EUCARE Comoros 2002

Abstract

The EUCARE teams original proposal was to map the uncharted reefs of Belo sur Mer in western Madagascar, but due to the current political situation at the time, it would have been impossible for EUCARE to fulfil all objectives laid out before the expedition commenced. The team followed up their contingency plan to the Comoros archipelago1. The archipelago comprises of four isolated volcanic islands in the Western Indian Ocean, located to the east of Northern Mozambique and North West of Madagascar. The Marine Park of Moheli (PMM) is situated in the southern extremity of Moheli, the smallest and youngest of the Islands in the Comoros archipelago2,3 (see figure 1). It covers an area of 404 km2 along the south and west coasts of the island and extends from the shoreline to a depth of 100m. The PMM was initiated by Projet Conservation de la Biodiversité et du Développement Durable aux Comores (Projet Biodiversitié), that is a World Conservation Union (IUCN) / Comorian Ministry of Production and the Environment project, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)