The Bijagos islands, the only deltaic archipelago on the Atlantic coast of Africa, comprises 80 islands and covers an area of nearly 10,000 km2 off the coast of Guinea Bissau. It is a patchwork of mudflats, mangroves, palm groves and savanna grasslands which produce a wide diversity and abundance of natural resources. The archipelago currently has a population of some 25,000 inhabitants, the vast majority of whom belong to the Bijago ethnic group Although only about 20 of the islands are permanently inhabited, the entire archipelago is used according to age-old management traditions. Recent times have seen a number of pressures from as industrial fishing to tourism. In order to ensure that these new developments do not destroy the social, cultural and environmental stability underpinning the archipelago, partnerships have been set up under the banner of the Biosphere Reserve. A zoning process defining the types of use allowed in different areas was put in place with the islanders’ participating in all stages. A short note about the Urok community MPA is given here.