Tanzania designates fascinating coastal
complex.
The Secretariat is extremely pleased to
announce that the United Republic of Tanzania has named its
fourth Wetland of International Importance, entitled
Rufiji-Mafia-Kilwa Marine Ramsar site
(08°08'S 039°38'E), a complex of coastal and marine habitats
covering 596,908 hectares, comprising the delta of the Rufiji
River; the Mafia Island about 25km offshore and surrounding
smaller islands, sandbars, and coral reefs; the Songo-Songo
Archipelago to the south; and adjacent waters, i.e. the Mafia
Channel and waters between Mafia and Songo-Songo.
A large part
is composed of mangrove forests (an estimated 55,000 ha) as
well as extensive intertidal flats, seagrass beds, and
sandbars, all thought to be ecologically interlinked with the
flow of the river. Songo-Songo
has
a highly diverse and extensive coral assemblage with records
of 49 genera of hard and 12 genera of soft corals.
Five
species of globally threatened marine turtles have been
recorded, including Green Turtle and Hawksbill, as well as a
small population of Dugong dugong. A count in the delta
alone in 2001 recorded 40,160 waterbirds of 62 species at a
minimum.
The delta's
artisanal fishery of about 7,000 fishermen produces about
4,500 tonnes of finfish per annum, as well as prawns, and
thousands of families in Songo-Songo and on Mafia similarly
make their livings from fishing. Fishing and extraction of
other coastal and mangrove resources, as well as cultivation
(especially rice), seaweed farming, and tourism are the major
activities within the site.
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© Adopted from Ramsar Bulletin Board
SAFARIS -->I TANZANIA I
KENYA I
ZANZIBAR I MAFIA I
KILWA I
MOMBASA
