A landmark new resource guide and toolkit from the World Bank and the Global Wildlife Program (funded by The Global Environment Facility) features Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park as a successful case study and model of a “Collaborative Management Partnership” – a public-private agreement set up to manage conservation areas and support sustainable, inclusive development.
Despite the value of biodiversity and the role that conservation areas such as national parks and reserves play in mitigating climate change and securing the world’s natural capital, a massive funding gap exists across the entire conservation sector. For example, researchers found that an additional $1.5 billion is needed annually to effectively manage conservation areas with lions in Africa.
To address this funding shortfall, 15 African governments have established 40 partnerships with 13 private partners, covering approximately 11.5% of Africa’s conservation areas. Researchers found the median funding for these areas in Africa is almost three times greater with public-private partnerships.
Mozambique recognizes the potential of these partnerships and has already established five major public-private agreements in key conservation areas such as Gorongosa National Park, as well as several smaller partnerships to provide financial and technical support for other parks and reserves.
Thanks to a public-private partnership established in 2008 between the Government of Mozambique and the Greg Carr Foundation, Gorongosa National Park is now considered to be one of the most successful conservation and sustainable development stories in the world.
The collaboration is set to continue until 2043. Team members from the Gorongosa Project, such as Dominique Gonçalves contributed insights and data from the past decade to the World Bank. “I hope that the Gorongosa model creates new advocates and funders for integrated conservation and development projects in Mozambique and Africa by promoting a positive new vision of African national parks as ‘engines of sustainable human development,” said Dominique Gonçalves, Manager of the Gorongosa National Park Elephant Ecology Project.
The Collaborative Management Partnership toolkit was generously supported by the Global Wildlife Program (funded by The Global Environment Facility) and is one of the most comprehensive reviews of public-private partnerships in Africa, serving as a reference guide for governments and implementing partners who are considering collaborations to address challenges and threats to protected areas and wildlife.
This powerful new resource raises awareness of partnership experiences in Africa and highlights best practices, benefits, challenges, and lessons learned. While the case study models and lessons in the Toolkit are derived from national protected areas in Africa such as Gorongosa National Park, they can be applied to private and community protected areas, as well as other conservation areas around the world.
The full 204-page Collaborative Management Partnership Toolkit is available at the link below, featuring the Gorongosa case study and story map, and other useful resources.
Toolkit:
https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/global-wildlife-program/publicatio...
Gorongosa Story map:
https://geowb.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=8488e8e45...
About the Gorongosa Project:
Gorongosa National Park (GNP) in Mozambique is perhaps Africa’s greatest wildlife restoration story. In 2008, a 20-year Public-Private Partnership was established for the joint management of GNP between the Government of Mozambique and the Carr Foundation (Gorongosa Restoration Project), a US nonprofit organization. In 2018, the Government of Mozambique signed an extension of the joint management agreement for another 25 years. By adopting a 21st Century conservation model of balancing the needs of wildlife and people, Gorongosa is protecting and saving this beautiful wilderness, returning it to its rightful place as one of Africa’s greatest national parks. GNP has been described as one of the most diverse parks on Earth, covering a vast expanse of 400,000 hectares. In recent years, the Gorongosa Project, with the support of Mozambique’s National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC), has ensured the protection of a recovering population of lions in this system, successfully reduced key threats, and has been recognized as one of National Geographic’s “Last Wild Places” and by TIME Magazine as one of the “World’s Greatest Places – 2019”.
Gorongosa collaborates with UN Habitat, the Red Cross, and the World Food Program. The Project receives support and advice from stakeholder partners such as USAID, Irish Aid, Norway, Canada, Portugal, EU, HHMI and more. We engage with more than thirty research universities around the world, including University Eduardo Mondlane, UniLurio, University of Lisbon, Oxford University, Princeton University, and more.
Source: Gorongosa National Park / Media Release
Image: Courtesy of Gorongosa National Park