Tourism in Mafia Island Marine Park - Africa Natural Tours ( africanaturaltours.com )
Tourism in Mafia
Island Marine Park: Africa Natural Tours
AFRICA
NATURAL TOURS (The best tour company in Tanzania)
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Mafia
is renowned as an excellent world-class diving destination with some of the
richest reefs in the world, The Park covers the Southern part of Mafia Island
and includes the inhabited islands of Chole, Juani Jibondo and Bwejuu and
several uninhabited islets and the associated waters.
Mafia
Island and its chain of small islets lie approximately 120 km south of Dar es
Salaam and 20 km offshore from the eastern extent of the Rufiji is one of the
largest delta systems in Africa. To the east of Mafia Island is the Indian
Ocean. The main island of Mafia is about 48 km long and 17 km wide at its
widest point. Several smaller islands and islets are scattered to the west and
south.
Mafia
Island marine Park (MIMP) consists of eight small reserves along the Tanzanian
coast under the Fisheries (Marine Reserves) Regulations of 1975, two of these
are in what is now the Mafia Island marine Park (MIMP), namely Chole Bay and
Kitutia Reef.
The
marine park area at Mafia Island extends across some 822km2, more than 75% of
it below the high water mark. The area hosts an outstanding mosaic of tropical
marine habitats including coral reefs, sea grass beds, mangroves and
inter-tidal flats. In addition a remnant block of threatened lowland coastal
forest survives along the eastern seaboard of the island, roughly half of it
within the marine park boundary. Two species of sea turtle use Mafia’s beaches
as nesting grounds and the area has been recognized internationally as a
critical site for biodiversity. Several sites of historic ruins lie within the
marine park area, some dating back to the C 13th. Mafia Island’s separation
from the mainland and its freedom from industrial development have ensured that
its surrounding waters are some of the least contaminated in Tanzania. The
marine park area has national importance as one of the few remaining reef
complexes within Tanzania’s coastal waters in relatively intact condition.
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