VISION A unique wilderness of Niassa National Reserve where carnivores continue to persist and thrive with the full participation and support of local communities. MISSION To promote coexistence between carnivores, wildlife and people in We operate in Mozambique as Mariri Investimentos with a contract with Niassa National Reserve, ANAC to manage concession L5-South and an 5- year renewable MOU Mozambique. with ANAC as Niassa Carnivore Project to conserve carnivores across the whole of Niassa National Reserve in collaboration with Niassa Reserve We work in in collaboration Management Authority. with the communities who live inside Niassa Reserve, The Niassa Carnivore Project (NCP) serves to secure and conserve lions the Mozambican and other carnivores (leopard, spotted hyaena and African wild dog) in Government and the Niassa Niassa National Reserve, northern Mozambique by promoting coexistence National Reserve between carnivores and people, and directly mitigating threats. We have a 16-year history in Niassa National Reserve. management authority (ANAC & Wildlife Both Mariri and NCP are supported, administered and financially Conservation Society). managed by the TRT Conservation Foundation (NPC 2017/ 024322/08) based on South Africa. This is a not for profit company and the majority shareholder of Mariri Investimentos. 2018 REVIEW Why we should care Niassa National Reserve (NNR) is in northern Mozambique on the border with Tanzania and is one of the largest protected areas (42,000 km2; 16,000 ml2) in Africa. It is managed through a co-management agreement between the Government of Mozambique (National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC) with Ministry of Land, Environment and Rural development (MITADER) and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). The protected area supports the largest concentrations of wildlife remaining in Mozambique including an estimated 800 - 1000 lions, 300-350 African wild dogs as well as leopard and spotted hyaena. Free-ranging African lions (Panthera leo) have declined over the last century to fewer than 20,000 today (Riggio et al., 2012; Bauer et al., 2015; Dickman et al, in prep). Well managed protected areas, particularly large protected areas like Niassa National Reserve that can support more than 1000 lions, are critically important for future recovery efforts for lion conservation (Lindsey et al., 2017). These types of landscapes are becoming increasingly rare. NNR remains one of the 6 strongholds for lions and African wild dogs left in Africa today. Securing these large lion landscapes with their prey and habitats should be of local, national and international importance and has large landscape benefits for other species and people. Of course, it is not just about lions or African wild dogs. They do not live in isolation. The large carnivores really are indicators of ecosystem health. Recent research has reaffirmed the important role that large carnivores, play in ecosystems (Ripple et al., 2014) and the cascading negative ecological effects when they are lost. They are the foundation upon which Nature-Based Tourism in Southern and East Africa has been built in southern and east Africa. Nature-based Tourism could be an important driver of poverty alleviation, employment, revenue sharing and development for local communities and government in Niassa and Cabo Delgado Provinces in Mozambique. If these large carnivores are lost in NNR, this has consequences way beyond biodiversity conservation, there are also consequences for human health, culture, economic development, and poverty alleviation. We need to stop the loss, reduce the cost to communities living with dangerous wild animals and unlock the cultural, economic and ecological value of these animals for communities, governments and international communities. The Challenge But the challenges are immense as NNR supports a growing population of more than 60,000 people resident in 42 villages inside the protected area. Some of the poorest people in the world are living here. Major current threats to the lion population in NNR are habitat transformation from a growing human population who rely on “slash and burn” subsistence agriculture and alluvial mining of gold and rubies, bushmeat snaring where lions and leopards and their prey are caught in snares set to catch wild meat and increase in poisoning for bushmeat, skins, bones and other body parts. Unlike other areas, conflict with large carnivores is low, largely due to the absence of cattle inside Niassa Reserve but still needs to be managed to reduce attacks on livestock and on occasion, people. Our data show that the Niassa lion and hyaena population is starting to decline with some areas inside the protected area becoming increasingly “empty” of carnivores and prey This is happening alongside the crisis in elephant poaching with more than 10,000 elephants lost in Niassa Reserve between late 2009 to May 2018. Across all our programs, 2017 and 2018 were very tough years. We have faced many challenges from increasing lawlessness and insecurity inside NNR and increasing illegal activities (mining, riots, a scout was injured by poachers), to low levels of governance across the reserve and inconsistent implementation of the law. There has been a loss of trust between partners, with low transparency and low collaboration or sharing of knowledge. On the positive side, due to National Government intervention the poaching of elephants has reduced substantially since May 2018 and there is hope that the remaining elephants will be able to survive and increase. We also celebrate good radio communication for the first time in the last 8 years with a joint effort between NNR management and ourselves to put up an additional repeater close to camp. This has increased our effectiveness and safety. The Way forward 16 years of experience in NNR has shown us that conservation is impossible without partnering with local communities, NNR management authority, district, provincial and national government, and tourism operators. Supporting conservation friendly development and alternative livelihoods to alleviate poverty and meet basic health needs and improve human wellbeing is essential and the only possible way forward. It is not easy, it does not have quick results and it is difficult to scale, but we have a long-term view and keep working towards our vision which is a protected area where carnivores persist with the full support and participation of Niassa’s local people. We are a Mozambican team with more than 80% of our team from local villages within Niassa Reserve. Skills training is provided on the project recognising that employment provides one of the most significant incentives for conservation in the area and we recognise that developing a local conservation culture is essential for long term success. We implement this through the Mariri Environmental and Skills training centre for residents. We are strongly committed to mentoring Mozambican conservationists and recognize that conservation is a process and not an end goal and we therefore have a long- term view (more than 25 years). Why is the report in this format? We are an outcomes-based conservation organisation – we set the conservation outcomes we wish to see and then adapt our activities until we reach that outcome. We experiment and frequently programs do not work, and we change direction and experiment. We appreciate that most annual reports these days are short, beautiful, low on writing and high on beautiful pictures. This report builds on what we have learned and out progress towards achieving the conservation outcomes we have identified. Given the critical challenges we face, we do not believe that an annual report in that format serves either ourselves or our partners and donors. Our annual reports are written to inform not impress and are not only to report to our donors and partners including the Mozambican government but also to provide a detailed record of what we are doing, how funds are being spent and what we have learned along the way. Our annual reports since 2003 form a detailed, and unique record of our programs, challenges and successes that anyone can access – a window into the trajectory of conservation programs and the details of how it was done. They form part of our own annual assessment of progress and challenges and are a critical part of our adaptive management and adaptive governance approach. Only through putting it all together in detail at least once a year, monitoring indicators and assessing challenges can we and others see where we are and how our programs are linked and where we can improve. Our report is closely linked to our annual workplan and budget. A printed copy sits on the table in our reception and is well thumbed and read by our team during the year. This is not the place to report on successes without the challenges or provide just an overview. For shorter updates our Facebook page is regularly updated and or website provides the overview. For these reasons, our reports are detailed and long. We hope you will find the time to look through our detailed report and the progress we have made towards achieving our goals or just dip into the sections that interest you. We have a detailed executive summary in both Portuguese and English for a quicker glance at 2018. 2018 AT A GLANCE This summary is structured according to our annual workplan and budget. VISION AND MISSION A unique wilderness of Niassa National Reserve and surrounds where carnivores and other wildlife continue to persist and thrive