Pemba’s new marine protected areas show the power of collaboration to meet 30×30 goal.
Tanzania gazetted two marine protected areas covering 1,300 square kilometers off Pemba Island's east coast, after more than 20 communities, government agencies and conservation groups agreed on a shared plan.
Fishers on the east coast of Pemba Island, part of Zanzibar, had been returning with smaller catches for years. Omar Hamad Salim, a member of the fisheries committee in Tumbe ward, said the shortage was not temporary. Villagers mainly blamed overfishing, and local committees decided something had to change.
Government officials had raised the idea of a conservation area with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Jean Mensa, who directs WCS's Tanzania Marine Program, said staff went community by community to hold large meetings and ask residents whether they favored a protected area. Some villagers worried about school fees and food, Salim recalled, but most came to agree an MPA was needed. Communities had also seen fish populations and livelihoods improve after the Pemba Channel Conservation Area was created on the island's other side in 2005.
More than 20 coastal communities worked with Mwambao, a Tanzanian marine group, the Tanzanian Department of Blue Economy and Fisheries, and WCS. The government announced the new areas at the U.N. Ocean Conference in June 2025 and gazetted them in June 2026. The North-East and South-East conservation areas together cover 1,300 square kilometers (502 square miles) of reefs, mangroves and seagrass. They are home to threatened species such as the reef manta ray.
Communities proposed several rules, according to Salim, including bans on kokoro nets, fishing with guns, destructive nets and non-biodegradable nets. Seaweed farming was stopped where it was not permitted, and villages wrote by-laws to enforce the rules. Local knowledge helped identify spawning aggregation sites, which can be prioritized as no-take zones. Women now make up about 30% of fishery committee membership. The areas still allow activities such as fishing.
Evidence of ecosystem recovery is not yet available. Makame Omar Makame, head of the fisheries department, said baseline information now exists, adding: "It is too early to tell but in the near future, we will see how things have changed." Salim said earlier conservation work had already helped him: "My life has improved because my income has increased."
Note: The headline suggests the areas meet the 30x30 goal. The page says they offer a lesson in how to pursue it, and officials say it is too early to measure ecosystem recovery. The page also carries a correction saying Blue Alliance was not involved in developing the new areas, so this brief does not credit it.
At a Glance
- The North-East and South-East conservation areas on Pemba together cover 1,300 square kilometers (502 square miles).
- The areas were announced in June 2025 and officially gazetted in June 2026.
- More than 20 coastal communities joined Mwambao, WCS and Tanzania's Department of Blue Economy and Fisheries.
- Women now make up around 30% of membership on the area's fishery committees.
Sources
This brief was written by Brightside Report from the reporting linked above. Spot an error? Request a correction.