Maputo Special Reserve

{{Short description|Nature reserve in Mozambique}}

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Maputo Special Reserve (formerly known as Maputo Elephant Reserve) is a nature reserve in Mozambique.

The reserve is located on Maputo Bay, approximately 100 kilometers southeast of the city of Maputo, Mozambique. The Reserve is 1,040 km² (400 square mile) in extent and was originally proclaimed in 1932 to protect a small population of coastal elephants resident in the area.{{Cite web|date=2018-03-22|title=How an African wildlife reserve is recovering from ruin of civil war|url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/2138345/african-wildlife-reserve-recovers-ruin-war-elephants|access-date=2020-12-08|website=South China Morning Post|language=en}}

The reserve combines lakes, wetlands, swamp forests, grasslands and mangrove forests with a coastline that lies within the Maputaland Centre of Endemism. As of 2020, the number of elephants in the reserve is about 400.{{Cite web|title=Maputo Special Reserve|url=https://www.peaceparks.org/parks/maputo-special-reserve/|access-date=2020-12-24|website=Peace Parks Foundation|language=en-ZA}}

The reserve will eventually form part of the Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation Area, which includes national parks from South Africa, Mozambique and Eswatini. Currently it forms part of the Usuthu-Tembe-Futi Transfrontier Conservation Area.

In 2018 the transfrontier conservation group Peace Parks Foundation signed a partnership agreement with the Mozambique government to support the management and development of the Maputo Special Reserve and adjacent Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve. This comprised US$16 million donated by a number of donors, including the Reinet Foundation, Wyss Foundation and World Bank funded MozBio programme.{{Cite web|title=Mozambique govt, Peace Parks to co-develop two reserves|url=https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/international/mozambique-govt-peace-parks-to-co-develop-two-reserves-15377902|access-date=2020-12-08|website=www.iol.co.za|language=en}}

Eco-tourism infrastructure in the reserve consists of the Anvil Bay resort, which opened in 2015.{{Cite web|date=2018-03-22|title=How an African wildlife reserve is recovering from ruin of civil war|url=https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/2138345/african-wildlife-reserve-recovers-ruin-war-elephants|access-date=2020-12-08|website=South China Morning Post|language=en}}