Working Papers
T he Gorongosa National Park (GNP) supported by the Gorongosa Restoration Project (GRP) in Central Mozambique is trying to navigate the narrow passage between the Scylla and Charybdis of exclusion and inclusion of people. Established in the 1960s under Portuguese rule, it was a key attraction of tourists in the late colonial period. After Independence in 1975, it became the basis of a guerilla movement and the 16-years ware between that movement and the government. The result was all but complete extinction of iconic mammal species such as lions and elephants and other herbivores. The removal of herbivores, in its turn, led to a rapid growth of vegetation, turning the park into a lush landscape. After the 1992 peace agreement, the government made efforts to reestablish the conservation areas it had inherited from the colonial period.
The GRP has done this by combining four approaches: support community natural resources management structures, introduce technique to reduce the loss of crops and harvests to marauding animals, in particular elephant and buffalo, improve access to public services such as health, education, water and sanitation, and support livelihoods through innovative value chains in coffee and honey, the provision of seed and technical advice to farmers. The GRP is mainly financed by the Carr Foundation but has also mobilized support from various governments, including the Government of the United States (GUS).