Mafia Island is the site of Tanzania’s first Marine Park which was gazetted in 1995. The Park covers the southern half of the island and part of the north-east (see earlier map).
The area included within the boundaries of MIMP is one of the most important marine habitats in the world. It has mangroves, sea-grass beds, coral reefs, inter-tidal reef flats, lagoons and coastal forest. However, while its importance has increasingly been recognised, so too have its problems, particularly over-fishing (including many outside fishers coming into Mafia waters), and destructive and unsustainable fishing methods (including dynamite fishing).
The decision to set up a Marine Park was taken by the Government of Tanzania, and MIMP now falls under its Marine Parks and Reserves Unit. MIMP has been supported by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and further information can be found on the WWF website (World Wildlife Fund. Large-scale funding has also been received from the Department for International Development of the UK, the Norwegian Aid Agency NORAD and small amounts from private companies.
The first research work in this area was carried out by the Frontier organisation, which published several reports on the ecology of Mafia Island. In 2002 Frontier had recently returned to Mafia to carry out some new projects. There are also several foreign universities which send students to Mafia as part of their courses on coastal ecology.
Several academics have researched the setting-up and functioning of the Marine Park on Mafia. The work of the anthropologist Christine Walley is particularly important and information about her 2004 book Rough Waters: Nature and Development in an East African Marine Park can be found on her publisher’s website (Princeton University Press)./
References and further reading for ecology and MIMP
- Andrews, Greg, 1998 ‘Mafia Island Marine Park, Tanzania: Implications of Applying a Marine Park Paradigm in a Developing Country’,
- Board of Trustees, Maine Parks and Reserves, Tanzania, 2000. Mafia Island Marine Park General Management Plan. Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, United Republic of Tanzania (a Swahili version of this is also available)
- Horrill, JC and MAK Ngoile, 1992. Mafia Island Project Report number 2 (vol. 1 text, vol. 2 appendices) The Society for Environmental Exploration and the University of Dar es Salaam.
- Levine, Arielle ‘Global Partnerships in Tanzania’s Marine Resource Management: NGOs, the private sector, and local communities’ in Mayers, C.J., MAK Ngoile, J.C. Horrill, P. Nnyiti, C.K. Runisha,
- Chando, Catherine Msigwa, Master’s thesis. Gender Roles in Fishery Planning and Projects: Case Study of Coast Region in Tanzania
- Young, TR. 1992. The Proposed Mafia Island Marine Park: Discussion Paper, Tanzania Ministry of Tourism, Natural Resources and Environment.
- Walley, Christine, 2004. Rough Waters: Nature and Development in an African Marine Park. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.
