Ilhas Primeiras e Segundas

An offshore archipelago adjacent to two river estuaries in the northern part of Mozambique. The area covered is approximately 5,770 km squared.

Description

The archipelago is composed of two groups of six islands running parallel to the coastline providing a protective barrier for the 30 m deep turbid “inner sea” and dense mangrove forests, swamps and creeks that are associated with two main and a number of smaller rivers. The islands have high abundance, cover and diversity of hard corals, and the turbid “inner sea” has extensive and diverse seagrass beds that gain nutrient and substrate from the river outflows. Eight species of mangroves are found in riverine, creek and basin forests. These habitats provide important feeding, breeding and resting sites for a diversity of fish, invertebrates, birds (notably the Sooty tern), dugong and turtles. It is an important Green turtle nesting area and a staging point in the migration of Humpback whales. The area was assigned ecoregional importance because of the high habitat and species diversity, the close linkages between habitats, and presence of a large colony of breeding sooty terns.

Contacts

Museu de História Natural; Instituto de Investigacoes Pesqueiras, Mozambique; and Universidade Eduardo Mondlane.

Conservation Status

No formal conservation measures exist. In general, there is little impact on the area with the exception of the Sooty tern population where an estimated 90% of eggs are taken by rats on some of the islands. Humans also collect tern eggs. There is also some small-scale collection of turtles and their eggs.

Summary of threats and information needs

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