Dive and Photo Guides

MMS worked with the Maputo Special Reserve, a marine protected area (MPA) in Mozambique, and economic actors wishing the MPA, to develop a dive and photo guide.

All photos and content were taken and developed by MMS.

The book helps to drive visitors to the MPA, helping to increase revenue to the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC) for their park rangers monitoring the MPA as well as the numerous economic actors in the tourism industry depending on increased growth and revenue. The book is sold on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Diving-Ponta-Malongane-Mamoli-Mozambique/dp/B087616LHG)

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.