The Maputo Special Reserve (MSR), an IUCN Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Area (EBSA) was established in 1960. The MSR contains both terrestrial and marine components, and is part of the Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA), a mosaic habitat linked with parks in Swaziland and South Africa. MSR was initially established to protect the elephant population but has since been expanded to cover approximately 1,500 km2 of lakes, wetlands, swamp forests, grasslands and mangrove forests and coastline. The Maputo Special Reserve contains within its boundaries two MPAs: the Inhaca Marine Reserve and the Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve (PPMR).



The PPMR is the most developed and well-known MPA in Mozambique and has robust marine market systems; this seascape profile focuses on the PPMR. Established in 1965, the Inhaca Marine Reserve covers 52 km² and is managed by University Eduardo Mondlane, which operates a marine science field laboratory on the island. The PPMR was established in 2009 and covers 678 km² of rich and well-preserved coral reefs and beaches that harbor critically important nesting sites for two species of sea turtles.


This coastal and epipelagic MPA, incorporates the marine reserves at Inhaca and Portuguese Island in Maputo Bay. The PPMR is home to a rich diversity of marine life and holds impressive tourism potential. The Government has successfully attracted private investment for tourist facilities and concessions in the area and managed to balance the negative impacts of harassing nesting turtles by prohibiting 4x4 vehicles on the beaches. The private sector has positively engaged with protection authorities and proactively watches for illegal fishing, as well as monitoring turtle nests.



 humpback whales on their way to the warmer waters of Inhambane and farther north. Minke whales also occur along the coast between Ponta do Ouro and Inhambane Bay, and the Ponta do Ouro and Ponta Malongane bays are inhabited by a large number of near-shore resident dolphins. Whale sharks also feed in this area during summer. The deep-sea environment in this area is one of the few in the world that is conducive to coelacanths, nocturnal benthic feeders that spend the daytime in caves several hundred metres deep.


 In this area, they are found primarily in a series of submarine canyons, as corals can be found at depths up to 100 meters. Although they have not been well studied, it is believed that submarine canyons are frequently hotspots of biodiversity, perhaps because of the unusual oceanographic patterns that form within them, such as accelerated currents and dense-water cascades, which transport organic matter from coastal zones to the deepest parts of the ocean. Besides the richness of its depths, the coastal area from Ponta to Inhambane also presents a unique habitat, characterized by steep and tall (up to 120 m high) vegetated parabolic dune systems backed by salt lakes and closed salt lagoons. Where lagoons are open to the ocean, large estuary areas occur which support seagrass meadows, and rich fish nurseries. 


The dune system in Ponta do Ouro attain heights of 120 meters and are considered to be the highest vegetated dunes in the world. The coast between South Africa and the Maputo Bay includes an incredible variety of coastal habitats and species, including sandy beaches, dunes, mangroves, seagrass beds, estuaries, subtropical rocky reefs, marshes, savannahs and grasslands. A high diversity of fish and invertebrates can be found within the PPRM boundaries, including sharks (bull sharks, silvertip, blacktip, tiger, guitar, nurse, and occasionally great whites); rays and skates (the elasmobranch fishes), marine mammals (whales, dolphins and dugong), marine turtles, the Potato grouper (Epinephelus tukula), Brindle grouper (E. lanceolatus), as well as the largest aggregation of the Giant trevally (Caranx ignobilis) ever reported along the coast of Mozambique. 


This area is particularly important as a nesting area for loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and leatherback marine turtles (Dermochelys coriacea), both of which can be found in good numbers here as this part of the coast is an important feeding and reproduction area. The shallow and deep rocky reefs of Ponta are also well populated by a large variety of invertebrates, crustaceans, soft corals as well as cryptic fish species.Mega industrial projects proposed or recently implemented have increased the pressure on marine and coastal ecosystems and species of Mozambique.


 While most large projects are located in the north near the offshore gas fields, there has been talk of constructing a port in Techobanine, right in the middle of the Maputo Special Reserve and not far from the port of Maputo. Techobanine is considered the most pristine section of beach along the MSR coast, and increased marine traffic in this area will have detrimental effects on the migratory paths of whales and other marine life. As the tourism business grows in this area, particularly after the opening of the Katembe Bridge, an assessment of marine litter in the area of Ponta do Ouro could shed some light on the capacity of the ecosystem to sustain larger human pressure. 


Although easily assessed, surprisingly very few studies have been done on marine litter in Mozambique. Assessments carried out in the past in Ponta do Ouro and Malongane; Catembe, Maputo, Inhassoro revealed that plastics, cans and glass (originating from recreational use) dominate the litter, and a considerable amount of waste originate from shipping activities. Given that the inland between Maputo and Gombe is the area of Mozambique with the highest intensity of agriculture activity, with widespread use of pesticides,