This Archipelagos Will Have Five New Protected Areas

Following twenty years of efforts, the archipelagic nation of Comoros is finally expanding its network of protected areas (PAs), going from one to six – including three marine protected areas – to better protect turtles and other species.

The first PA, the 211-square-kilometer Mohéli marine park, first opened in 2001 before becoming Mohéli National Park in 2015. Since then, thanks to a recent five-year Global Environment Facility project, a new protected areas law has been enacted, an agency overlooking national parks has been created, and decrees to create new PAs have been passed. As a result, more PAs will be created on Ngazidja, Ndzuani, and Mohéli.

Green sea turtles nest massively on Mohéli, also known as Mwali. The island is also the perfect feeding ground for critically endangered hawksbill sea turtles and dugongs, and the surrounding waters are home to rare coelacanths, a prehistoric fish for a long time believed to be extinct. Two years ago, the island of Mohéli became a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.