Protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

s in

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

are known as conservation areas, and are currently grouped into national parks, national reserves, forest reserves, wildlife utilisation areas (''coutadas''), community conservation areas, and private game farms (''fazendas de bravio''). There are also a number of areas that have been declared as protected areas under a variety of different legislation, which for reasons of simplicity are here grouped together as "other protected areas." Under the Conservation Law of 2014 (Law 16/2014 of June 20), protected areas will need to be reclassified into a much more flexible series of new categories which are closer to the international system used by the IUCN. International initiatives such as transfrontier parks are grouped at the end of the page.

National parks

Banhine National Park Banhine National Park is a protected area in northern Gaza Province, Mozambique. The park was established on 26 June 1973. In 2013 the limits of park were updated to better reflect the realities on the ground, particularly the human presence in t ...

, ''Parque Nacional de Banhine'' - Gaza (7,250 km²) *

Bazaruto National Park The Bazaruto Archipelago National Park (BANP) is a protected area in the Inhambane Province of Mozambique on the Bazaruto Archipelago. The park was proclaimed on 25 May 1971. It is off the coast of the Vilanculos and Inhassoro districts, cove ...

, ''Parque Nacional do Arquipelago de Bazaruto'' -

Inhambane Inhambane (also known as Terra de Boa Gente (''Land of Good People'')) is a city located in southern Mozambique, lying on Inhambane Bay, 470 km northeast of Maputo. It is the capital of the Inhambane Province and, according to the 2017 cen ...

(1,463 km²) *

Chimanimani National Park The Chimanimani Mountains are a mountain range on the border of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The mountains are in the southern portion of the Eastern Highlands, or Manica Highlands, a belt of highlands that extend north and south along the internatio ...

, ''Parque Nacional de Chimanimani'' - Manica (656 km²) *

Gorongosa National Park Gorongosa National Park is at the southern end of the Great African Rift Valley in the heart of central Mozambique, Southeast Africa. The more than park comprises the valley floor and parts of surrounding plateaus. Rivers originating on nearby ...

, ''Parque Nacional da Gorongosa'' -

Sofala Sofala , at present known as Nova Sofala , used to be the chief seaport of the Mwenemutapa Kingdom, whose capital was at Mount Fura. It is located on the Sofala Bank in Sofala Province of Mozambique. The first recorded use of this port town w ...

(5,370 km²) *

Limpopo National Park The Limpopo National Park () was born when the status of Coutada 16 Wildlife Utilisation Area in Gaza Province, Mozambique, was changed from a hunting concession to a protected area. It forms part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park with the ...

, ''Parque Nacional do Limpopo'' - Gaza (11,233 km²) * Magoe National Park, ''Parque Nacional do Magoe'' - Tete (3,558 km²) * Quirimbas National Park, ''Parque Nacional das Quirimbas'' - Cabo Delgado (9,130 km²) * Zinave National Park, ''Parque Nacional do Zinave'' - Inhambane (4,000 km²)

National reserves

* Gilé National Reserve, ''Reserva Nacional do Gilé'' -

Zambézia Zambezia ( ) is the second most-populous province of Mozambique, located in the central coastal region south-west of Nampula Province and north-east of Sofala Province. It has a population of 5.11 million, according to the 2017 census. The provin ...

(4,436 km²) *

Maputo Special Reserve Maputo Special Reserve (formerly known as Maputo Elephant Reserve) is a nature reserve in Mozambique. The reserve is located on Maputo Bay, approximately 100 kilometers southeast of the city of Maputo, Mozambique. The Reserve is 1,040 km2 ...

, ''Reserva Especial de Maputo'' -

Maputo Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...

(1,040 km²) * Marromeu Buffalo Reserve, ''Reserva de Búfalos de Marromeu'' - Sofala (1,500 km²) * Niassa National Reserve, ''Reserva Nacional do Niassa'' -

Niassa Niassa is a province of Mozambique with an area of 129,056 km2 and a population of 1,810,794 (2017). It is the most sparsely populated province in the country. Lichinga is the capital of the province. There are a minimum estimated 450,000 ...

(42,200 km²) * Pomene National Reserve, ''Reserva National de Pomene'' - Inhambane (50 km²)

Other protected areas

Lake Niassa Partial Marine Reserve A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

, ''Reserva Marinha Parcial de Lago Niassa'' - Niassa (486 km²) * Malhazine Municipal Park, ''Parque Ecológico de Malhazine'' - Maputo City (5.6 km²) *

Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve Ponta may refer to: Ponta, Portuguese for "point" or promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of r ...

, ''Reserva Marinha Parcial de Ponta do Ouro'' - Maputo (673 km²) *

Primeiras and Segundas Islands Environmental Protected Area The Primeiras and Segundas Archipelago is a chain of 10 sparsely inhabited barrier islands and two coral reef complexes situated in the Indian Ocean off the coast of the Zambezia Province of Mozambique. The islands lie in two groups along the wes ...

, ''Área de Protecção Ambiental do Arquipélago das Ilhas Primeiras e Segundas''- Zambezia, Nampula (10,409 km²) *

Sao Sebastiao Total Protection Area SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Serb Autonomous Regions (''Srpska autonomna oblast'', SAO), during the breakup of ...

, ''Area de Proteccao Total de Sao Sebastiao'' - Inhambane (439 km²)

Community conservation areas

* Chipanje Chetu (6,065 km²) * Mitcheu (113 km²) * Tchuma Tchato (31,838 km²)

Wildlife utilisation areas

* Coutada 4 - Manica (4,300 km²) * Coutada 5 - Sofala (6,868 km²) * Coutada 6 - Sofala (4,563 km²) - extinguished in 2014 * Coutada 7 - Manica (5,408 km²) * Coutada 8 - Sofala (310 km²) - extinguished in 2014; became the Mitcheu Community Conservation Area * Coutada 9 - Manica (4,333 km²) * Coutada 10 - Sofala (2,008 km²) * Coutada 11 - Sofala (1,928 km²) * Coutada 12 - Sofala (2,963 km²) * Coutada 13 - Manica (5,683 km²) * Coutada 14 - Sofala (1,353 km²) * Coutada 15 - Sofala (2,300 km²) * Coutada 16 - now part of the Limpopo National Park * Luabo (558 km²) * Lureco (2,226 km²) * Marupa * Messalo (1,227 km²) * Micaúne (240 km²) * Mulela (964 km²) * Nacúma (2,713 km²) * Nicage (Cabo Delgado) (5,400 km²) * Nipepe (1,382 km²) * Nungo (3,288 km²)

Forest reserves

* Baixo Pinda (196 km²) * Derre (1,700 km²) * Inhamitanga (16 km²) * Licuáti (37 km²) * Maronga (83 km²) * Matibane (512 km²) * Mecuburi (2,300 km²) * Moribane (53 km²) * M'palue (51 km²) * Mucheve (91 km²) * Nhampacue (170 km²) * Ribáuè (52 km²) * Zomba (28 km²)

Private game farms

As of 2014, there were 50 private game farms in Mozambique.

Ramsar sites

Lake Niassa Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, () is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is the fourth largest ...

Ramsar Complex * Marromeu Complex

Transfrontier conservation areas

* Chimanimani Transfrontier Conservation Area - established in 1999 between the Mozambique and Zimbabwe governments :Extension: 2.056 km² :Composition: Mozambique (Chimanimani National Reserve); Zimbabwe (

) * Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area - established at December 10, 2004 among the Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa governments :Extension: 84.868 km² :Composition: Mozambique (Limpopo, Banhine and Zinave National Parks); Zimbabwe (

Gonarezhou National Park Gonarezhou National Park is a national park located in southeastern Zimbabwe. It is situated in a relatively remote corner of Masvingo Province, south of Chimanimani along the Mozambique border. Owing to its vast size, rugged terrain and its loc ...

, Manjinji Pan Sanctuary, Malipati Safari Area, Sengwe Community Area); South Africa (

Kruger National Park Kruger National Park () is a national park in South Africa covering an area of in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in the country's northeast. It extends from north to south and from east to west. The administrative headquarters are i ...

, Makulele Region) * Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation Area - established in June, 2000 among the Mozambique, Swaziland and South Africa governments :Extension: 4.170 km² :Composition: Maputo Elephant Reserve (Mozambique),

Tembe Elephant Park Tembe Elephant Park is a 30 012 ha game reserve in Maputaland, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is adjacent to Ndumo Game Reserve. The park was developed by Tembe Tribal Authority and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife. It was established in 1983 to protect ...

(South Africa) and Lubombo Conservancy (

Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...

)

References

Parks and Reserves
– National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC) {{Africa topic, Protected areas of Nature conservation in Mozambique

Protected areas Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...