In 2024, Associação NATURA forged a consortium and entered a long-term agreement with the government of Mozambique to lead restoration and protection of 4,800 km2 of this precious ecosystem in partnership with local communities. The area had been abandoned and without support management for a decade. Also in 2024, NATURA forged an agreement with Rio Save Safaris who manage a neighboring wildlife concession of 3,800 km2. Together, these two areas form a continuous area the size of Yellowstone National Park or South Luangwa National Park. But with one key difference, this ecosystem is a shared landscape that is still home to communities that depend on the land as they have for centuries past.
First constituted in 2008, NATURA played a crucial role in the successful early years of post-war recovery and management of Niassa National Reserve. Today, NATURA supports various environmental restoration, protected area management, and research and eco literacy programs across central and southern Mozambique. We have helped finance the reintroduction of leopards, funded the establishment and operations of Mozambique's first pangolin recovery center, supported mangrove restoration, and led extensive marine scientific expeditions along the coasts of Nampula, Zambezia and Inhambane. In 2020, NATURA in partnership with AVM and WIORI co-purchased and co-manages the REEF PROTECTOR, a 31- meter, 208-ton ocean-going vessel that is a research and marine management platform and the first of its kind in Mozambique. NATURA is also a technical and financial partner brokering and establishing a new protected area in the Inhambane Seascape alongside Mission Blue, Marine Megafauna Foundation, the IUCN and African Parks. The Malamba Coastal Collaborative - lying within the heart of the Inhambane Seascape just south of Bazaruto National Park- is a NATURA program in partnership with the communities of Malamba and Mazuene.
In 2023, the IUCN's Africa Protected Areas Congress (APAC) Call to Action for People and Nature established a mandate to identify, recognize and empower African nationals to lead and implement the restoration and protection of biodiversity in authentic and just ways that respect and enhance the lives of local and indigenous communities, especially women and children. As a Mozambican NGO, NATURA is committed to transforming the current paradigm and raising the bar on how biodiversity management is practiced on the African continent. And we are passionate about supporting and strengthening the next generation of Mozambican environmental leaders, and the self-governance and wellbeing of indigenous communities living within and around protected areas.
Macossa-Tambara Team
With deep expertise in Mozambique, and specifically central Mozambique, our team’s multi-decade, cumulative expertise spans ecosystem and wildlife restoration, international and Mozambican law, the rights of women and communities, youth development and wellbeing, government relations, protected area management, wildlife veterinary, endangered species recovery and monitoring, sustainable development, protected area law enforcement, human-wildlife coexistence, conflict mitigation, and strategic planning. We believe that knowledge-driven solutions, and authentic and transparent partnerships within and among our communities/orgs/human systems underpin coexistence and sustainability.
Our Inaugural Partners
