The Government of Mozambique, whose President will today be visiting a lodge within the new reserve, has declared the entire Bazaruto Archipelago a protected area. At 1,400 square kilometres, it will now rank among the largest marine National Parks in East Africa if not the world. 

Organizations such as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and groups including the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) believe the decision will spur on efforts towards conserving the archipelago and its natural riches through initiatives such as sound and sustainable eco-tourism. 

Robert Hepworth, Deputy Director of UNEP's Division of Environmental Conventions which is spearheading efforts to protect coral reefs world-wide, said: "Protecting an important environment can only work if local people have a say in the running and managing of it. They need a genuine stake in its prosperity so that effective and long-lasting conservation can flourish, benefiting current and future generations". 

"2002 has been designated the International Year of Eco-Tourism by the United Nations. The subject of eco-tourism can arouse strong passions on both sides of the debate. We hope the newly formed Bazaruto Archipelago National Park can become a beacon of the kind of tourism that benefits not only the regional and national economy but also the local people, ecosystems, animals and plants upon which the tourism depends in the first place," he added. 

WWF, which has an extensive network of tropical marine conservation projects, has been working in Bazaruto for over a decade. In cooperation with the Endangered Wildlife Trust, a local group, a range of conservation initiatives have been launched. 

These include supporting park management and working with local holiday lodges and conservation groups to crack down on illegal shark fishing where the animals' fins are removed and the shark discarded. Tag and release programmes, connected with sport fishing, have also been established. 

Local people are being paid small fees for conservation work including reporting sightings of turtle nests. The new designation of the entire archipelago will, it is hoped, further benefit local communities in terms of schools and health centres financed from tourists paying park fees. 

Ghislaine Llewellyn, a marine conservation biologist with WWF, said: "Mozambique has extremely rich and diverse marine wildlife and habitats. The Bazaruto islands are a narrow chain dominated by ridges of large sand dunes, wide tidal mud flats and inland, salty, lakes. They support a wide variety of migratory seabirds, but their real riches are marine with coral reefs, incredibly diverse fisheries and the largest and possibly only viable dugong population left on the East African coast". 

"We applaud the decision of the Mozambique government to declare the entire archipelago a National Park. This is a major step forward for marine conservation efforts along the Eastern African coast and should be a big boost for nature-based tourism in the country," she added. 

UNEP, through its Regional Seas Programme and with other global partners, recently helped launch the International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN) with initial funding from the UN Foundation. It is working with other donors to generate real action on the ground to reverse the decline of coral reefs world-wide. 

One of ICRAN's key aims is to foster international links between local and regional initiatives. It is working with relevant groups including marine park authorities, local fishermen, tour boat operators, hotel owners and others, to help boost environmentally-friendly management at reef sites of the kind underway for the Bazaruto Archipelago. 

UNEP is also anxious to involve the private sector in the management and sustainable use of coral reefs. Mr Hepworth said: "Without active participation by the fisheries and tourist industries we will not be able to maintain healthy and self-sustaining reefs for future generations to use and enjoy". 

He singled out the privately-run Chumbe Coral Park in Zanzibar as an example of a sensitive ecotourist development which provided both local jobs and high standards of protection for coral reefs. He also extended UNEP's thanks to the United Sates for its announcement earlier this month of over $30 million for coral reef conservation. " The United States played a key role in the formation of ICRI and it is excellent news for reefs everywhere that their long term commitment to coral reefs is being maintained". 

News of the Bazaruto Archipelago becoming a National Park comes as governments and coral scientists have just completed the biannual meeting of the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) in Maputo, Mozambique. 

ICRAN is the "on-the-ground" response to ICRI's 'call to action' which is endorsed by 80 governments. At the Maputo meeting, delegates called for coral reefs to be put at the centre of the crucial World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), which is scheduled to take place in Johannesburg, South Africa, next September. 

Here governments, industry and non-governmental organizations will meet to review progress, ten years after the Rio Earth Summit of 1992, and chart a new and more successful course for the planet for the new millennium. 

Poverty reduction will be one of the central themes of the summit and coral experts are convinced that improving the health and protection of reefs can play an important role in meeting this goal. Coral reefs and their related ecosystems such as mangrove swamps and sea grass beds are critically important for food security for vulnerable groups living in tropical, coastal, areas. 

While coral reefs cover only one per cent of the planet, they are vital nurseries for fish, are believed to harbour promising new medicines and are, as a result of their attraction to divers, wildlife enthusiasts, yachtsmen and others, a key part of the global, multi-billion, dollar tourist industry. 

The ICRI resolution to the WSSD, approved by delegates from Australia, France, India, Japan, the Maldives, Mexico, Sri Lanka, the United States and the United Kingdom, warns that coral reefs were being affected by a wide range of man-made threats including bleaching, over-fishing and pollution. 

It calls on nations to protect coral reefs from pollution, damaging activites such as dynamite and cyanide fishing and, by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, the deleterious effects of climate change. 

The resolution also points out that conserving coral reefs is even more vital given the recent findings of the UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre's Atlas on Coral Reefs. This found that coral reefs are less abundant than had previously been supposed. It is estimated that 60 per cent of coral reefs could disappear by 2030 without urgent action. 

Notes to Editors: The International Coral Reef Action Network was set up in March 2001. The network includes UNEP, the World Fish Centre (ICLARM), the World Resources Institute, the International Coral Reef Initiative Secretariat, the Coral Reef Alliance, the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network and the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme. 

ICRAN's key goals are to transform reefs in various seas and oceans into show cases of good practice where conservation and boosting the incomes and livelihoods of local people go hand in hand. 

Coral reef conservation was given a boost in December this year when Samuel Bodman, United States's Commerce Deputy Secretary, announced $34 million for coral reef conservation. 

The World Wide Fund for Nature, known internationally by its panda logo, is a key player in the global effort to protect diversity on Earth. Now in its fourth decade, WWF works in more than 100 countries. 

The Bazaruto Archipelago consists of five islands (Bazaruto, Santa Carolina, Benguera, Mararuque and Bangue), with a combined land area of 156 square kilometers. It lies between the latitudes of 21 30 - 22 10 S and 35 22 - 35 30 E, between the towns of Vilanculo and Inhassoro. The islands are orientated approximately north/south between 30 and 35 kilometers offshore from the Mozambican coastline, and are probably sections of a former sandy peninsula connected to the mainland. 

For more information please contact: Tore J Brevik, UNEP Spokesman/Director of the Division of Communications and Public Information, on Tel: 254 2 623292, e-mail: tore.brevik@unep.org or Nick Nuttall, UNEP Head of Media, on Tel: 254 2 623084, Mobile; 254 (0) 733 632755, e-mail: nick.nuttall@unep.org or Robert Hepworth, Deputy Director, Division of Environmental Conventions, on Tel: 254 2 623260, e-mail: robert.hepworth@unep.org or Ghislaine Llewellyn at WWF on Tel: 202 547 8043, e-mail: ghislaine.llewellyn@wwfus.org or Meriwether Wilson, ICRAN Director, on Tel: 44 1223 277314, e-mail: meriwether.wilson@glg.ed.ac.uk 

UNEP News Release 01/122