Thanks to Marine Cultures, Oceans Without Borders Community & Conservation ranger, Nassor Ali, has just had the wonderful opportunity to hone his coral reef restoration skills. The field-based course included coral propagation, coral nursery maintenance and rapid response to coral threats. Marine Cultures has provided foundational capacity building, which has contributed significantly to the success of our Mnemba Island coral nursery project. This project has supported over 7,000 coral colonies to restore degraded local reef sections and develop new artificial reef structures. Learn more HERE.

Follow the coral trail. In addition to the developing turtle and starfish-shaped artificial reef structures around Mnemba Island, Oceans Without Borders will create and deploy 150 coral frames, covered in coral fragments. These small-scale structures will not only provide increasing reef habitat for marine life but will shape a thrilling underwater pathway for snorkellers and scuba divers to follow. Participating in this regenerative project is as simple as adopting your very own coral frame. Learn more HERE.

Making the blues count; the four word answer to the question “What is the role of an Oceans Without Borders Community & Conservation ranger?”. These remarkable men and women, all drawn from local island and coastal communities in Zanzibar (Mnemba Island) and Mozambique (Benguerra Island), bring a wealth of skillsets to the little-known world of a marine ranger. As their community-and-conservation title directly references, they are not only educators, mentors and conservation ambassadors within their communities, but are also key to our project operations across the seascapes in which we operate. Click HERE to learn more.

The 2024 Wildlife Ranger Challenge is on! Step up for marine conservation in spirit, or in action. This annual fundraiser, with a generous match-funding dynamic, supports rangers across Africa and generates critical funding for the Oceans Without Borders programme. Join their Benguerra and Mnemba Community & Conservation marine ranger teams as they take on the culminating 21.1 km race on 21st September; run or walk a distance of your choice, as an individual or group fundraiser; or donate instead. Contact Rebekah@africafoundation.org.za to find out more.

Coral reefs are critical habitats that are vitally important to millions of people yet are facing global decline. Monitoring these ecosystems is of paramount importance to assess their status and integrity. The Oceans Without Borders project officer, Washington Denis, and OWB Community and Conservation ranger attended a 6-day Coral Reef Monitoring Workshop in Zanzibar hosted by the Wildlife Conservation Society. The workshop shared simple and effective methods on how to assess reefs using key indicator metrics. Reef monitoring is a key activity of OWB at our seascapes around Mnemba Island and in the Bazaruto Archipelago National Park.

In April, the Oceans Without Borders Benguerra Island team came to the rescue of the local house reef. In mid-March, tropical cyclone Filipo made landfall in Mozambique, bringing torrential rainfall, sustained winds of up to 116 km/h and heavy storm-surge. As a result, substantial amounts of debris, including tree trunks, branches and roots, were washed onto the Benguerra Island House Reef, smothering and damaging the coral. Their team spent a week diving and clearing these multiple deposits from the reef, before moving all this flotsam out of the water to a beach collection point for removal.

It’s fair to say that for Oceans Without Borders their increased collaborative monitoring of critical habitats and iconic species within Mozambique’s Bazaruto Archipelago National Park seascape has got off to an exciting start. This endangered hawksbill turtle was a wonderful find in the mangroves at spring high tide on Santa Carolina Island in this protected region. While reef fish are known to go into the mangroves, the presence of these turtles is a clear indicator of the connectivity between the key habitats of seagrass beds, coral reefs and mangroves. Yet another proof point that oceans really do have no borders. Learn more HERE.

Meet Washington Dennis: marine scientist and new Oceans Without Borders Mnemba Island Project Officer. Washington’s passion for the ocean is tangible. “As a marine scientist, I emphasise that advocating for ocean conservation isn’t solely for the marine ecosystem, it’s essential for human welfare.” He firmly believes that collaboration is key to marine conservation, and elevating communities’ livelihoods a top priority. Not only is Washington an advanced diver with a BSc. Honours in Aquatic Science and Fisheries from the University of Dar es Salaam, but his project experience includes mangroves, coral restoration and fishery sustainability. Welcome Washington! Click HERE to read more

“Restoring the balance” is the focus of Oceans Without Borders five-year marine conservation strategy across the Mnemba Island seascape, in collaboration with andBeyond, local stakeholders, and Zanzibar’s Ministry of Blue Economy & Fisheries. January 2024 finds their island team ramping up the coral nursery to accelerate Mnemba House Reef’s restoration, and develop more artificial sites that will not only support local reef rehabilitation, but also stimulate revenue for island communities. The team will be conducting reef health and biodiversity monitoring at key sites, using the additional resource of “BRUVS” (Baited Remote Underwater Video Systems) on reefs deeper than 50 m. Click HERE to learn more.

It’s all in the detail. Even these tiny coral “Christmas worms” are intrinsic to the rich complexity of a coral reef ecosystem. Looking back on the many community and conservation milestones of 2023, the team at Oceans Without Borders have so much to be grateful for. A huge thank you to everyone whose relentless support has been instrumental to each of these achievements. The team also recognise the role played by each individual in protecting our oceans. Here’s to a year of endless possibilities and opportunities.