Marine National Park · Mozambique · 143,000 hectares
Bazaruto Archipelago National Park
Where the dugongs still hold on.
Bazaruto Archipelago National Park: the numbers, sourced
As of July 2026.
- ~325 dugongs — East Africa's last viable population, estimated by aerial survey. Trotzuk et al., Conservation Science and Practice, 2017–2021 surveys, published 2022.
- Critically Endangered — IUCN relisting of the East Africa dugong subpopulation, informed by park-coordinated research. IUCN Red List, 2022.
- 143,000 hectares — of protected seascape across five islands, declared 1971. African Parks; ANAC, 1971–present.
- First marine park — African Parks' 25-year agreement with ANAC — its 13th park, first at sea. African Parks, December 2017.
- ~2,000 fish species — recorded in the park’s waters. African Parks, current.
What was lost at Bazaruto Archipelago National Park?
The dugong — the sea cow that grazes seagrass meadows — has all but vanished from East African waters. In 2022 the IUCN moved the East Africa subpopulation to Critically Endangered. The Bazaruto seascape holds the last viable population in the region, and for decades it had protection on paper (the park dates to 1971) but little on the water.
What brought it back?
In December 2017, Mozambique's conservation authority ANAC signed a 25-year agreement making Bazaruto African Parks' first marine park. Patrols went onto the water; Africa's first dugong satellite-tagging project followed. Aerial surveys between 2017 and 2021 put the population at roughly 325 dugongs (Trotzuk et al., Conservation Science and Practice, 2022) — small, fragile, and holdable.
What is it like now?
The park spans 143,000 hectares across five islands, with around 2,000 fish species in its waters and about 30,000 visitors a year. The dugongs are the flagship, but the same patrols protect turtle nesting beaches, reef fish and the seagrass that feeds it all.
Who does the work?
Park rangers run the water patrols and the tagging science; on the islands, a community training centre teaches hospitality, baking and craft trades, and conservation agriculture programs work with the archipelago's farming families (African Parks; visitbazaruto.org).
How do you visit Bazaruto Archipelago National Park?
The island lodges — Azura and andBeyond on Benguerra, Anantara on Bazaruto, Kisawa on the sanctuary's edge — operate inside the park, and park fees ride on every stay. Snorkel the reef, and you are floating over the patrols' beat.
Or have the whole journey designed for you — Cape to Nile designs custom African safaris.
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