Mozambique

África

321

Documented species

Parks and reserves

Dive sites

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Mozambique has more than two thousand five hundred kilometres of Indian Ocean coast and a marine shelf of reefs, seagrass meadows and mangroves that ranks among the richest in the western Indian Ocean. The Bazaruto archipelago keeps giant dunes, islands and turquoise shallows, and the Tofo coast is a fixed meeting point with whale sharks and manta rays. Inland, the Rift Valley crosses the centre of the country and shapes Gorongosa, a mosaic of savannah, floodplain, miombo woodland and a forested plateau that works as an ecological island. To the north, the Niassa reserve is one of the largest protected areas in Africa, with endless miombo, elephants, African wild dogs and a very sparse human presence. The Zambezi delta adds one of the largest coastal wetlands on the continent.

The nature of Mozambique

National animal: No official national animal

Did you know?

The civil war devastated Gorongosa's wildlife: most of its large mammals disappeared and some species were reduced to a handful of survivors. Since 2004, a long-term restoration programme has brought the herbivores back to tens of thousands and returned the predators. The park has become the most cited case study in the world on how an entire ecosystem is put back together after a collapse.

Biodiversity profile

Africa Austral (costa del Oceano Indico)Dato no disponible con precision agregada nacional en fuentes verificadas consultadas

Climate

•Tropical con estacion seca (Aw) en la mayor parte del pais
•Tropical humedo (Am) en la costa norte
•Templado de montaña en las tierras altas de Manica (frontera con Zimbabue)

Main biomes

•Sabana y bosque de miombo (interior)
•Bosque montano de Chimanimani-Nyanga (compartido con Zimbabue, centro de endemismo)
•Manglares y bosque costero (litoral extenso del Oceano Indico)
•Arrecife de coral índico
•Pradera marina
•Manglar costero
•Bosque de miombo
•Llanura inundable
•Duna costera
•Bosque de niebla de inselberg

Marine and coastal ecosystems

•Extensa costa del Oceano Indico (mas de 2.700 km) con arrecifes de coral, manglares y praderas marinas
•Archipielago de Bazaruto y Quirimbas, de gran valor para el dugongo y las tortugas marinas

Flagship wildlife

•Elefante de sabana
•Dugongo (una de las ultimas poblaciones significativas del Oceano Indico occidental, en Bazaruto)
•Leon africano
•Tortuga marina (varias especies, anidacion costera)
•Tiburón ballena
•Manta gigante
•Elefante africano de sabana
•Perro salvaje africano
•Hipopótamo
•Tortuga verde
•Antílope sable
•Ballena jorobada

Notable endemic species

•9,3% de la flora conocida de Mozambique es endemica o casi endemica, incluyendo 5 generos estrictamente endemicos y 2 casi endemicos
•69% de los taxones endemicos se concentran en 4 centros de endemismo transfronterizos: Rovuma, Maputaland, Chimanimani-Nyanga (compartido con Zimbabue) y Mulanje-Namuli-Ribaue
•La provincia de Manica es la mas rica en taxones casi endemicos del pais
•Musaraña elefante de Monte Chiperone
•Camaleón del Monte Mabu

Notable threatened species

•Dugongo (Vulnerable, poblacion de Bazaruto entre las ultimas significativas de la region)
•57% de las especies de plantas estrictamente endemicas evaluadas catalogadas como globalmente amenazadas
•10-17% de la flora endemica clasificada como Datos Insuficientes, reflejo de vacios de conocimiento cientifico

Notable protected areas

•Parque Nacional de Gorongosa (en fuerte recuperacion tras la guerra civil)
•Archipielago de Bazaruto (dugongo, tortugas)
•Archipielago de las Quirimbas (Patrimonio Natural marino)
•Parque Nacional del Archipiélago de Bazaruto
•Reserva Especial de Niassa
•Parque Nacional de las Quirimbas
•Parque Nacional de Maputo
•Monte Mabu

Main conservation threats

•Impacto historico de decadas de guerra civil sobre poblaciones de grandes mamiferos, con recuperacion notable en Gorongosa en años recientes
•Deforestacion y expansion agricola sobre centros de endemismo transfronterizos
•Presion pesquera y de desarrollo costero sobre habitats de dugongo y tortugas marinas

Notable natural phenomena

•Nuevas especies vegetales continuan describiendose en Mozambique a un ritmo significativo (20 especies nuevas descritas solo en 2018)

Conservation

Bazaruto holds the last viable dugong population in the western Indian Ocean, with a few hundred animals. Mount Mabu, a cloud forest identified from satellite imagery in 2005, keeps yielding species new to science.

Where and when to watch wildlife

Tofo between October and March for whale sharks and mantas. Bazaruto year-round for dugongs and reefs. Gorongosa between June and October for savannah wildlife.

Sources: PMC - The endemic plants of Mozambique diversity and conservation status

Savanna Mountain Grassland Islands Ocean