Marine Resources: Memorandum on Conservation signed with WWF – Mozambique

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Marine Resources: Memorandum on Conservation signed with WWF – Mozambique

2:53 CAT | 22 Dec 2016

WWF-US /James Morgan (File photo) / Fishermen gather seine nets from the water on the Ilha de Mafamede, Mozambique.

The Mozambican Ministry of the Sea, Inland Waters and Fisheries and the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) on Tuesday signed in Maputo a memorandum on the conservation of biodiversity.

The agreement was signed by the permanent secretary of the Ministry, Narci Premegi, and by Anabela Rodrigues, the Mozambique director of WWF.

According to Premegi, the agreement seeks to strengthen the conservation of biodiversity and of the marine ecosystems in the Mozambique Channel, including the sustainable exploitation of marine resources.

“WWF will help us in conservation, favouring the sustainable use of fishery and marine resources throughout the country”, he said. “It will train communities so that they use resources sustainably, and use non-damaging fishing gear”.

There has been great concern at fishermen using such inappropriate gear as mosquito nets, which catch marine organisms indiscriminately, including juvenile fish and larval crustaceans, threatening a collapse in the fisheries concerned.

Rodrigues said that WWF regards conservation as a fundamental activity for ensuring sustainable development. It will ensure the reproduction of fishery resources by establishing marine sanctuaries where fishing is not permitted, and will also focus on the conservation of turtles, sea birds, sharks and corals.

She was optimistic about preserving Mozambique’s mangrove forests, particularly in the centre and north of the country. The mangroves are nurseries for many species of fish ad crustaceans.

“The state of the mangroves in the country is not negative”, she said, “since the area of mangrove has increased considerably. Some zones had been devastated but much of that has been recovered. So in this context, the balance is positive”.

Rodrigues added that conservation will only be effective when it becomes an integral part of the culture of all Mozambicans.

Source: AIM