Placing communities at the heart of conservation efforts involves not only acknowledging their role as guardians of biodiversity but also recognising them as active participants in conservation initiatives.
In Mozambique, where communities reside in and around all protected areas—covering 25% of the country’s territory—community engagement is critical for supporting the implementation of management plans and enhancing benefit-sharing. For this engagement to succeed, communities must be properly identified, organised, and recognised as institutional partners capable of collaboration.