The first panel of the second day of the 3rd Marine Biodiversity Conference, held this Thursday, September 4, in the city of Beira, Sofala province, was marked by strong calls to strengthen community and private-sector participation in the preservation of marine and coastal ecosystems. Speakers highlighted the persistent weakness of inclusion mechanisms and defended models that link conservation to direct economic benefits for coastal communities.
Milagre Nuvunga, executive director of the Micaia Foundation, criticized the fact that, in most cases, local communities see no tangible return from the conservation process. “People depend on land and natural resources, but they are often only called upon to comply with rules that restrict resource use without offering them alternatives,” she said.
As a solution, she advocated for the development of value chains capable of generating sustainable income, recalling Micaia’s experience in Manica, where inclusive enterprises tied to non-timber forest products were created. She highlighted the Mozambique Honey Company, which exports honey to Europe and the United States, directly involving producers as shareholders. For Nuvunga, this model can be adapted to the marine context, ensuring that conservation translates into improved livelihoods for families.
Bruno de Oliveira, general director of Selt Marine Mozambique, pointed out the excessive dependence of coastal communities on fishing and defended economic diversification through seaweed cultivation. The company, which has operated in Nampula since 2018, works mainly with women, providing them with additional income and new skills. “Women are satisfied because they now have their own source of income, without depending solely on their husbands’ fishing,” he explained. He also stressed that seaweed farming is a sustainable alternative that could position Mozambique ahead of Tanzania, a country with an already consolidated industry. However, he warned that private companies cannot advance on their own, calling for greater support from the state and NGOs to accelerate expansion.
Meanwhile, Jorge Mafuca, national coordinator of Blue Forest, denounced the destruction of vast mangrove areas, particularly in Quelimane, Zambézia province, and defended the need for legal mechanisms to guarantee active community participation. He explained that his organization is restoring 30,000 hectares of mangroves in Sofala and Zambézia, within a project covering a total of 155,000 hectares, and emphasized that this initiative is only possible because it is based on community land demarcation and the creation of local management committees. “Without ensuring communities’ legal rights over their land, we cannot speak of effective conservation. Our approach is to give them that power and involve them directly in the restoration process,” he said.
The panel concluded that marine conservation in the country still faces serious challenges of inclusion and sustainability. Experts unanimously denounced the exclusion of communities from public policies and called for greater coordination between government, the private sector, and civil society organizations, in order to turn ecosystem preservation into a driver of economic and social development.
Text: Nário Sixpene
