Project proposal

1. Project name Saving Africa’s Marine Serengeti

2. Timeframe 3 years

3. Project summary The coastline of the in is a globally significant area for marine . In fact, these waters may represent one of the most biodiverse areas of marine megafauna in all of Africa. This region been mooted as an IMMA (Important Marine Mammal Area) by the IUCN and a potential world heritage site by UNESCO. This is an important breeding area for manta rays and humpback whales, a regular migratory corridor for endangered whale sharks and important marine apex predators, like bull sharks, and is potentially one of the only spawning areas for black marlin in the western Indian Ocean. Five species of sea turtles use these waters or nest along its shores. It is also home to a staggering number of rare and understudied species, particularly sharks and rays- which are a highly vulnerable and disappearing group of fishes.

To the north of the Province sits the Bazaruto Archipelago National Park- Mozambique’s first Marine Protected Area. The African Parks Network recently took over the management of the park, which has the potential to be one of the most important marine protected areas on the continent of Africa. Management, of course, is key. A substantial increase in fishing pressure, the poaching of vulnerable and protected species and other human-induced threats have already caused massive declines in marine megafauna populations in southern Mozambique, some up to 95% of historical records. The Bazaruto Archipelago National Park offers one of the only sanctuaries to remaining populations of these species in the country and indeed along the eastern coast of Africa.

Additional research is urgently required to justify the expansion of the Bazaruto Archipelago National Park to the north and to provide adequate data for environmental impact assessments working to prhibit threatening oil and gas projects such as one pending in the region from SASOL. Currently, MMF are being asked to help supply key information to African Parks and the Bazaruto Archipelago National Park. Presently we are the only NGO to have an MOU with the park and are actively supplying them with the data from our research to help feed their management plans in the region.

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4. Overall mission Marine Megafauna Foundation researchers have been active in southern Mozambique since 2003. Our research scientists have pioneered the exploration of this coastline, made countless scientific discoveries and conducted world-leading research on threatened marine species, specifically sharks, rays and sea turtles. Our team members have authored almost 30 peer-reviewed scientific papers on marine life in southern Mozambique, all of which have been disseminated to government to help support on-going marine conservation efforts in the country.

Our primary objective in the country is to safeguard the globally-significant marine megafauna populations that occur in the Inhambane Province by supporting the development of marine protected areas and helping to design science-based management strategies to ensure their safety in these critical habitats. We also hope to help minimize indiscriminate fishing practices in the Province and support the development of sustainable eco-tourism. The Marine Megafauna Foundation is also conducting research in South Africa, Madagascar, Tanzania and Kenya.

To date we remain the only NGO, permanently based in the region, conducting work along the entire coast of the Inhambane Province and feeding it back to both government and local managers. With an extensive network along the coastline we remain in the best position to ramp up research efforts on threatened marine megafauna and work with government to develop and improve marine policy and expand their protected areas in the country.

MMF’s work in an around the Bazaruto Archipelago National Park for the last 17 years has indicated that to adequately protect threatened marine megafauna species, a functional science-based management strategy for the region needs to be developed, the park’s boundaries need to be expanded north and adequate buffers to the east and to the south of the park need to be established or strengthened. This region, to be called the Bazaruto Seascape, should be prioritized for sustainable marine tourism, in accordance with the Strategic Plan for Development of Tourism in Mozambique (SPDTM), and in line with the Convention of Biological Diversity, be prioritized for conservation. Major threats to the viability of this protected area should be mitigated by government to ensure the sustainability of these goals.

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5. SMART-aim Our research program’s main objective is to help safeguard threatened marine megafauna in Mozambique by helping to develop a functional management plan for marine megafauna to better account for their needs and helping to reduce or eliminate their primary threats in the region. We hope to build on the refuge provided by the Bazaruto Archipelago National Park and encourage formal protection for a significant migratory corridor for marine species to the north and south of this protected area. Specifically, this will help to safeguard highly vulnerable marine megafauna species and better protect the ecological integrity and resilience of the coastal reef system.

To that end our main aim is to enhance the halo of protection of the current Bazaruto Archipelago National Park in any or all of the following ways: providing the scientific justification for the Park’s official expansion to the north, for buffer areas to be developed by government around the existing park and new protected areas to be created to the south of the park.

We also of course aim to produce more world-leading research on our focal species, collect baseline data from the region with which to track trends and enhance the profile of this park internationally and help to develop sustainable eco-tourism plans for the park.

6. Activity plan It is our intention immediately begin baseline assessments of marine megafauna in the Bazaruto Seascape both within and outside of the National Park. Our primary focus will be on elasmobranchs (sharks and rays), marine mammals and reptiles. These assessments which are already underway in park waters will now be expanded north (to Sasol’s proposed oil and gas exploration site) and to the east and south of the Park. Assessments will include aerial transects, in-water transects, underwater camera trap deployments, underwater drone surveys, fisheries surveys and E-DNA sampling. We also need to strategically use telemetry to track the movements of representative individuals of sensitive and wide-ranging species to better determine their home range and functional areas of protection.

Given the paucity of general biological and ecological information on many of our focal species we also plan to opportunistically fill in the gaps where we can by advancing our knowledge of their reproductive biology and ecology, ontogenetic shifts in behavioiur and resource use, general feeding ecology and helping to resolve taxonomic issues.

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As the government has few resources for monitoring and enforcement, we will also be directly partnering with their officials to provide real-time information and documentation on where illegal activities are occurring to allow for targeted intervention and future strategic planning. At the same time, we will continue with our education initiatives along the coast, creating programs within these communities to disseminate much needed information and develop effective mitigation strategies for the future.

This project is closely aligned with a book project, a feature documentary and a VR documentary on the Bazaruto Seascape. These projects are underway with completion dates scheduled from 2020 to 2021.

7. Evaluation process We have a strong record of publishing our results in peer-reviewed scientific journals. We typically use open access journals to ensure equitable access, which also means our data (aerial survey results etc) will be available online for use by other researchers and managers. We translate all of our Englishlanguage work into Portuguese and circulate it to our partners in Fisheries (IDPPE), MICOA (Ministry of Coordination of Environmental Affairs), IIP (Mozambican Research Institute), and ADNAP (Ministry of Tourism). In particular, data coming from this study will be turned over to our partners at African Parks, the Vilanculos Wildlife Sanctuary and Singita all of whom are managing key conservation areas in the region and which require this information for the development of their respective management plans. As always MMF is also committed to producing popular articles and engage the public through social media and documentaries to further spread our findings and our greater conservation message.

8. SWOT analysis MMF strongly believe in the empowerment and inclusion of nationals from the countries we work and locals from the regions where our projects are based. Too often foreigners spearhead efforts that fall short for the simple reason that their approach did not include the education or support of local communities or training programs to build capacity for future efforts. Our well-rounded, highly qualified teams reflect this belief and give us the knowledge, expertise and local support within the countries we work around the world.

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Challenges in Mozambique are usually related to logistics or equipment failure. Our field study site includes some of the most remote and uninhabited areas of the Mozambican coastline. Surveying or conducting research in these locations can prove painful at the best of times and are often just impossible given the remote locations and harsh conditions we work in. Our team remains realistic about both data collection and deadlines. We schedule fieldwork opportunistically and while we attempt to adhere to loose schedules we also understand to a certain extent we are at the mercy of the environment we choose to work in.

Our studies are often reliant on sophisticated technology (light aircrafts, boats, GPS, camera and survey equipment, etc). We therefore have to be prepared for equipment to fail or malfunction. The most obvious risk is plane/boat failure or malfunction, which would ground our survey efforts. This can happen for various reasons such as manufacture error but may also occur due to more controllable variables like proper maintenance, servicing, and risk assessments. To minimize these problems, precautions will be put into place to insure both our team’s safety and the good working order of our equipment.

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Project budget Item Units Cost per unit Total cost Priority

1. Equipment

Go Pro Underwater Camera Traps 10 $600.00 (approx.) $6,000.00 Urgent

Wildlife Computer Mini PAT (satellite) tags/ARGOS time 10 $5000 $50,000.00 Urgent

VEMCO Listening Stations 10 $1500 $15,000 Urgent

Sum equipment $71,000

1. Fieldwork costs (Monthly)

Aerial Surveys w/ pilot 10 $225 per hour $2,250 Urgent

Drone Surveys 5 $100 per day $500 Urgent

In-Water Survey work and tagging w/skipper 15 $300 per day $4,500 Urgent

Sum fieldwork $7,250

2. Supplies and Misc

Laboratory Supplies $500 (approx.) $500 Urgent Internet 3 $50/month $150 Urgent

Sum supplies and lodging $650

3. Salaries (Monthly)

Principal Scientist 200 h $30 $6000 Needed

Research Student/Assistant 200 h $7.5 $1500 Needed

Tech/Logistics 200 h $22.50 $4500 Needed

Sum salaries $12,000

4. Other

Monthly Translation Costs 10 $40 $400 Needed

Laboratory Costs (lab time and analysis) $5000 per annum $5,000 Needed

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Strategic Meetings & Conferences $3,000 per annum $3,000 Needed

Sum other $8,400

Sum total 99,300

5. Commentary on budget The provided costs represent urgent funding needs as a part of a larger-scale, long-term project (3 years) in the Bazaruto Archipelago of Mozambique. While there are many other costs associated to this larger project these items are ones which are currently un-funded or underfunded which we are seeking support for. All aspects of the proposed work help us achieve our end goal so every bit counts.

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