This project helps protect seahorses of Vilankulo, Mozambique that are particularly vulnerable due to being a popular species in the illicit wildlife trafficking market. A fishing community that was once actively decimating the local seahorse population is now bringing in income through tourism instead. In order for the seahorse tourism business to compete with income for selling dried seahorses to traffickers, the village needs to stir up a significant business! You can help. :)
Dried seahorses were once called "diamonds" in Mangalisse village where children even dropped out of school to capture them for traffickers in the illicit wildlife trade. In 2018, ParCo helped the community launched "Indigo Seahorse Adventure," a tourism business that takes guests on traditional dhows to snorkel with the seahorses. They name "Indigo" was chosen because it mean "seahorse" in the local language. Poaching dropped by an estimated 80%. But to keep it up, business needs to triple.
You can help by booking a tour with the community run business. Over 600 hundred tourists have snorkeled with the seahorses since 2018. The community has brought in tens of thousands of dollars spread across dozens of families. And the council that runs the tours retains a tax from each tour to disperse emergency funds to families in need. The more business Indigo Seahorse Adventures carries out, the more motivated the community is to denounce and reform the reticent poachers among them.
Of the 50 species of seahorse worldwide, our bay as three - Kuda (stripey), Camelopardalis (girrafe) and Histrix (thorny). They are classified as "Vulnerable" and "declining" on the IUCN red list. We have already seen a rebound in the populations since 2018. Where a tour might have encountered four or five individuals, we now see as many as 10 or 15 on most tours. But the threats have not disappeared. We have to keep up the momentum to save these extra special charismatic creatures!
