The Location: Inhaca Island, Mocambique

A mere 38kms from the mainland and Capital City Maputo, Inhaca now forms part of the newly established and ambitious Marine Reserve Park stretching from Ponta d’Ouro on the southern borders of Mocambique up to and including both Inhaca and Portuguese Islands.  The Island itself already has a number of long established Reserves which are overseen by the University of Eduardo Mondlane and include such areas as Portuguese Island, Coral Gardens, Farol and Ponta Torres, as well as pristine Mangrove swamps and demarcated evergreen forestry areas.

Inhaca Island has a land mass of approximately 40 square km, 12km long and no more than 7km wide, with its highest point being Mount Inhaca at 104 meters.  The Island population of approximately 6 000 subsist almost exclusively on fishing and agriculture.  At low tide women harvest crabs, oysters and fish from the islands western shallows, whilst the men head into Maputo bay or out to the open Ocean to fish in their dhows constructed from the wood of the mangrove tree.

Just a few thousand years ago, the island formed part of the continent of Africa, then changing sea levels and wave action eroded a channel that eventually set Inhaca adrift in the Indian Ocean.  Today this channel is known as The Gap, or the more notoriously sounding Hells Gate, due to its wave action and ever changing sand bank formations making it sometimes impossible for boats to pass through.  Larger animals like African elephants and hippos gradually died out due to lack of food, and today the islands wildlife consists of the pristine mangroves and reefs and about 300 species of birds including those of conservation concern such as; Pink-backed Pelican, Lesser Crested Tern, Crab Plover, Greater Sand Plover, Mongolian Plover, Terek Sandpiper, Southern Banded Snake Eagle, Mangrove Kingfisher, Grey-rumped Swallow and Spotted Ground-Thrush.

Inhaca Island is one of the most southernly semi tropical islands in the world thereby creating a unique flora and fauna diversity and a rich inter tidal zone and has been subject to inumerous studies over the years from Universities and institutions all over the world, led by the University Eduardo Mondlane in Maputo.