Parque Nacional da Gorongosa Moçambique

The Gorongosa ecosystem is huge—about 8,000 square kilometers—and highly complex. Managing it is an exciting and daunting challenge. We are now focusing on three main areas: restoring savanna and grasslands in the Rift Valley, controlling fires, and protecting and replanting Mount Gorongosa’s forests.
 
Mount Gorongosa’s Forests
The mountain’s forests are the key to life in the valley below, soaking up rain and releasing it downslope all year long. But they are in grave danger--local farmers are cutting them down to clear fields for crops. While our Community Relations and Tourism Departments help the local people to use sustainable farming methods and to find other sources of income, the Conservation Department is identifying areas that should be protected, reforested, or left to regrow naturally. More>

Savanna and Grassland Restoration
Decades of war in Mozambique reduced many of the Park’s large mammal populations by as much as 95 percent. Among the hardest hit were zebras, wildebeest, and buffalos. Called bulk grazers by biologists, they keep grasses from growing too high and thick, making forage available for smaller herbivores. Without them, much of the valley’s savanna and grasslands have overgrown. To restore those areas and increase populations of smaller herbivores, we have begun relocating those three species from other parks.  As their populations grow, we will closely monitor changes in vegetation and carnivore numbers over time.

Fire Management
Unnaturally large areas of tall, thick grass allow huge fires to burn out of control, killing and scattering wildlife. When the grass regrows, it is all the same height, which limits the number of species that can feed on it. We set small fires to mimic the more localized, brief extent of natural wildfires, creating a patchwork of grasses of different heights. The burned areas block the spread of large fires and create refuges for fleeing wildlife. Natural wildfires also burn the dry, unproductive part of the grass and allow new shoots to grow, providing more forage for herbivores. More>