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afrol News / SARDC, 12 May - The future of 30 percent of about 20,000 people who live in buffer areas of the recently declared Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park in Massingir, in Mozambique's southern province of Gaza, was the centre of discussion at a consultative meeting on management plans for the park's natural resources, recently held in the capital Maputo. The Greater Limpopo Park is one of the world's largest conservancies, straddling parts of Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The Mozambican side of the park covers about 40,000 square kilometres, and it extends partially over three districts, namely Massingir, Mabalane and Chicualacuala, where a large number of animals and plant species, some of them endangered, are be found. The park is currently inhabited by about 20,000 people, 6,000 of whom may have to be moved from the buffer areas regarded as fundamental for the development of tourism and the conservation of biodiversity. The remaining 14,000 people are said not to pose any problem for the implementation of the park's activities. The park is to be fenced around, to prevent a conflict of interests between these families' agricultural activities, and the principles of wildlife conservation. In general terms, all communities consulted expressed concern with the improvement of their living conditions, without, however, considering the creation of the park as a major opportunity to improve their standards of living. During the consultative meeting, attended by representatives of civil society and residents of the area of the Greater Limpopo Park, the Mozambican government ensured the affected families that resettlement will take place in the low-lying areas along the Chimuedze, Limpopo and Elephants rivers within the park. According to Afonso Madope, the National Director of Conservation Areas in the Ministry of Tourism, the government will provide housing, and ensure that the population can generate income through sustainable employment in the resettlement areas. - We'll create social infrastructure such as access to roads, hospitals, houses, schools, and allocate plots for farming and grazing, he stressed. "But the recolation of the population could only take place after all the infrastructure is in place," he said.
- Consequently, there's a great need to find a way to take advantage of those areas without creating conflicts with the communities, Madope said. Currently, the technical committee for implementation is drafting the management plan which will determine the buffer areas, the activities to be undertaken by the communities, and will say whether there is or not a need to transfer the population living in the buffer zones. - If it's eventually approved that the people living in these areas must be transferred, the government will create all the conditions that might directly or indirectly affect them, including aspects of a cultural nature, he said, explaining that "if a person lives in a particular region, and there's a need to move out, there are factors of a cultural nature that can't be measured but must be considered in relation to resettlement". Following the introduction of 30 elephants in October of last year in the Limpopo Park, the government is planning to introduce, by July, about 1,000 other large mammals, described as "inoffensive", including giraffes, zebras, impalas, warthogs and other species. Inadequate fencing and inspection are regarded as the major constraints that may result from the establishment of the park. This view prompted the population to propose that in case of damages to their property caused by wild animals, they should be compensated, a situation that is not provided for in the Law on Forests and Wild Fauna. Earlier this month, the German Development Bank has agreed to make six million euros (about 5.5 million US dollars) available to help finance the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park. The money will be used to support all the activities needed to set up the Mozambican side of the international park, including the drafting of a management plan. Such a plan seeks, among other objectives, to define precisely what activities will be undertaken by communities living within and in the immediate vicinity of the park, in order to ensure the maintenance of the
biodiversity.
By Bonifacio Antonio, SARDC
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The population currently lives on river banks, which offer the best conditions for agriculture and livestock rearing, but pose serious threat to the environment. The same areas also offer the best potential for
tourism. 