What is your first memory of the ocean? 

I am from Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. Even though I grew up in a coastal city, my first memory of the ocean as something to take care of was at age 10, while watching a television show about marine species. I was fascinated by the colourful reefs and the images of moray eels attacking an octopus, which didn’t end well for the octopus. From that moment on, I became curious about the mystical life below the ocean surface and I promised myself that one day I would go diving to witness the underwater world. I called the ocean “the new world” back then.

And nowadays, what does the ocean mean to you and your community?

For most Mozambican people, including me, the ocean means life. My parents are from the coastal province of Inhambane, located north of Maputo, where most communities depend on the ocean for their livelihood: seafood is the staple food for these families. The tradition of small-scale fishing goes back centuries: my ancestors were artisanal fishers and seafood traders. Today, fishing is still the main livelihood of coastal communities in Mozambique.

What inspired you to contribute to healthy marine ecosystems and sustainable coastal livelihoods?

My passion for the ocean and coastal communities – these are my roots. If fishing communities use marine resources in a sustainable way, they will be able to continue the livelihood of their ancestors. The ocean equates to life for these communities: it means food, breathing, safety and survival. I want to contribute to the sustainable use of Mozambique’s marine ecosystem, which I am able to do through my work for WWF.

WWF-Mozambique’s community projects promote sustainable practices and climate adaptation initiatives implemented and adopted by fishermen themselves. I work together with these small-scale fishers on a daily basis and stimulate their participation, for example by promoting fisher and monitoring associations and combining traditional knowledge with scientific knowledge, in the initiatives. Over the past few years, I have noticed that communities have become more involved in the management of marine resources and coastal ecosystems, rather than just acting as users of these resources. There is a more diverse group of stakeholders promoting sustainable practices and the interest in engaging women and youth in decision-making processes is increasing. Approaches that merge traditional knowledge with scientific knowledge are more accepted now.

On the other hand, population growth, political instability and poverty in Mozambique’s coastal region has complicated conservation efforts. More people go out fishing to feed their families and, at the same time, unsustainable fishing practices, like the use of small mesh nets and poison fishing using toxic plants, are on the rise due to poverty and no alternative livelihoods. Unfortunately, the country’s monitoring and enforcement systems are still not robust enough to control illegal fishing practices.

What strategies have been implemented and what results have they produced?

The projects I work on with Mozambique’s coastal communities focus both on biodiversity conservation and people’s livelihoods. WWF-Mozambique, together with the government and communities, has developed a pilot project in Cabo Delgado in the north of the country. In this remote area, we have worked with fishermen and -women to promote a regulated octopus fishery in Quirimbas National Park that protects octopus species and ensures a sustainable source of income. These coastal communities have implemented the first temporary closures of octopus fishing grounds, and with great success.

Since the implementation of the project in 2017, the octopus population in the national park increased in size and quantity, resulting in more than 25 tons of octopus and 35 tons of fish caught by the community members on reopening days, with a local economic value of US$100.000. Some of these artisanal fishers have even experienced a substantial increase in income, from US$2 up to US$250 per day. These increases are due to giving the coral reef and octopus population time to recover from fishing efforts during the six to eight month closure period.

The success in Cabo Delgado inspired government authorities, tourism operators and community-based organisations to promote the regulation of octopus fishing throughout the country. Since then, WWF has been working with the Fisheries Research Institute on advocating this initiative on a national level by producing and distributing communication materials and demonstrating scientific evidence on the benefits of temporary closures of octopus fishing grounds.

What are the main challenges you have encountered in working with coastal communities and what solutions have you developed?

In general, population growth and poverty in Mozambique’s coastal areas are the major challenges to sustainable use of marine resources. To reduce the pressure on marine resources, we promoted sustainable fishing practices, such as gated traps and temporary closures of octopus fishing grounds, among the communities in Cabo Delgado. Additionally, we organised training sessions on tourism and entrepreneurship to stimulate alternative livelihoods.

Climate change affects coastal communities and the ecosystems they depend on increasingly: tropical cyclones, changes in rain patterns, floods and other stressors complicate the work. Therefore, we provide training to community leaders to increase awareness and knowledge about climate change and its impacts on their livelihoods, as well as training on climate adaptation measures.More recently, for the octopus closure project we have been planning scientific research on catch, effort, reproduction and maturity of the octopus that was planned to be first conducted in Cabo Delgado. Unfortunately, due to violent attacks by insurgent groups in the area, we were forced to move the project to the Inhambane Province to ensure the safety of our staff and local partners. This was personally very difficult. I felt that we abandoned the partner communities – during a certain period I received emergency calls from them on a daily basis. The COVID-19 pandemic complicated the research project further as it created a different set of needs and priorities. Nevertheless, we are looking into opportunities enabling us to continue the research together with communities in the country’s octopus hotspot sites.

How can you bring these local solutions to scale?

The outstanding results of the octopus fishery temporary closure project in Cabo Delgado have led to an interest of the Ministry of Fisheries to establish national regulations for octopus fisheries in Mozambique. To achieve this, we have to conduct more studies on octopus species, distribution, reproduction and life cycles, allowing us to make well-informed decisions about closures on a national level.

But we still lack financial resources to fully cover the octopus monitoring and data collection. WWF-Mozambique has established Management Oriented Monitoring System (MOMS) associations, in which community-based organisations are officially recognized as a national fisheries monitoring and reporting entity. This approach is supported by the national government and has been implemented in some conservation areas, but a common and nationally recognized approach is lacking. A workshop is required to discuss national criteria and how to establish MOMS as a well-functioning monitoring and evaluation tool. This way, we can bring the local success to a national level step by step.

The success of the project in Cabo Delgado has also created potential for regional efforts; our promotion efforts include the exchange of experiences with government authorities and WWF staff in Madagascar and Tanzania. This way, we hope to increase the knowledge and thereby contribute to the development of sustainable octopus fisheries as well as resilient coastal communities throughout the region.

Thank you for sharing your interesting story! You are an Ocean Witness now: what would you like to share with people around the world?

During the 15 years that I have been working on marine conservation in my country, I had the unique opportunity of working very closely with numerous coastal communities on the integration of social-economic benefits and the protection of marine and coastal species and ecosystems. I have been fortunate to witness the close connection many community members experience with the ocean and how important sustainable use of marine and coastal resources is to them. I feel confident to say that community-led conservation is the best approach to achieve sustainable, impactful and direct results that benefit both nature and people.

About Lara

Lara Muaves (43), born and raised in Mozambique, is a senior marine project officer working with local communities on the seascape projects of WWF-Mozambique. The mother of two gained interest in marine life when she was just a child, and as a teenager she realised that she wanted a career in marine conservation. After obtaining her bachelor’s degree in biology in 2006, she worked a few years with WWF before moving temporarily to Australia for her masters in Natural Resource Management and Environment. In 2015, Lara returned to WWF-Mozambique to continue her dream: working with coastal communities on sustainable livelihoods and healthy coastal and marine ecosystems.

Watch the video below to learn more about the work of WWF-Mozambique with the communities in Cabo Delgado.