BIOFUND and WWF sign agreement to conserve sea turtles in Primeiras e Segundas islands

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BIOFUND and WWF sign agreement to conserve sea turtles in Primeiras e Segundas islands

2:27 CAT | 28 Jun 2022

Photo: David Gilroy/ Biofund

The Foundation for Biodiversity Conservation (BIOFUND) and WWF Mozambique in June signed a joint grant agreement for a new project to monitor sea turtles in the Primeiras e Segundas Environmental Protection Area (PSEPA).

The project involves attaching satellite tags to the sea turtles that nest in the PSEPA, with the aim of improving real-time knowledge of their migration routes.

The project is financed through the ‘Bio Card’ [Cartão Bio], a joint program involving Banco Comercial de Investimentos (BCI) and BIOFUND, which channels a percentage of the ATM card’s annual and usage fees into biodiversity conservation projects.

The partnership also foresees a communication drive, sensitising local communities to the value of conserving sea turtles.

BIOFUND intends the partnership to increasingly support research and innovation related to the conservation of biodiversity, promoting environmental awareness actions on relevant topics.

BIOFUND e WWF assinam acordo de parceria para a Conservação de Tartarugas Marinhas na Área de Protecção Ambiental das Ilhas Primeiras e Segundas

Leia mais, através do link: https://t.co/TvilOwzipc pic.twitter.com/YdnE2rOEad

— BIOFUND Moz (@BIOFUND_Moz) June 20, 2022

Little is known about sea turtles in Mozambique, except in specific areas where more consistent monitoring and research programs take place, such as Inhaca Island, Ponta do Ouro, Ponta Santa Maria, Bazaruto Archipelago. and Vamizi and Rongui Islands.

Between 2005 to 2010, some turtle monitoring and marking actions were carried out in the Primeiras and Segundas Islands, attaching titanium tags to the turtles’ flippers. Data from the monitoring verified that green turtles nest on the islands.

The Primeiras e Segundas Environmental Protection Area

With an area of approximately 1,040,926 ha (hectares) and a land area of 205 km, the archipelago of the Primeiras and Segundas Islands forms a region of great marine influence where an extensive “deep mountain range” of reefs develops and surface in some locations, rich in biological diversity. The archipelago is an integral part of the East African Marine Eco-Region that runs from southern Somalia to the Kwazulu-Natal coast of the Republic of South Africa. PSEPA environmental protection ensures the physical and environmental integrity of the habitat linking coastal and marine areas.

Source: BIOFUND / Press Release