Popular Science - USA (2020 - Winter)

104 WINTER 2020 / POPSCI.COM

WAR AND PEACE

DISASTER: When ecologist

Kenneth Tinley flew over Mo-

zambique’s Rift Valley in 1972, he

saw abundance. By his estimate,

the nearly million acres of Goron-

gosa National Park were home to

upward of 30,000 large grazing

animals, including buffalo, wilde-

beest, and elephants—along with

hundreds of lions. But in 1977,

after the African nation freed it-

self from close to 500 years of

Portuguese rule, Mozambique

erupted in civil war. The two sides

wouldn’t reach a truce until 1992,

by which point 1 million residents

had died and combatants had

slaughtered more than 90 percent

of some mammal populations to

feed and fund the fighters.

poachers, allowing them to grow

their numbers before they’d get

released into the park.

But helping fauna reproduce

wasn’t enough. People needed a

hand, too. “Recovery depends on

the interaction between human

and natural forces,” says Marc

Stalmans, the park’s director of

scientific services.

To sustain the quarter- million

or so Mozambicans who live

in the area, the project sets up

grants for ranger and tourist

guide training programs, shade-

grown- coffee micro enterprises,

education, and medical ser-

vices. All this eases pressure on

the animals by providing food

and health security for commu-

nities. With poaching incidents

down 72 percent, Gorongosa is

now a literal textbook model for

balancing ecology with economy:

The E.O. Wilson Biodiversity

Foundation, a leader in conserva-

tion research and partner of the

Carr Foundation, cites the park

in science curricula to show how

multipronged efforts can nurse

dying landscapes back to life.

RECOVERY INITIATED: 1995

PROGRESS: NEARLY COMPLETE

COMEBACK: The loss called for an

ambitious experiment in ecologi-

cal resurrection. On its own, the

vast floodplain with fertile soil and

abundant rainfall provided prime

pasture for small grazers like

water buck. But while some spe-

cies could rebound quickly, larger

wildlife like zebras and hippos

needed an extra push. Although

initial stewardship efforts began

in 1995, in 2008 the Mozambique

government and American non-

profit Carr Foundation agreed

to team up on a decades- long

plan —called the Gorongosa Res-

toration Project—to bolster

biodiversity. A 15,000-acre enclo-

sure christened the Sanctuario

kept animals safe from lions and

GORONGOSA NATIONAL

PARK, MOZAMBIQUE