

Along its 2,770 km coastline (33% longer than the west coast of the United States), artisanal fisherfolk and commercial fishing vessels are out at sea daily, while world class beaches attract tourists and active ports operate as economic hubs for the goods produced in Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and domestically in Mozambique. While these actors all contribute to the blue economy and share these marine and coastal resources, little sustained effort has been invested in ensuring they are all pulling in the same direction.

The purpose of this report is to present a reference guide on Mozambique’s marine and coastal resources to a diverse audience of investors, government officials, tourism operators, donors, NGOs, and anyone who has interest in improving management of these beautiful resources alongside the committed staff at MIMAIP. The fact is, data and information on Mozambique’s marine sector is in very short supply, often hidden in isolated reports with a narrow audience, such as a reef survey, an illegal fishing assessment, or a tourism brochure. With the help of key informants, from fishermen to scuba diving guides, this document is an attempt to aggregate the existing information, knowledge base, and networks into one useful resource⏤a cross-sectoral reference guide.

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Policy & Advocacy

Policy Design

Advocacy and Awareness

Reports

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