Parque Nacional da Gorongosa Moçambique

Gorongosa Tourism Visits Trend Strongly Upwards in 2010, 50th Anniversary and Inclusion of Mount Gorongosa are Highlights

Feb 4, 2011 - Gorongosa National Park

According to the visitor statistics for 2010, Gorongosa National Park is once again on track to become one of the world’s premiere ecotourism destinations - reminiscent of the ’60s and '70s, when movie stars, astronauts and celebrities vacationed in Gorongosa.

The number of tourists visiting Gorongosa in 2010 exceeded 5,500, which represents a 20% increase over 2009 visits! The result is even more impressive when one considers that Gorongosa is a remote and therefore targeted destination and considering the fact that tourism visits throughout Africa were up just 6% last year. International visitors represented the majority of the tourists, however we are very proud to see a dramatic increase in Mozambican tourists in 2010.  Mozambican visits to their national park increased 45% last year and many of them left congratulating messages in the Park Guest Book to commemorate their first of hopefully many visits!

This increase in the demand helped to underscore the importance of an International Tender to attract new Tourism Operators to Gorongosa National Park.  Leading safari operators, hotels and tourism operators from all over the world delivered their proposals for their share of selected areas in the Park designated for sustainable tourism development.

Each tourism development area - the largest of which is over 47,000 hectares - will host several luxury tented camps and fly camps.  Two areas near the edge of the park may have lodges. The new camps will be built adhering to the Park’s strict ecological policies and will be among the “greenest” tourism structures in Africa and the world. The park has developed a clear zoning plan to ensure that camps will not interfere with wetlands, karsts, breeding grounds or other sensitive areas.  There are specific areas where zoning allows game drives, guided walks and other activities for tourists. Many of the areas include “wilderness zones,” where excursions will be restricted or limited to foot traffic only.  All of the new tourism enterprises will start construction in 2011 and create long-term local employment for people living in the Buffer Zone of the Parque.

The Mozambican Ministry of Tourism and the Gorongosa Restoration Project are currently evaluating the projects that best meet the Park's high ecological standards ensuring “that the ecosystem will be preserved and that a sustainable tourism industry will be established.”

GNP’s 50th Anniversary
In July of 2010 we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Gorongosa Park - a world treasure of biodiversity. Gorongosa was designated a Game Reserve in 1935, where hunting was not allowed. Its status was changed to National Park by decree in 1960. Gorongosa, as well as other nature reserves around the world, play a critical role in protecting species and their habitats.  If managed well, national parks protect biodiversity and thereby lower the number of the earth's species we'll lose to extinction this century.  They also provide valuable direct employment which has a significant and positive multiplier effect on surrounding communities.

The management of Gorongosa employs a new philosophy about the purpose of national parks -- different from the management approach designed for these protected areas decades ago. We now recognize that a national park must help the human beings who live around it and not only preserve nature.

The twenty-year “public private partnership” for the co-management of Gorongosa’s restoration provides the Park management with a mandate to pursue the dual objectives of human development and biodiversity protection. This holistic approach to restoring the Gorongosa ecosystem, with human well-being included as an integral part of the restoration project, incorporates the interconnectedness of humans and nature.

Humans need nature:  ecosystems provide clean air, water, fertile soil, shelter, nutrition, a multitude of natural resources, aesthetic and spiritual rewards.  Humans are also a part of nature. Human activity affects nature in positive and negative ways. Conservation is a way of reducing negative impact while humans live and interact with their natural environment. To generate the political will for conservation, human needs must be addressed as we ask societies to set aside and protect biodiversity hot spots.

GNP Birthday Presents: Mount Gorongosa and Community Education Center
On July 20, 2010, the Government of Mozambique made public the decision to increase the area of the Gorongosa National Park and to incorporate Mount Gorongosa (above 700 meters) fulfilling a long term dream – indeed a necessity - that had been presented in the 1960's by the then Park ecologist, Dr. Kenneth Tinley. The forests on the Mountain provide an essential water catchment function that feeds the rivers flowing into the Parque, its lakes and floodplains. The Government also announced the official establishment of a Park buffer zone of 3,300 square kilometers.

In the same month we inaugurated the Gorongosa Community Education Center. This Center will be the location where the multi-disciplinary Conservation, Health and Education efforts of the Gorongosa Restoration Project converge. This center will serve as a meeting place for local community members to engage in discussions and education regarding the serious human and environmental challenges that face the Gorongosa ecosystem today.

Professionals in the fields of ecology, forestry, wildlife science, agronomy, human health, land planning, economics, social science, ecotourism and more are collaborating in the planning and execution of the Gorongosa Restoration Project. They rely upon local knowledge and local leaders in order for this interconnected ecosystem to support the diversity of life that depends on it.

We are confident that the coming years will be even more exciting and we welcome all to visit Mozambique and Gorongosa to witness the rebirth of one of the most amazing wildlife parks in the world.