The Bazaruto Archipelago National Park (BANP) is a protected area in the Inhambane Province of

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

on the

Bazaruto Archipelago The Bazaruto Archipelago is a group of six islands in Mozambique, near the mainland city of Vilankulo. It comprises the islands of Bazaruto, Benguerra, Magaruque, Banque, Santa Carolina (also known as Paradise Island) and Shell. Nyati Island ...

. The park was proclaimed on 25 May 1971. It is off the coast of the Vilanculos and Inhassoro districts, covering a large expanse of ocean and six islands.

Location

The Bazaruto National Park was inaugurated in 1971, an archipelago of six islands off the Mozambican coast between

Vilankulo Vilankulo (or Vilanculos) is a coastal town in Mozambique, lying in the Vilankulo District, Vilanculos District of Inhambane Province. Vilankulo is named after local tribal chief Gamela Vilankulo Mukoke, and some of the "bairros" (suburbs) are nam ...

and Inhassoro. The park was created to protect

dugong The dugong (; ''Dugong dugon'') is a marine mammal. It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest m ...

and marine turtles, and their habitats. The islands' flora and fauna, coral reefs and marine birds were also included. The largest island is

Bazaruto Island Bazaruto ( pt, Ilha do Bazaruto, from Ushurutswa, island of the mist) is a sandy island located approximately southeast of the mouth of the Save River, Mozambique (). It is the largest island in the Bazaruto Archipelago and in the Bazaruto Nati ...

and the others are Benguerra, Margaruque, Santa Carolina (Paradise Island), Banque and Pansy Shell Island.

Ecology

The islands have a lush tropical climate and include huge dunes, forest and savannah, inland lakes and wetlands. They host several endemic terrestrial gastropods and lizards, as well as important aggregations of

Palaearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

migrant water birds. The archipelago is attractive to tourists who are interested in diving or snorkeling. The rich variety of marine life includes humpback whales, marine turtles, spinner, humpback and bottlenose dolphins, marlins and barracudas. BANP gives protection to the largest and only remaining viable population of

s in the Western Indian Ocean. The coral reefs are varied and said to be the least disturbed in this part of the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

People

The archipelago has about 3,500 residents in seven communities. They are mostly very poor and rely on harvesting natural resources to survive. 70% of households rely on small-scale fishing to survive, while others harvest sand oysters and other marine resources, grow crops and raise livestock. Resources may not be sufficient to maintain the population, leading to decreased catches of fish, reduced harvests and increasing poverty and food insecurity.

Conservation and Tourism

The BANP is a popular tourist destination. As of 2011, the park had five hotels promoting high-value, low-impact programs. The hotels make an important contribution to the local economy through employment and tax revenues. The

World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...

(WWF) has a program to help the local communities to become more sophisticated in realizing a share of revenues in return for protecting valuable ecological resources. In December 2017, management of the park passed to African Parks.

References

{{authority control African Parks (organisation) Geography of Inhambane Province National parks of Mozambique Protected areas established in 1971 Tourist attractions in Inhambane Province Southern Zanzibar–Inhambane coastal forest mosaic