Gorongosa 2024-FULL-FINAL - Flipbook - Page 7
E NV I RO NM ENT
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GORONGOSA SP ECIAL
A Park for the People
Behind the creation of Gorongosa National Park
BY G R EG C AR R
T
HE
G R E AT
2 0 T H - C E N T U RY
research and monitoring, conservation biology, sustainable development, adaptive management, and related
skills … [And] improving the ecological management
of the greater Gorongosa ecosystem,” through scientific research.
As I reflect on these intervening years, I am proud
to see how much progress we have made. In these
pages, you will read about some of the tremendous
work of Gorongosa’s Science Department in particular. We now collaborate with 70 universities worldwide, including the major Mozambican universities.
We also provide a two-year master’s degree in conservation biology with a cohort of 12 Mozambican
students in each class—the only program of its kind
in the country.
And what about the Mozambicans who have
lived for time immemorial in this ecosystem? As the
Mozambican government and my team developed our
objectives for the Park’s relationship with the people
who share the ecosystem, we were guided by the ideas
of former president Chissano (who held office from
1986 to 2005) and his friend Nelson Mandela, president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. Those leaders
set forth the vision that national parks in their countries must benefit the local people. We established as
our mantra: “Gorongosa, a Park for the People.” We
are the largest private employer in central Mozambique, and 99 percent of these positions (including
senior management) are held by Mozambicans, most
of them hired nearby.
It is thrilling to read an issue of Nautilus overflowing with stories about the science and people in and
around Gorongosa National Park. I hope our work can
continue to advance the definition, mission, and vision
of everything a “national park” can be.
AMERICAN
Wallace Stegner famously said that
“national parks are the best idea we’ve ever
had.” I agree with that, but I would add:
National parks around the world collectively have
improved upon the original idea.
Yellowstone National Park—the world’s first example of a formal, national park—was created on March
1, 1872. The goal was to set aside the land for public
enjoyment, both aesthetic and recreational. The Act
said the land was to be: “reserved and withdrawn from
settlement, occupancy, or sale.”
How has this “best idea” been improved? I believe
there were two important aspects missing in the original conception.
First, there was initially no plan to study the geologic and ecological systems and processes; no plan
to conduct science and welcome scientists to Yellowstone. Wildlife had been nearly eliminated from the
Park’s area by over-hunting. It was a missed opportunity not to study the ecosystem—soil, water, flora,
and fauna—as wildlife numbers returned under this
new protection. The knowledge gained by studying this
restoration would have been useful in restoring other
depleted natural areas.
Second, there was no mention of the Indigenous
groups who had thrived in the ecosystem for centuries
or millennia, who understood how to make a sustainable living there, and whose activities were part of the
processes of the ecosystem.
Through the 20th century, national parks across the
world began incorporating more science and more local
knowledge in their management. Thus, when Mozambique’s then-president Joaquim Chissano asked me,
in 2004, to help develop a plan to restore Gorongosa
National Park, it was clear that these features would be
central. We ensured the Park’s new iteration would be
responsible for “building the capacity of Mozambican
researchers, managers, and technicians in ecological
WRITER
GreG CArr is a philanthropist. He sits on the Oversight
Committee of the Gorongosa Restoration Project.
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