Situated in the Inhambane Province of Mozambique, Zinave National Park is an outstanding example of what can be achieved through healthy partnerships between communities, conservationists and governments. Thanks to incredible rewilding and restoration efforts, the park has undergone an epic transformation, from a silent landscape to a thriving wilderness area. Elephants, giraffe and a wide variety of other mammals now criss-cross the woodlands and plains of the reserve. This booming population of herbivores, is rapidly restoring the park’s ecological balance. The first predators, a clan of four spotted hyena, were reintroduced into the park in 2020 and have had their first litter of cubs. In late 2021, two leopard were also brought and they have settled in well.
But there is still more to be done.
2022 will see the reintroduction of more large mammals, among them a large number of giraffe, probably the largest ever translocated. And, to balance the growing number of prey animals, more lions will also be introduced. To Peace Parks’ pleasant surprise, the first nomadic lions spontaneously arrived in the park late last year. The presence of lions is another clear indicator of the ecological health of Zinave and the various wildlife corridors in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area.
To help the communities that live around the park, Peace Parks Foundation, in partnership with the Hunger Project, will launch an exciting community development programme around food security. The Hunger Project focuses on empowering women to lift themselves and their families above the poverty line. Unfortunately, in southern Africa the gender gap means that women still bear the major responsibility for meeting basic needs, yet are systematically denied the resources. By pioneering sustainable, grassroots, women-centred strategies, where women are given freedom in decision-making, the belief is that society-wide change towards gender equality as well as poverty can occur.
Keep watching Peace Parks TV to follow the journey of the rejuvenation of Zinave National Park.
