Inhambane Bay in Mozambique Named a Blue Spark for Conservation Efforts thanks to Ocean Revolution, funded by Fondation Ensemble

Marine Conservation Institute announced that Inhambane Bay Community Conservation Network (IBCCN) in Mozambique has been designated as one of six Blue Spark marine protected area collaborations for effective conservation. IBCCN is a system of nine no-take Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The Blue Spark designation reflects significant progress as well as local interest in achieving lasting effective marine protections and earning a Blue Park Award in the future for excellence in marine conservation. Marine Conservation Institute collaborates with Blue Spark partners to plan and improve their MPAs, using Blue Park criteria as the blueprint for a better protected ocean. A Blue Park Award indicates that a marine protected area meets the highest science-based standards for marine biodiversity conservation, and Inhambane Bay Community Conservation Network is on the path towards this distinction.

Sacramento Cabral, Program Director of Ocean Revolution, said, “In Inhambane Bay we balance the protection of our mangrove and seagrass habitats and our communities that depend on them. We are using traditional knowledge from our elders and the most modern marine science to conserve our bay. We hope to serve as a model for other coastal communities of Mozambique and around the world. Using traditional knowledge, modern science and community decision making to protect marine life works. We appreciate the help from Marine Conservation Institute to move our efforts forward; and we thank our elders, village councils, government partners, Ocean Revolution and Bitonga Divers for their great leadership.”

Sarah Hameed, Senior Scientist and Director of the Blue Parks Program said, “The Inhambane Bay Community Conservation Network is a model for community-based marine protections in partnership with the government and it is making important progress in its management planning to sustain its ocean conservation results for generations to come. Individually, Blue Parks and Blue Sparks protect truly unique places, and together they will help safeguard life in the sea.”

To find out more about the current project implemented by Ocean Revolution and supported by Fondation Ensemble, click here.