Mozambique Wildlife Park Balances Tourism, Growth and the Legacy of War

Mozambique Wildlife Park Balances Tourism, Growth and the Legacy of War

Lions are getting pregnant and the waterbuck population is soaring at one of Mozambique’s main national parks, once the scene of fighting during a civil war which virtually wiped out the park’s lions, elephants and many other species.


The 15-year conflict that killed up to 1 million people ended in 1992, and some former battlefield foes are now working together as rangers at Gorongosa National Park, where foreign donors and conservationists helped launch a turnaround on a continent accustomed to bad news about wildlife welfare.

Still, the park remains vulnerable to poachers and other problems. Tourism dropped in 2013 and 2014 during sporadic violence linked to the rivalry between Renamo, Mozambique’s main opposition group, and its former adversary during the civil war, the ruling Frelimo party. The park is also in Sofala province, an opposition stronghold in central Mozambique.

Read more: http://skift.com/2016/01/09/mozambique-wildlife-park-balances-tourism-growth-and-the-legacy-of-war/