To support nature conservation local people must understand why conservation is important and also benefit from it. This is why Chumbe Island has from the beginning recruited former fishermen from adjacent villages to be trained as park rangers. They were the key people in early outreach programs to raise awareness among the local community on marine ecology and sustainable management of natural resources.

Until today it is our strong ranger team that patrols the nature reserve, keeps daily monitoring records on any observations, uses effective non-confrontational and educational approaches to deter any attempts of poaching, assists researchers, and guides foreign and local visitors in the nature reserve.

In 2000, CHICOP officially started an Environmental Education (EE) program which until today is the only regular and large-scale program in Tanzania that provides hands-on environmental education experiences and educational resources on environmental issues and marine ecology.

And it is the revenue from our visitors to Chumbe that makes all this possible – thank you!