Nature in Mozambique

Mozambique has several major natural landscapes, including Miombo and Mopane woodland, other forests, savannas, mountains and grasslands, river and floodplain systems, the Zambezi Delta, Lake Niassa, mangroves, seagrass meadows, coral reefs, islands and dunes. National assessments record more than 6,000 plant species and more than 4,200 animal species, while other assessments list about 5,500 plants, 220 mammals and 690 birds. Marine and coastal records include 194 coral species, 9 mangrove plant species, 13 seagrass species, 5 sea-turtle species, 18 marine-mammal species, 2,626 marine fish species and 1,363 mollusc species. These figures use different dates and methods and should not be treated as one complete national inventory. The Sistema Nacional das Áreas de Conservação (SNAC) is Mozambique's national system of conservation areas. The Administração Nacional das Áreas de Conservação (ANAC) coordinates planning and management, biodiversity protection, sustainable and participatory use, tourism licensing, enforcement and community development. Conservation categories include Parque Nacional, Reserva Nacional, Reserva Especial, Área de Protecção Ambiental, Área de Conservação Comunitária, Coutada Oficial, hunting blocks, fazendas do bravio, buffer zones and marine or coastal protected areas. Examples include Maputo, Banhine, Bazaruto, Chimanimani, Gilé, Gorongosa, Limpopo, Mágoè, Quirimbas, Zinave, Marromeu, Pomene and Niassa. Transfrontier areas include Grande Limpopo, Lubombo, Niassa-Selous and ZIMOZA. Network figures are not directly interchangeable: an ANAC website figure describes about 25% of the land territory as protected, while 2025 MAAP/ANAC material reports about 29% of land and 4.6% of marine and coastal area. Definitions and dates differ, and a 2025 CTRAC process was reviewing the network's dimensions. Mozambique has two Ramsar wetland sites covering about 4,534,872 hectares, and Quirimbas has been a Biosphere Reserve since 2018. In 2025, Maputo National Park formed part of the transnational iSimangaliso Wetland Park–Maputo National Park World Heritage property. Conservation Law 16/2014, amended and republished as Law 5/2017, and Regulation Decree 89/2017 provide the main legal framework for conservation areas. Decree 51/2024 concerns environmental enforcement. Each area applies its management plan, zoning and activity rules. Sustainable-use areas, buffer zones and community areas may allow harvesting, fishing, hunting or other use, but a person cannot assume that every activity is permitted. There is no general right of free entry to every conservation area. The park administration or ANAC should confirm entry conditions, reservations, activity permissions, guides, transport requirements and current tariffs. Fees are not nationally uniform. Forests, wildlife, biomass, non-timber forest products, fisheries, community use, controlled hunting, restoration and nature tourism all form part of Mozambique's natural-resource system. A Direito de Uso e Aproveitamento da Terra (DUAT) concerns land use and benefit rights; it does not by itself replace a required forest or wildlife licence. Fisheries access, catch limits and closed areas depend on season, zone, species and fisheries-management plans. The National Administration for Fisheries Development, commonly referred to as ADNAP, supports catch and effort controls, participatory fisheries management and resource-protection areas. Fauna bravia is the local term for wild fauna. Protected and priority species include elephants, lions, leopards, African wild dogs, buffalo, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, crocodiles, sea turtles, dugongs, whales and dolphins. Mozambique has been a party to CITES, the international system controlling trade in listed species, since 1981. The MAAP/ANAC CITES management authority and the Universidade Eduardo Mondlane scientific authority handle the national process. A CITES application may require the species, source, purpose, destination, acquisition licence, veterinary evidence and, where relevant, an import licence. Processing is described as taking about seven working days. The stated fees are 10,000 MZN for issue, 7,500 MZN for an extension and 10,000 MZN for a duplicate. Export and re-export permits are valid for six months, while an Appendix I import permit is valid for twelve months. Illegal trade and transit involving ivory, rhinoceros horn and other wildlife products remain enforcement problems. Local subsistence hunting may use a simple hunting licence in sustainable-use areas or buffer zones. Hunting in Coutadas, blocks, fazendas do bravio and community programmes follows the relevant plan, quota and licence. Typical requirements include being at least 18 years old, a weapons licence, an approved quota, identification or passport and a concession letter. Processing is described as taking about five working days, and the typical season runs from 1 April to 30 November unless the annual quota sets another period. Current quotas, fees and seasonal rules must be confirmed with ANAC because they can change. Nature activities include safari, walking and vehicle safaris, canoeing, diving, marine-wildlife observation, birdwatching and climbing, depending on the area. Some destinations require a reservation, park administration approval, a guide, a 4x4 vehicle or charter transport. Niassa is generally promoted for visits from May to December. Zinave is generally promoted from April to October, but its park information states that it has no tourist operation inside the park and that access to the main camp is arranged through the administration. The environmental education and research system uses Educação Ambiental, pesquisa, monitoria, fiscalização and sensibilização comunitária. The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan for 2015–2035 supports awareness, training, knowledge management, monitoring and participatory planning. Research access should be clarified with ANAC, the relevant conservation-area administration and, where appropriate, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane. Natural processes within this subject include cyclones and storm surges, floods, drought, wildfires, coastal erosion, saltwater intrusion, sea-level rise, coral bleaching and habitat fragmentation. Nature-related responses include mangrove and seagrass restoration, biodiversity protection, forest restoration and reducing uncontrolled fires. Warning systems, evacuation, emergency relief and disaster recovery belong to disaster management rather than to nature conservation itself. Major pressures include habitat loss and degradation, agricultural and settlement expansion, illegal logging, mining, unsustainable fishing, poaching, illegal trade, uncontrolled fires, climate stress and conflict between people and wildlife. Human-wildlife conflict is especially relevant near conservation areas. ANAC identified Gaza, Manica, Sofala and Tete among affected provinces, and in 2023 described 45 of 154 districts as critical. Measures include community and park teams, land-use planning, protected cultivation areas, physical barriers, satellite collars, response and monitoring, benefit-sharing and coexistence planning. A 2025–2028 pilot programme in Limpopo, Banhine, Zinave and Maputo aims to establish 100 machambas em bloco, meaning cultivated plots arranged in protected blocks. Community councils, local natural-resource-management committees and co-management arrangements provide practical participation, but their authority and benefits depend on the applicable plan and institution.