23/06/2026
Bringing benefits to Sharks, Crabs and Fisherfolk - an example of an effective Marine Protected Area 🌍⬆️
🌍 Sitting 8 km off the southwest coast of Zanzibar, Coral Park was established in 1994 through a public-private partnership with the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar. It was recently ranked as the top Marine Protected Area globally for marine protected area governance effectiveness.
And it is a shining example of marine management done right.
👥 Chumbe became the first privately managed and financially self-sustaining MPA in the world, operating through three key pillars: conservation, education and ecotourism.
📈 Ecotourism generates millions of dollars that go back to the community in management and environmental education services. Education courses reach over 13,000 stakeholders (school children and community members), creating a win-win relationship between the community and the protected area.
The results speak for themselves! Since 1994, Chumbe has recovered:
An abundance of live coral species provide habitat for 529 species of reef fish and 257 reef-based invertebrate species 🪸
A stable black-tip shark population, a keystone predator 🦈
A healthy population of commercial fish, which now can reach sufficient size to produce exponentially more offspring, which in turn can stay in the sanctuary until they reach the age for dispersal to areas accessible to local fisherfolk 🐟
And more resilient corals, with a high number of herbivorous reef species that keep damaging macro algae in check, allowing hard corals time to recover 🌿
🌅 It proves that when the Ocean thrives, communities benefit, and abundance is shared.
In a rewilded future, huge areas all over oceans are managed like 🦭
