Parque Nacional da Gorongosa Moçambique

Gorongosa National Park Inaugurates New Offices for Oversight Committee

Apr 17, 2008 - Gorongosa National Park

On Wednesday, April 16, new offices for the Gorongosa National Park Oversight Committee were inaugurated. The Park, which is a national landmark and tourist resort, created the new offices as part of a new management structure for the Park, established according to the guidelines in the Long Term Agreement. 

The new Oversight Committee offices are situated in the building which previously housed the Park’s administrative services. According to the re-organization instituted by the Gorongosa National Park Joint Management Accord, the position of Administrator was substituted in the leadership structure by the Supervision Committee.

The inauguration was led by members of the Oversight Committee, namely Gregory Carr (representative of the Carr Foundation) and Bernardo Beca Jofrisse (representative of the Tourism Ministry), and it marked the end of a series of ceremonies that have been under way since April 11 in the Chitengo Safari Camp.

The Oversight Committee, according to the Joint Management Accord between the Mozambican Tourism Ministry and the Carr Foundation, is the highest organizational body in the Park. It has a mandate to supervise all of the activities related to the functioning of this grand tourist center and conservation area.

The inauguration event also provided an opportunity for the members of the Oversight Committee to jointly sign a document appointing candidates for different positions on the Park Management Team, specifically, Director of the Community Relations Department, Mateus Mutemba; Director of the Operations and Infrastructure Department, João Viseu; and Director of the Conservation Services Department, Carlos Lopes Pereira.

There has been a set of three ceremonies in Gorongosa National Park this April. The first was led by the local traditional leader, or Régulo, João Chitengo in honor of the spirit of his brother, Traquino Chitengo, whose place he took when he assumed his current role in the administrative district of Gorongosa. The second ceremony was presided over by the Régulo Luis Sozinho Chuva Nhanguo to mark the official opening of the 2008 tourist season, and it took place on the 15th of April. The third and final event was directed by the members of the Oversight Committee and took place on Wednesday, April 16, 2008.