Water Journalists Africa

One of the world’s hottest hotspots for marine biodiversity, Mozambique’s Inhambane Seascape, is under assault by two massively destructive industries. Conservation organizations are concerned that offshore seismic testing for gas mining and heavy-sands mining of pristine coastal dunes and Miombo forests would be catastrophic for these critical ecosystems—including the heart of the seascape, the idyllic Bazaruto archipelago—if allowed to move forward. 

As local communities and organizations fear repercussions for speaking out against these industries, Re:wild, Amphibian Survival Alliance, ALL RISE, BirdLife International, Centro Terra Viva, Marine Megafauna Foundation (MMF), Mission Blue, Natural Justice, ParCo Community Partners, and Our Children’s Earth Foundation are calling on the global community to speak up and urge the government of Mozambique to protect this irreplaceable seascape and to invest in Inhambane’s local communities. 

Bazaruto archipelago. (Photo by Bazaruto Center for Scientific Studies Observatory)

This call to action comes just ahead of the 2024 United Nations Biodiversity Conference of the Parties (COP16) and the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29), and as Mozambique counts votes from its Oct. 9 election.

“When we look at key marine sites in the Western Indian Ocean and the tremendous benefits they provide our planet—including global climate stabilization, safeguarding biodiversity, and supporting local communities—the Bazaruto archipelago tops that list,” said Tim Davenport, Re:wild’s Africa director. “To threaten this place for short-term gain for a few industries and individuals is unthinkable. We stand by the local communities and organizations who see the real value of the archipelago in its incredible wildlife and ecosystems.” 

Because of its biodiversity and the vital importance of its variety of marine habitats, the Inhambane seascape has received a number of global accolades. The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers the seascape an Important Marine Mammal Area, an Important Bird Area, and an Important Shark and Ray Area. Mission Blue recognizes it as a “Hope Spot,” indicating that it is critical to the health of the ocean. The seascape includes the five islands of the Bazaruto Archipelago National Park and the Vilanculos Coastal Wildlife Sanctuary, both of which fall within the Greater Bazaruto Key Biodiversity Area, which means that it is critical to the persistence of global biodiversity and the overall health of the planet. In 2023, the Bazaruto archipelago won multiple awards as one of the best island tourism destinations in the world. 

Moray Eel in the Bazaruto Archipelago. (Photo by Bazaruto Center for Scientific Studies Observatory)

Other critical but unprotected habitats lie both north toward the Save River and south toward Pomene National Reserve, where local communities are particularly dependent on the functioning of intact ecosystems for their livelihoods and survival. The Inhambane region is dominated by endangered Miombo woodland, a 726,000-square-mile (1.9-million-square-kilometer) system of tropical grasslands, savannas and shrublands. In 2022, Mozambique and 10 other countries signed the Maputo Declaration on the Miombo Woodland to establish priorities for the sustainable management and governance of Miombo ecosystems, and this year the Miombo Restoration Alliance was launched in New York during Climate Week to prioritize protection and restoration of these critically threatened forests.

Yet more than 70% of the Inhambane coastline has been earmarked for heavy mineral sand mining. According to documents shared by IMPACTO, the environmental consultants representing Searcher Geodata UK Limited, an additional 16,600 miles2 (43,000 km2) of the same coastline has been proposed for offshore seismic testing and oil and gas exploration. These industrial-scale projects threaten the wildlife and local communities that live in and depend on the marine ecosystems.

Mozambique flamingos (Photo by Ivy Yin, Our Children’s Earth Foundation)

Chinese company Haiyu Mozambique Mining, which has a track record of human rights violations and environmental transgressions, including elsewhere in Mozambique, has already begun illegal heavy mineral sand mining operations immediately south of the Greater Bazaruto Key Biodiversity Area. Sand is the planet’s most mined mineral, and this industry leads to the irreversible destruction of critical ecosystems on which both Indigenous communities and wildlife depend for their survival. 

The environmental law and its regulations require any activity with significant environmental and social impacts to undergo an environmental impact assessment, including in-depth consultation with local communities, prior to any other license and project operations. 

Bottlenose Dolphins in the Bazaruto Archipelago. (Photo by Bazaruto Center for Scientific Studies Observatory)

Local organizations have requested information about the heavy mineral sand mining project from both the government and Haiyu, but have not been provided with any environmental impact assessments or environmental authorizations, nor been invited to any public participation meetings, making it difficult to determine the legality of the project, what its impacts will be, whether there are restoration plans in place, and how local communities will be affected. It seems that in 2020, Mozambique’s Ministry of Land and Environment turned down the company’s environmental impact assessment. 

“This is a flagrant disregard for the law,” said Kirsten Youens from All Rise Attorneys. “Local communities, whose livelihoods and culture are intertwined with this unique ecosystem, are sidelined in decisions directly impacting their future. The disregard for environmental laws by mining companies, coupled with the government’s lack of transparency, is not just a local issue—it’s a microcosm of how the climate emergency is mishandled worldwide. Without inclusive, rights-based approaches to environmental challenges, we risk losing not just precious species and ecosystems but the very fabric of human resilience in the face of climate change.” 

A growing consortium of regional and international human rights and conservation organizations is highly concerned about the threats to the livelihoods and cultures of local communities, in addition to Bazaruto’s coastline becoming increasingly vulnerable to sea level rise and global climatic changes and less resilient to cyclones as a result of industrial activity. 

Green Turtle in the Bazaruto Archipelago. (Photo by Bazaruto Center for Scientific Studies Observatory)

The Bazaruto archipelago, which includes five islands and the surrounding marine ecosystem, is home to 55 shark, ray, skate and sawfish species that are at risk of extinction, including the critically endangered great hammerhead and scalloped hammerhead sharks, white-spotted wedgefish, bowmouth guitarfish, and ornate eagle ray. It is also home to five marine reptiles at risk of extinction, including the hawksbill turtle and green turtle. 

The seascape also safeguards the last remaining viable population of dugong in Eastern Africa, standing at only a few hundred left. The dugong is a charismatic mammal that is more closely related to elephants than whales or dolphins and is classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Conservationists are also concerned about the endangered Indian Ocean humpback dolphin, which lives in small areas of the archipelago. Since 2018, Bazaruto Center for Scientific Studies (BCSS) Observatory has recorded 155 sightings of the species off the coast of the national marine park.  

“Heavy mineral sand mining, offshore exploration and drilling would have profoundly negative impacts on the dugong population here, which accounts for some 90 percent of all mature dugong in East Africa,” said Simon Pierce, executive director of MMF. “These activities could lead to the local extinction of these special animals, in addition to other threatened species that depend on this seascape for their survival. This consortium is calling on Mozambique to support this vibrant, wild seascape for the future of Bazaruto’s inhabitants, both people and wildlife.”  

Artisanal small scale fishing in Zalala, Mozambique – Nessim Stevenson

Re:wild, Amphibian Survival Alliance, ALL RISE, BirdLife International, Centro Terra Viva, Marine Megafauna Foundation (MMF), Mission Blue, Natural Justice, ParCo Community Partners, and Our Children’s Earth Foundation are asking people around the world to be a voice for Bazaruto by signing an open letter, urging the government of Mozambique to: 

  • Invest in the sustainable development of communities, instead of plundering the country’s natural resources to benefit foreign corporations. Multiple alternative proposals worth hundreds-of-millions of dollars have already been sent along to the minister’s office, including for large-scale ecotourism and a debt-swap for nature, which would relieve the government of hundreds of millions of dollars in debt in exchange for both protection of the seascape and investment in local communities. 
  • Transparently consult with local and national stakeholders on all extractive projects that will impact the livelihoods of communities, local businesses, and Indigenous cultures.
  • Protect the seascape in perpetuity from extractive industry and practices that destroy the integrity of ecosystems that humans also depend on for survival.

Water Journalists Africa, established in 2011 as a not-for-profit media organization, boasts a membership of journalists hailing from 50 African countries, dedicated to reporting on water, climate change,...