Marine protected areas for whales, dolphins, and porpoises: a world ...

Habitat Protection for Cetaceans around the World 309
Notes and rationale For more information
• Part of Inhaca Island forms the Ilhas da Inhaca e dos Portuguese • Engdahl and Motta, 2000
Reserve but expanded area would include larger marine area. • More information, see web:
Identified as a national site and then proposed as a World Heritage http://international.nos.
Site because of its outstanding marine biodiversity, the site has noaa.gov/heritage/pdfs/
feeding areas for turtles, dugong and migratory birds, as well as east_africa.pdf
endemic fish and plant species and the southernmost coral
communities in the region with high endemism of soft corals.
• The area is experiencing pressure from urban and harbour
development, dredging, pollution and tourism.
• Proposed as a candidate World Heritage Site because of its • More information, see web:
outstanding marine biodiversity, the delta has the largest complex http://international.nos.
of mangroves in the western Indian Ocean and a globally important noaa.gov/heritage/pdfs/
wetland with threatened wetland birds. east_africa.pdf
• Area is under threat from upstream dam development controlled by
Zambia and Zimbabwe, mariculture and national government
development plans.
• Photo-ID work on humpback whales has been conducted here • Contact: Bernard Rota,
by Globice Réunion. GLOBICE;
email: wanadoo.fr;
web: www.globice.org
• Large refuge or sanctuary comprising entire national waters with • Gaudian et al, 1995;
ban on hunting cetaceans. Shah, 1993
• On 29 May 1979, the Seychelles government issued Decree 28
which established complete protection for marine mammals in
Seychelles waters, specifically prohibiting any taking of marine
mammals unless by permit granted from the president (‘taking’ is
determined as killing, chasing with the intent to kill, harassing
which would disturb natural behaviour or breeding habits, and
taking dead or alive; there is some provision for accidental taking
of marine mammals).
• In the early 1990s, an Environmental Management Plan was
adopted and all marine and other conservation initiatives are based
on this. Some 22 protected areas in the Seychelles include marine
and coastal habitat, with 15 of them covering coastal waters, but
none are designed to protect cetaceans (Gaudian et al, 1995).
• Gazetted as a conservation area in Aug 1997 by Zanzibar • Contact: Omar A Amir,
government to protect coral reefs, Menai Bay Conservation Area Marine Mammal Education
is managed jointly by the fisheries dept and local communities; and Research Project,
rated IUCN Category VI. Institute of Marine Sciences;
• Since 1998, a dolphin photo-ID project of Stockholm University, Zanzibar; email:
Sweden, and the Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS), Zanzibar, has omar@ims.udsm.ac.tz
found 160 resident Indo-Pacific bottlenose and 69 resident • Menai Bay Conservation
Indo-Pacific hump-backed dolphins in Menai Bay. Area, Fisheries Dept;
email:
wwfmenai@zitec.org;
web: www.marineparktz.com