Coastal and marine ecosystems provide a host of critically valuable services, some of which are well understood and quantifiable. But most others are more obscure, poorly understood, and very difficult to evaluate and quantify. For instance, the health of the fisheries sector is critically dependent on healthy ecosystems, such as mangroves and seagrass beds, for feeding, breeding, and nursery grounds for various fish stocks while imperfect in Mozambique, data exists to help quantify the monetary value of the fisheries sector. But a service such as storm surge protection or resilience to coastal erosion, sea-level rise, and other impacts of climate change is much less certain and can be difficult to quantify and value. Carbon sequestration value is even harder to measure, monitor and manage.




Awareness and valuation of ecosystem services is limited in Mozambique. Many tools and methods, including those articulated by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the FAO, can be used to apply an ecosystem approach to the management of human activities in ocean and coastal areas. These may include fisheries management measures, other species management measures, integrated coastal and marine area management, marine spatial planning, marine protected areas, and activities supporting carbon sequestration. Overall, integrating the various management approaches undertaken by different sectors into a comprehensive and cohesive plan, with ecosystems as the central framework, remains a complex challenge. 




It often takes a common measure, like monetary values, to bring the various actors together to solve common issues tied to biodiversity conservation. In fact, most experts in agriculture or health/nutrition assume biodiversity conservation is for animal lovers, missing the point that the vibrance of both sectors ag productivity and nutrition are ultimately based on healthy ecosystem services, like species diversity, nutrient cycling, and more. International donors and development partners should consider playing a role in advancing ecosystem valuation studies and to help mainstream the importance of marine ecosystem protection throughout government.


 As MIMAIP and ProAzul mature, the hope is that the ecosystem-based approach that leverages the energy of market systems becomes the manner with which these diverse sector experts come together.Mozambique has 1,721 miles (2,770 km) of coastline, which, to give perspective, is just 444 miles less than the entire east coast of the United States, which stretches from eastern Maine to the Florida Keys.111 And with vast productive sectors in these waters, the task of inventorying, managing, monitoring, enforcing and protecting this vast amount of coastline is an enormous and expensive endeavor that relies on the ability of development partners, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the private sector to support. 


Mozambique’s coast is one of the country's most valuable natural resources. Coastal resources natural gas, fisheries, agriculture, tourism, mining and forestry contribute significantly to the national income and provide social and economic benefits to an estimated two-thirds of the population. This dependence on the coast also puts pressure on the various sectoral development plans that intersect each other and create overlaps and gaps with regards to institutional roles, jurisdictional competence, powers of enforcement etc., resulting in haphazard and uncontrolled development along the coastline.


Across Mozambique’s development plans, the authors have witnessed a concerted and increasing acknowledgement to the importance of marine conservation and a shared commitment towards action, but the sheer scale of Mozambique's marine assets over the past years (see Annex 1 for an overview of the legal frameworks for MPAs). Currently, 2% of Mozambique's exclusive economic zonE,113 or roughly 7,456 sq miles (12,000 sq kms) are under protection. This 2% of waters under protection are made up of 7 key MPAs, which are outlined in Section 1 of this reference guide. necessitates significantly more resources to be dedicated to conservation efforts.


 The ability to harness market forces across the blue economy can assist government, donors and NGOs in (a) focusing on policy reforms across the sector to ensure sustainable development of markets dependent on the blue economy; (b) financing marine conservation efforts, (c) establishing the networks and resources to effectively monitor protected area status, and (d) contributing to identification and health of marine species, which is critical to creating new marine protected areas (MPA) and evaluating effectiveness of those MPAs in existence.



Mozambique’s marine assets have a high economic value, and if conserved, monitored and used in a responsible and economically sustainable fashion, these assets hold tremendous possibilities to mutually benefit the livelihoods of the communities. Some of this economic value, of course, is in artisanal and small-scale commercial fishing. But there is also tremendous economic value in the coastal and marine tourism segment, which includes scuba diving, underwater photography and sea safaris. The authors believe this segment holds tremendous potential, both for economic development as well as for marine conversation.