293 European Journal of Remote Sensing - 2012, 45: 293-304 doi:10.5721/EuJRS20124526 Use of satellite remote sensing for coastal conservation in the Eastern African Coast: advantages and shortcomings Maria Adelaide Ferreira 1 *, Francisco Andrade 2 , Ricardo Nogueira Mendes 2 and José Paula 2 1 Instituto do Mar, Laboratório Marítimo da Guia, Av. Nª Srª do Cabo, 939, 2750-374 Cascais, Portugal 2 Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa – Centro de Oceanograia, Laboratório Marítimo da Guia, Avª Nª Srª do Cabo, 939, 2750-374 Cascais, Portugal *Corresponding author, e-mail address: adelaidferreira@mail.telepac.pt Abstract Landsat 5 TM imagery from 2005 was used to map (at a coarse descriptive resolution) coastal habitats along the Tanzania/Mozambique transboundary zone. The map (available at http://www.transmap.fc.ul.pt/) was a reference for the study of environmental and social aspects, and for conservation, was disseminated among local stakeholders, ENGOs and various decision-making authorities and managers, and was used in the development of a transfrontier conservation area. Large scale remote sensing constitutes a cost-effective approach for research and management, as, with limited human, technical, temporal, and inancial resources, it provides synoptic views of territories and allows for the estimation of quantitative changes in land use. Keywords: Landsat TM5, Tanzania, Mozambique, coastal zone management, habitat mapping, Transboundary Marine Protected Areas. Introduction Conservation of marine and coastal environments and of their associated biodiversity is a global priority, mostly due to their importance to human societies and to their sensitivity to direct and indirect sources of stress resulting from human activities [Spalding et al., 2007]. On the Eastern African coast, organizations such as WWF have established global coastal and marine conservation objectives, which included the creation of the Eastern African Marine Ecoregion (EAME), spanning from Somalia to South Africa, along 4,600 km of coastline [EAME, 2004]. Within EAME, a total of eight sites of global importance were identiied, including the Mtwara-Quirimbas complex, located across the Tanzania/ Mozambique boundary [ibid.]. Up-to-date cartography of coastal habitats on a GIS platform is a primary need for any conservation scheme, which should incorporate environmental and social information, on the distribution of coastal and marine biodiversity (including biodiversity hotspots), assessment