Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve, Mozambique · 2019–2021
Conservation Outcomes worked with rangers at Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve, now part of Maputo National Park, to strengthen marine patrol operations. The work included security assessment and planning, crew selection, practical marine ranger training and commissioning a new coastal patrol vessel.
Conservation Outcomes conducted a Strategic Needs Assessment and developed a Security Plan in 2019. Marine ranger training followed under the World Bank-funded MozBio 2 project.
From 10 March to 1 April 2020, CO delivered Water Orientation and Marine Ranger Operations training, based at Santa Maria outpost on the Machangulo peninsula. Difficulty with surf launching and navigating Hell’s Gate had restricted regular patrols in parts of the reserve.
An initial assessment and selection phase was followed by survival swimming, water safety and rescue, emergency first aid, boat handling, surf launching and beaching. Rangers trained aboard Tukula, progressing from basic boat control to navigating the channel and working through the surf.
As the final operational exercise, a team of five marine rangers took Tukula approximately 100 km along the coast to Ponta do Ouro. They navigated Hell’s Gate and completed the passage, beach landing and recovery without assistance from the instructors.
Marine rangers aboard Tukula during the 2020 Marine Ranger Operations course at Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve, Mozambique.
Photo: Grant Jerome
From 26 August to 15 September 2021, Conservation Outcomes delivered a Marine Ranger Coastal Operations course, also based at Santa Maria. The 21-day course built on the previous year’s training and prepared the crew to operate Ignobilis, the reserve’s newly acquired twin-engine coastal patrol vessel.
Training covered:
Patrol planning and crew responsibilities: preparing patrol orders, briefing the crew, assigning duties and planning routes, fuel and communications.
Boat handling and navigation: coastal navigation by day and night, using GPS, chartplotter and radar, and accounting for tides, currents and weather.
Marine law enforcement: interception, coming alongside, boarding and inspecting vessels, and using coastal observation posts to direct patrol teams.
Safety and vessel care: search and rescue, emergency first aid and CPR, radio procedures, routine engine maintenance and fault-finding.
Rangers applied these skills during seven operational day and night patrols conducted as part of the course. A vessel logbook and patrol report format were also developed for the team.
The larger vessel allowed the team to remain at sea for longer and undertake night operations. Training taught the crew to plan and conduct those patrols, navigate using the vessel’s electronic equipment, and maintain a watch at night.
By the end of the 2021 course, crews could conduct inshore night patrols and static observations without instructor assistance. All seven participants passed the course’s written examination and practical assessment.
The two courses enabled the rangers to access coastal waters they had struggled to patrol and carry out operations after dark. The course reports recommended regular patrols and continued in-service training to maintain and develop these skills.
In December 2021, Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve and Maputo Special Reserve were formally merged to create Maputo National Park.