Livelihood interventions and biodiversity conservation in Quirimbas National Park

Photo: Romy Chevallier
Photo: Romy Chevallier

Identifying and promoting diversified livelihood opportunities are crucial to enhance communities’ ability to respond to a changing coastal environment.

Coastal livelihood interventions can help communities by providing additional incomes, while protecting and maintaining resources and the environment. The identification and promotion of resilient and diversified livelihood opportunities are crucial to enhance communities’ adaptive capacity to respond to the multiple stresses and shocks in a changing coastal environment. Coastal livelihood opportunities are especially important in their support for biodiversity conservation in and around protected areas.

Quirimbas National Park (QNP) in Mozambique has some of the greatest marine biodiversity in the region and is one of the country’s largest and most important protected areas. This policy insight considers the most appropriate livelihood-focused interventions for coastal communities in the QNP, taking account of past and current project experiences. In areas where communities and park officials need additional support, it makes recommendations on how to best enhance initiatives.

The views expressed in this publication/article are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA).