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Mozambique Conservation and the Quilálea Sanctuary
The Quilálea Sanctuary was the first marine protected area in the Quirimbas Archipelago, an area considered by the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) to be of worldwide importance for conservation.
Four partners, all with a keen interest in preserving the islands and in working with the local community, proposed the creation of the Quilálea Marine Sanctuary to the Mozambican Government. After consultations with the local community, the government declared it's support for the sanctuary. Subsequently, the WWF visited Quilálea, endorsed the sanctuary concept, and on the 25th September 2002, the government declared the official opening of the National Park with a 500,000 hectare area around Quilálea.
Within the sanctuary itself no fishing of any kind is allowed, and in the National Park no commercial fishing is allowed (local people are allowed to fish using traditional methods in most areas of the Park, as are sport fishermen). The local fishermen who used to have camps on Quilálea and Sencar agreed to remove their camps from the two islands which make up the sanctuary. Most of them then returned to acquire new skills in construction. The enthusiastic former fishermen have undergone in-house training to provide hospitality services for visitors to Quilálea.
Quilálea's buildings are of local rocks, seawater was used in a traditional cement mix, so the fragile island ecology and its limited stocks of fresh water were preserved. The "island villas" are roofed with traditional palm thatch (makuti) ideal for cool and unobtrusive comfort.
The marine sanctuary functions as a nursery. Turtles now nest on the beach, dugongs have been sighted many times, and humpback whales shelter in the channel during the months of July to January before continuing their journey to the south. Numbers of all marine organisms are high and increasing. A total of 375 different species of fish have been identified in the sanctuary area.
Of course, for the visitor, Quilálea conservation efforts have produced some of the finest diving, fishing and birding available in the world today. And all visitors to the Island help sustain the conservation efforts as well as the local communities.
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