Locally managed marine area practitioners come together to accelerate marine conservation in Mozambique

Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs) play a critical role in the effective management of natural marine resources. With 60% of the Mozambican population relying on the country’s extensive coastline, notable effort has been made by the Government of Mozambique and local communities to conserve and sustainably use marine resources.

Nevertheless, people and nature in the Mozambican seascape face several challenges including effects of climate change, pollution (mainly from plastic), extreme weather events, unregulated and unreported illegal fishing, overexploitation of resources and habitat destruction. For LMMAs, there is a lack of proper infrastructure and post-harvest equipment, access to finance and market, and lack of understanding of legislation around LMMAs.

To empower and promote the exchange of experiences on LMMAs, IUCN Mozambique, through the ReSea and LEAP Projects and in partnership with the National Fisheries Administration (NFA) and the Blue Nature Alliance organized a peer exchange workshop in Vilanculos, Inhambane Province. Participants included government representatives, local communities (represented by the Community Fisheries Councils), non-governmental organizations and academics from Inhambane, Cabo Delgado and Maputo.