Historically the main economy of the island has been fishing. In the early 1990s a group of Europeans and Mozambicans investors and philanthropists started a conservation project on the island. In 1998 they set up the Cabo Delgado Biodiversity and Tourism project in collaboration with the Zoological Society of London. Northern Mozambique (including Quirimbas) has faced security challenges in recent years. Investing there requires navigating not just business risk, but also social and political risk.
The island’s turtle population, previously exploited for turtle shells, is now protected.The Friends of Vamizi Trust is a UK registered charity that manages the conservation and community projects on the island. There’s a discrepancy between the very low registered capital (Niassalândia) and the claimed €9 million investment. Since the reports date mostly to 2011, what is the current status (2024–2025) of the supposed island investment? There is limited public reporting on Queiroz’s Mozambican investments in recent years.
