In September 2026, MMF’s conservation team ran a water safety and rescue course in Inhambane, Mozambique, for the Coastal Police and the community fisheries councils. Conservation Department Manager Martinho Saide Pedro led the course, and MMF donated rescue equipment to the Tofo Coastal Police unit.
Course participants with their certificates and some of the donated rescue equipment.
Training for emergencies on the water
Mozambique’s Coastal, Lake and River Police (the Coastal Police) work alongside the Community Fisheries Councils, the local councils that help manage fishing, along Inhambane’s coast. The course gave members of both groups technical instruction in water safety and rescue, supporting their role in responding to emergencies on the water. It ended with a closing ceremony, and participants received certificates.
Equipment for the Tofo unit
Alongside the training, we donated rescue equipment to the Tofo Coastal Police unit: life jackets, buoyancy aids, signaling equipment, waterproof flashlights, ropes, and gloves. The donation supports the unit’s emergency response work with flotation, signaling, and other equipment for rescues at sea.
Rescue equipment handed over to the Tofo Coastal Police unit.
Our Coastal Police partnership
The course builds on a partnership that has grown through our Sustainable Seas program. In 2025, we trained 30 Coastal Police officers to identify protected marine species and apply Mozambique’s fisheries law, alongside 15 community fisheries inspectors who were then formally accredited. We also donated an all-terrain quad bike to the Tofo Coastal Police for beach patrols; it later supported the land-based response to a shipwreck at Tofo Beach. Water safety is also part of our education work in Inhambane, where the Ocean Guardians program teaches children swimming and water safety.
Participants at the end of the course.
Thank you to the Embassy of Ireland for supporting this work through the Sustainable Seas and Communities project.