Shisiwani National Park

Shisiwani covers the coast and water around Anjouan's western peninsula, one of the national parks created in the 2010s to protect what is left of the Comoros' marine environment: reef, seagrass, mangrove and the islets offshore. Turtles nest on the beaches and the reef here is in better condition than around the island's more populated shores. Its creation was announced in 2016, as part of a government plan to protect a quarter of the country. Its boundaries take in both the peninsula shore and the water out to the islets.

Highlights

• The reef - coral in better shape than around the populated coasts.
• The mangrove - the stands along the peninsula shore.
• The turtle beaches - nesting sites within the park.
• A young national park - its creation announced in 2016.

When to go

May to October is the drier and calmer season. The rains run November to April. Turtle nesting runs through much of the year.

Before you go

The park is young and infrastructure is minimal to nonexistent. Access needs arranging locally. Fishing pressure remains a problem inside the boundaries.

Nearby

Bimbini is within it, and Mutsamudu is east.

Key facts