Environmental Changes on Inhaca Island, Mozambique: Development versus Degradation?

Abstract

Inhaca archipelago is located ca. 32 km east of Maputo City, the capital of Mozambique. Inhaca Island (42.5 km2) and Portuguese Island (3.7 km2) constitute the small archipelago. Shoreline changes and sheet erosion are serious environmental problems affecting the archipelago today. Shorelines are constantly moving and changing. During rain season (October-March), strong winds, violent surf and stormy weather cause large powerful waves that induce changes on shorelines. As these waves pound the beach, sand erodes and is deposited offshore and the beach narrows. In dry season (April-September), waves and winds wash over the beach, bringing back the sand and gradually, the beach becomes wider. The major problems of Inhaca and Portuguese islands fringing shorelines is its dynamic environment that experience a slow or fast rate of erosion, but also, experience slow or rapid accumulation of sediment and accretion. The shoreline changes have taken place more rapidly than our understanding of the dynamic itself due to global environmental changes and human activities such as clearing of vegetation on coastal ridges for agriculture, clearing coastal forest and mangroves for housing. Furthermore, goat rearing on eastern ridge has aggravated environmental changes due to blow-up on Inhaca Island.