{"id":14976,"date":"2019-12-17T13:40:31","date_gmt":"2019-12-17T13:40:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parquelimpopo.gov.mz\/?p=14976"},"modified":"2023-05-18T13:41:04","modified_gmt":"2023-05-18T13:41:04","slug":"limpopo-national-park-a-future-secured","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/parquelimpopo.gov.mz\/pt\/2019\/12\/17\/limpopo-national-park-a-future-secured\/","title":{"rendered":"Limpopo National Park: a future secured"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Limpopo National Park is one of Africa\u2019s most remarkable wilderness areas. It is made up of over a million hectares of vast landscapes.\u00a0Officially declared a national park in 2001 by the Mozambique government, the park had a long way to go in being established after the country\u2019s protracted civil war resulted in the decimation of 90% of its wildlife population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The following year Peace Parks Foundation was appointed by the Mozambique Government to assist with the process of developing the park and became the implementing agent for the financial support from the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development through KfW. A joint project implementation unit was established and the team, comprising experts from the Mozambique Government and Peace Parks, focused on creating a national park and restoring it to its natural state that would secure a sustainable future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the very first daunting tasks was to demine an area of this vast scale and after that put in place a basic road network and park management infrastructure. Since there was no wildlife, just over 5 000 animals were also introduced (which is only about 5% the carrying capacity of this park) as founder populations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In 2008, the world experienced a rapid increase in wildlife crime, which, if left to run its course would have resulted in the extinction of several critically important species, such as rhino and elephant, unbalanced ecosystems and southern Africa\u2019s biodiversity in utter chaos. The economic effects, due to the loss of tourism income, would have been far-reaching, impacting most significantly on those living in extreme poverty. In Mozambique, 20% of the park\u2019s revenues is shared with the surrounding communities. These communities also depend on the park for employment and other livelihood opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wildlife population numbers plummeted in the wake of the world\u2019s insatiable demand for rhino horn, ivory, lion bones, leopard furs or pangolin scales. Limpopo National Park\u2019s fledgeling animal population came under even more pressure and with its proximity to the wildlife-rich Kruger National Park, it became a gateway used by wildlife criminals who would move through the park to hunt in Kruger. This meant that rangers had to not only protect their own park\u2019s animals, but also those of their neighbour. This not only threatened the lives of rangers, poachers and wildlife but also had a negative impact on the promotion and expansion of the transfrontier conservation area concept, specifically the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park which includes Limpopo, Kruger and Zimbabwe\u2019s Gonarezhou National Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe estimate that by the end of 2015, elephant poaching had peaked with the annual loss of about 30 to 40 animals in that year,\u201d says Peace Park\u2019s Peter Leitner, stationed in Limpopo National Park. It became clear very quickly that security teams needed to increase their effectiveness if they wanted to stand against the severe onslaught.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not on their watch<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first step was to establish a communication system that would cover the entire park, allowing rangers to be in constant contact with each other and the park\u2019s headquarters. Peter says, \u201cThis greatly improved our ability to respond to emergency situations and execute effective operations. It also reduced risks, such as teams accidentally firing at their own staff in dense bush, delayed reactions to incursions and miscommunication, which hampered the anti-poaching efforts. A digital radio system was subsequently installed that greatly improved not only internal park communications, but also integrated with Kruger\u2019s radio network, allowing for real-time cross-border information-sharing, and consequently synchronised response and pursuit, between ranger forces.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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