Parque Nacional da Gorongosa Moçambique

Gorongosa Park in 2010: 50th Anniversary and Beyond!

Dec 30, 2010 - Gorongosa National Park

This year we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Gorongosa Park - a world treasure of biodiversity. Gorongosa was designated a Game Reserve where, since 1935, hunting was not allowed, and its status was changed to National Park by decree in 1960.

Gorongosa, as well as other nature reserves around the world, can play an important 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.

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.

Minister of Tourism inaugurates the Community Education Center, observed by the US Ambassador in Maputo, Greg Carr and members of the Gorongosa Park management

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.

Community Education Center: outside view of the restaurant building

To generate the political will for conservation, human needs must be addressed as we ask societies to set aside and protect biodiversity hot spots.

In 2010 we inaugurated the Gorongosa Community Education Center. This Center will be the location where the multi-disciplinary efforts of the Gorongosa Restoration Project converge. This center will serve as a meeting place for the stakeholders to engage in discussions and debates about the serious human and environmental issues 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.

Community Education Center: inside view of the main dining hall

Now that we have reached the end of 2010, Gorongosa National Park is on track to once again become one of the world’s premiere ecotourism destinations, reminiscent of the ’60s and '70s, when movie stars, astronauts and other celebrities vacationed in Gorongosa.

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 by the government of Mozambique.

Each tourism development area - the largest of which is over 47,000 hectares - will host several luxury tented camps, fly camps or lodges. The new camps will be built adhering to the Park’s strict ecological policies and will be some of the “greenest” tourism structures in Africa.

Most of the camps will be built near (but not in) wetlands, karsts, breeding grounds and areas where zoning allows game drives, guided walks and other activities for tourists. Some tourism development areas include “wilderness zones,” where excursions will be restricted or limited to foot traffic only.  All of the new tourism enterprises will create local employment.

The Mozambican Ministry of Tourism and the Gorongosa Restoration Project are selecting right now 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.”

We are sure that the coming years will be even more exciting and we welcome all to visit Mozambique and Gorongosa, to witness the restoration of one of the most unique tourism destinations and one of the most amazing wildlife parks in the world.