72 Families Moved From Gorongosa Park

7 July 2011

Maputo — The Gorongosa National Park (PNG), in the central Mozambican province of Sofala, is building a new village for the Mueredze community, in a bid to separate people from wild life.

According to information published on the PNG website, the new village, built in collaboration with the local authorities, will be outside the perimeter of the national park, and will accommodate 72 households who currently cross paths every day with the wild animals of the national park.

According to the PNG administrator, Mateus Muthemba, the negotiations between the park and the Mueredze community have lasted for years, but culminated in an agreement signed last September, under which the community promised to move.

“We are committed to working with this community, so that it can lead a better life outside the park, far from the threat posed by the animals”, said Mutemba.

The PNG is widely regarded as the jewel in Mozambique’s conservation crown. It was badly damaged during the war of destabilisation but is now recovering, and the wild life is being restocked, largely with acquisitions from South Africa.

Mutemba pointed out that the number of animals will grow in coming years, increasing the dangers to people who try to live inside the park. In Mueredze, he said, farmers had suffered from elephants invading their fields and devouring their crops.

“We are also thinking of the future of the children, who should grow up and play normally, free from threats posed by lions, elephants and other animals”, said Mutemba. “We are trying to ensure that people leave the park, and find decent conditions outside”.

The governor of Sofala province, Carvalho Muaria, told the 72 families that efforts would be made to ensure good conditions in their new homes.

“I think that with your departure from Mueredze, the conflicts between people and wild life there will be solved”, he said. “There when you wanted to use a river or a lake, you found that the animals also wanted to go there. But now we are going to let the animals stay there, and here we are creating conditions for ourselves”.

Each family transferred from Mueredze will occupy a 1,200 square metre plot for housing and will be given a land title formalising their right to occupy this land.

The PNG covers an area of 4,067 square kilometres, and the park management is working to protect the area from poachers and illegal loggers.

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