(A summary of notes given to visitors)
Welcome to MAREJA!
Thank you for coming here, and finding us, despite poor internet connection, little mobile coverage and a long winding track! Tourists are the life blood of this project and your presence and support helps in many, many ways...
Mareja covers 36,000 hectares of miombo coastal forest, and contains much variety, with Inselberg mountains dotted about. A major river runs through the heart of the reserve and we have secured a beautiful fragment of Palm Forest from eager farmers. Mareja was established over 15 years ago and now predominantly sits within the wider boundaries of Quirimbas National Park, which was designated in 2002.
Mareja is a community conservation project, everyone you meet benefits from the Community Association, which is funded largely by tourism. The project provides food, housing, and health care, and all developments here are overseen by a Council of Elders.
There is much to say about Mareja and we have only sketched in a few gaps here. Dominik is a font of vivid and extraordinary stories, some of them simply unbelievable! Or if Dominik is not about, Adamo, Nanquata or anyone else will help. So please just ask, there is usually time for chatting particularly once the sun has gone down. This is Africa where time is measured differently because today matters and tomorrow is tomorrow.
Activities
There are many options and we hope to offer you something that meets your particular interests and level of adventure. We have a team of rangers, and as well as patrolling and protecting the reserve, they lead walks and look after visitors.
Options include, bush walking, climbing the mountain Necanuwe (which affords a spectacular view of a sea of forest), bird-watching, safari drives, bush camps near the big river Magueada, fishing (using local techniques) and much more.
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| River Mageuada in the rainy season |
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| Visitor, Luis, fishing with Ranger Assani |
Wildlife viewing
Unlike a large game reserve in say Kenya or South Africa, we have less big game, and the mammals we have are highly secretive and deeply camouflaged in areas of dense bush. They will hear and smell you long before you approach. The excitement and pleasure comes from embracing the whole ecosystem and tuning into the diversity it has to offer – many insects, colourful birds, strange new plants, magnificent large trees, and if you are lucky some mammals and certainly signs of life in tracks and trails. If we cannot show you elephants we certainly can show you their poo!
But the forest is a haven for a very interesting mix of mammals. We provide a sanctuary for a small number of Elephant and the main game species are the magnificent Sable antelope and Kudu, with their distinctive twisting horns. We probably have the only sustainable population of Sable in the southern reaches of the Park. We also have Serval, Leopard and Lion. Our three Wild Dog packs have not been seen this year which is a great concern. We did however recently have a very exciting sighting of Golden Cat, a rare, elusive and understudied large cat species. You will see many Baboon around the house as they like to help themselves to any food left unattended! There are also large populations of Black-faced and Samango monkeys. We have a fantastic bird life with many raptors such as Bateleur and Martial Eagle and hornbills including the very large Southern-Ground Hornbill . (Please ask if you would like to see the Mareja bird list.) Our awareness of plant, insect, reptile and amphibian diversity is also growing with research.
Why your visit matters
Primarily you prove that wildlife has a greater value alive than dead, and consequently forests need to remain standing to support these animals. This may sound simplistic, but if you have lived here all your life the cash sum for an elephant tusk or a large mahogany is understandably tempting, indeed far more tempting than quietly guarding it, unrecognised, while you still eat cassava, rice and beans. And the market for both ivory and timber is here on our doorstep in the form of cash in hand. You will read about containers of illegal timber confiscated in Asia and captured hunters, but sadly this struggle is far greater than the odd success story. Fighting these pressures is all consuming if you choose to make it your cause, and here at Mareja we have.
We have been working for over 15 years now to try to find sustainable alternatives to poaching and illegal logging, and through daily rangering, a system of rewards and tourism, Mareja is still here and achieving many small successes... as you say in the local language, Makua Verkani Verkani, little by little.
Some battles are just too big and hard - Black Rhino and Zebra were lost in the 80’s and 90’s, and Buffalo have suffered dramatically in the wider park in the last 4 years... from a healthy population of over 300, 5 years ago to no more than 10 or so in recent years.
In the early 2000’s we managed to stop a major trade of illegal logging on the reserve and brought about the first fine for such operations. On average our Rangers collect 1,500 snares a year and capture around 50 poaching groups. Poachers usually operate in small groups of only 2 or 3, but on one occasion the rangers caught a group of 23 men and children with 17 nets planning to clear out an area of all small running game.
How it all began
Dominik went looking for a rare and beautiful piece of land that could be developed into a sustainable project. As the war receded there were stories of hidden tracts of land and large animals still hanging on in the North of Mozambique. He arrived in Pemba and heard tales of a derelict colonial house and surrounding farm so set off to take a look. At that point there was still the odd mine, and the roads were.... well hardly ‘roads’. It took him days of slow painful meandering and bush waking to find and create a track - for much of this journey he was accompanied by a pack of Lions. Then he eventually drove straight into one of the pillars of the main house.
At that point Dominik hardly spoke Portuguese and there was a surreal welcome... Only 5 families were hanging on after the civil war. One of the elders approached Dominik, greeted him in German and handed him a large metal key. A key to a door that did not exist, to a house that had no roof and barely any walls! He was welcomed like the returning hero. But this elder, Palavi, assumed he was the related to the previous owner, Margareta Frier, the German lady who had left during the civil war.
People yesterday
Dominik established the project when only 5 families were still here after the civil war. His friends and allies were Agali and Palavi, who both are now sadly dead, but these two taught him much about Mareja, its history, people and the pulse of life here. He has a great deal to thank them for (indeed he owes his life to Palavi). The project has been through many phases and developments, with all sorts of people lending their hands, time, spirit and energy. Their input is contained in what you see around you, over 100km of hand-crafted roads, new buildings and much else that you can’t see. Some people have been at Dominik’s side throughout, such as Unkaheli, Naquata, Antonio and Adamo who was only 12 when the project began and was initially involved in a children’s food growing project.
People today – you will meet:
Adamo | Guard and house help |
Naquata | Guard and Elder |
Antonio | Cook who lives in Sauli and bicycles over when called (on special occasions), he is now rather elderly |
Maria | Maid and house help |
Elias | Car Assistant and camp organiser |
Mustafer | Guard and general assistant |
Regulo, community elder but visits regularly; Untomar and Rainha, community chief and Queen (they all live in Sauli) | |
Our team of Rangers, “Fiscais”, who work under Ali Bacar, Head Ranger: Saleman, Jose, Trisa, Umpuperi, Unkaheli, Massalino, Bacar, Alberto. | |
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| Antonio the cook |
Project structure and funds
Mareja is run as a joint venture between Dominik Beissel (Mareja Management Ltd) and a Community Association. Money that is generated from tourism goes into the community fund – all income from tourism activities, such as walks, bird watching or camping and 50% of accommodation fees. Part of the incentive scheme we run asks you to pay a small amount for any animals you are shown by Rangers – there is a reasonable scale from Warthog (10mt) to Elephant (70mt) and Lion (120mt) and just to put it into perspective the chance of actually seeing a lion is about 1:1000! (Although you may well hear lion ‘singing’ at night deep in the bush and that is free.)
The future and funding
We cannot sustain and develop Mareja on tourism alone. Tourism successfully provides funds for the community pot but does not fund salaries, conservation activities or developments, so we are currently seeking other funding sources and creative income streams. Some of our potential revenue projects are... selling homemade tiles, making amurula jam, planting sustainable crops such as the Sausage tree and promoting low-impact extraction of bamboo and non-timber products such as rope...but all these would require considerable management, investment and infrastructure.
Our aim is to make the project financially sustainable but this is a large and challenging task. We hope one day that Mareja will be recognised for its ‘environmental services’ and a realistic price attached to maintaining the breadth of natural resources and benefits such an area provides –through water conservation, carbon sequestration, climate control, natural medicine, soil fertility and preservation, not to mention wildlife and landscape conservation and human recreation and spiritual renewal. There is a slow political shift towards valuing biodiversity rich areas in this way.
There has already been an increased awareness of the importance of carbon sinks and their role in climate maintenance. It has been calculated that Mareja reserve is preserving 960,000 tonnes of carbon per annum. In the UK the average carbon consumption per person is 12 tonnes per annum – so Mareja would provide carbon credit for a UK population of 80,000 people. The UK Government price of carbon £22 - £52/tonne, so the carbon preservation value of Mareja is £21,000,000-£50,000,000 (or $31,000,000- $70,000,0000). Wonderful figures that we can only dream!
Research and other developments
This area of Mozambique has traditionally been very understudied, much to do with its history and inaccessibility. There is a great deal to learn about its biodiversity and the effects of modern pressures, such as climate change and logging on the environment. Mareja covers 36,000 hectares of coastal miombo forest - a rare ecosystem with riverine habitats, fragments of Palm forest and Inselberg vegetation, which makes it an ideal place for scientific study. We are also within what is termed a ‘global biodiversity hotspot’ - recognised as being one of the most wildlife rich areas in the world.
We are hoping to attract visiting scientists and establish a Research Centre. To this end, we are working in partnership with the Park and the newly established local university Unilurio which runs a degree in Biology. Together we plan to develop research, understanding and local capacity to protect such vital areas. We have already worked with scientists from Maputo, Germany, Cardiff and Oxford University students.
Reserve management
The main considerations here apart from those already mentioned are:
- controlled burning to stem the devastating later hot fires
- management of the invasive shrub species Lantana
- habitat protection: preventing illegal logging and poaching
- water conservation for habitat and game management
- supporting sustainable products: bamboo cultivation and grass cutting by the local community
- waterhole maintenance for local community and tourists
- infrastructure maintenance: roads and access
Would you like to help...? Having learnt a bit more about the project, you may identify an area that you can help with - from community health, craft development to research or conservation.
Skills transfer and training....in particular we always need skilled professionals who can help with mechanics, electrics, building, plumbing and water conservation.
Scientists....we have a Research Plan we can share with you and would like to attract scientists and passionate researchers from all over the world.
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| A water gallon held up with pride by a group of people from the local village, Nanduli |
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| All food is brought on to the reserve - here are 3 types of local bananas |
$...and last but by no means least...if you have any ideas or contacts for funding and financial support that would be really wonderful.
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