National parks in Mozambique
With a coastline stretching more than 2,800 kilometres, Mozambique has one of the longest coastal stretches of any African country. The state on the Indian Ocean is criss-crossed by numerous rivers, and the further inland you travel, the more mountainous the landscape becomes.
The highest point of Mozambique is Mount Binga, it is almost 2,430 meters high. More than 50 percent of the country consists of meadows, an ideal habitat for animals and the best conditions for the plant world. Six large national parks protect some of these areas.
The Limpopo National Park
With a gigantic area of 10,000 km², the Limpopo National Park is by far the largest park in the country, it has an exciting history. Just a few years ago, the area in the south of the country was a popular hunting ground. Where animals can now graze and live undisturbed, hunting was still taking place at the beginning of the 20th century. The transboundary park, together with protected areas in South Africa and Zimbabwe, forms the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park.
Large parts of the national park are bushland, partly on very sandy soil. Along the Limpopo River, mopane and acacias grow. The animal population is recovering very slowly, larger herds of zebras, giraffes and elephants now live in the Limpopo National Park. Other animal species have been relocated to the protected area, which has only been officially designated as a national park since 2001.
The Quirimbas National Park
The northernmost park in the country is also very large at 7,506 km², it was only designated in 2002. What is special about this national park are the eleven islands of the Quirimbas archipelago, which also gave it its name. 20 percent of the protected area consists of water, most of the park is on the mainland. The archipelago in the Indian Ocean is home to some very endangered fish and mammal species.
On the mainland, elephants and zebras are at home, and lions and cheetahs can also be found sporadically. Around 50,000 people live on the site of the national park, and conflicts between the locals and the wild animals keep occurring. For some time now, animal welfare organizations have been trying to promote better coexistence.
The Gorongosa National Park
Under the leadership of the then colonial power Portugal, the Gorongosa National Park was founded in 1960 as the country's first national park. It was named after the nearby Gorongosa mountain range. The protected area is located in the south of Mozambique, about 200 kilometers from the capital Maputo.
The park is characterized by woodland savannah, heavy rainfall throughout the year is not uncommon. During the rainy season, almost 20 percent of the protected area is under water.
For a long time, the area was considered the richest in species of any national park in southern Africa. After the civil war, the animal populations had fallen to a minimum, but they are slowly recovering again. The national park is well on its way to restoring this wealth of species. Increasingly large herds of buffalo and wildebeest, elephants and zebras roam through the park, which is effectively protected from poachers.
