Human Role
Human beings have been an integral part of the Gorongosa ecosystem for millennia, pursuing livelihoods as hunters, gatherers, farmers, and fishermen. However, beginning in the twentieth century, a more intensive and larger scale set of human activities--including cotton farming, timber cutting, and land clearing for agriculture--have had far-reaching impacts.
More recently, during Mozambique¹s long civil war, soldiers on both sides of the conflict reduced most large mammal populations by as much as 95 percent in the Park. With fewer bulk grazers such as elephants, buffalos, zebras and antelope, much of the valley is now overgrown with rough, tall grass which in turn leads to large fires in the dry season.
Today about 250,000 people live in scattered small communities in the Lake Urema catchment. About 25,000 live just outside the Park’s boundaries; 15,000 live in the Park, in fifteen villages along the eastern base of Mount Gorongosa and the park’s eastern border. That growing human presence by itself creates demands on the ecosystem, with most households clearing and farming small plots of land they abandon when the soil becomes too poor.
Outside the Park, timber cutting for export; charcoal production for cooking stoves in Mozambique's cities; and natural gas and mineral development represent other significant threats.
Inside the Park poaching is still a concern. However, due to law enforcement patrols and local education programs, most large mammal populations have rebounded in the past five years.
Open this full-screen map to see the Gorongosa ecosystem.  jeffrey barbee.jpg)
Learn about the people living in the park’s buffer zone. )){kind=link}