Park Programs

Parque Nacional do Limpopo’s Programme implementation is managed by the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) comprising the Park Warden, Project Manager and Financial Manager. The Park operates under Finance and Administration, Infrastructure, Protection, Community and Resettlement departments and selected Programmes within these departments are detailed further below.

PROTECTION PROGRAMME

The Protection department has a compliment of over 100 guards and field rangers located across the 1,000,000 ha park. Their task is to protect the Park’s infrastructure, fauna and flora as well as to provide support and reaction capability to Human-Wildlife conflicts.

TOURISM DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

The Park is currently updating its Tourism Development plan which will include the following Tourism developments which are planned to go out to tender from early 2011 onwards:

• A variety of Cross Border Tourism products including Walking, Birding and 4x4 guided self drive trails. These trails will be located in some of the Parks most attractive regions including Crooks Corner/Pafuri ; Shingwedzi Cliffs and Elefantes Gorge regions.
• 10,000ha Concessions located near Giriyondo Border post and along the Shingwedzi river.
• A Resort type concession alongside Massingir Dam near Massingir gate

The Park will additionally expand the tourist game drive routes around Giriyondo Gate and Aguia Pesqueira camp as well as self drive 4x4 routes to include additional sandveld and Shingwedzi river loops.

Certain of these Tourism developments will be implemented during and after the resettlement programme with resettlement strategically sequenced from north to south down the Shingwedzi river to enable:

• Earlier release of concessions ;
• The movement and re-habitation of wildlife down the Shingwedzi river.
• The sequential dropping of the fences between KNP and PNL. Fences will only be dropped following resettlement of communities living in proximity of the fence line so as to minimise possible Human-Wildlife conflict events. Thus far approximately 50km of fence have been dropped between the Parks.

The long term objective of the GLTP is for tourists to seamlessly travel between each of the GLTP Parks without requiring to pass through border control. This will initially be restricted to selected Cross Border Tourism products and will hopefully be expanded in future years to include all other Park activities.

Further information on Tourism facilities and activities can be found in the Tourism section whilst information on Tourism investment opportunities can be referred to the contacts on the Home page.

INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAMME

Infrastructure development was the focus of the early stages of Park development with the following facilities having being constructed:

• Giriyondo Gate Border facilities and Massingir Gate Welcome centre.
• Park offices, workshop and Staff accommodation facilities located at Massingir Gate.
• Tourism facilities including Machampane, Albufeira and Aguia Pesqueira camps and 4x4 trails and associated camps.
• Community Information Centre located along the Limpopo river at Mahawane
• Road network connecting the main infrastructure facilities.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

A healthy and mutually beneficial relationship between Park and Community is essential to ensure Park sustainability and this responsibility rests with the Park’s Community Development department.

The Community Development programme is funded by Agence Française de Developpement (Afd) who have donated €11m funds over a 4 year period. Current activities within the department include:

• Development of a Support Zone Management Plan which will guide the Park management of the Buffer or Support Zone.
• Barrier Fence Environmental Impact Assessment study
• Support Zone Land Use and Carrying Capacity Study
• Implementation of six Irrigation schemes along the Limpopo and Elefantes rivers which will reduce land demand and riverine forest destruction and improve community livelihoods.
• Implementation of a Community Information Centre constructed at Mahawane on the Limpopo River.
• Park Core and Support zone road design and alignment study to plan the Parks’ Tourism and Community road network. The upgrade of the Support Zone road running along the Limpopo and Elefantes river is planned for 2011.

Additionally the programme is focusing on expanding the chill-fence programme and initiating Community environmental awareness education programmes.

For communities to share in the benefits of the Park 20% of the Park revenues are given to Communities. To decide on the allocation of these revenues to identified projects (eg Community Hall, Improved water supply, Community operated Tourism camps etc), each region has a community committee to make decisions on behalf of the community members.

To ensure free and safe wildlife movement within the Parks’ core zone the resettlement programme is managing the relocation of families to the Parks approximately 5km wide Buffer Zone which runs along the Limpopo and Elefantes rivers. A study is currently underway to identify corridors within the Buffer Zone to provide a link for wildlife between the Park’s Core zone and the Limpopo River. The benefits of these corridors include:

• A safe corridor to enable migration of wildlife (Elephant, Buffalo etc) throughout the GLTP and to link up with Banhine and Gonarezhou National Park.
• Protect riverine forest vegetation along the Limpopo river
• Provide water access for wildlife from the dry Sandveld
• Provide a tourism product along the Limpopo River which may include Community run lodges.

RESETTLEMENT PROGRAMME

Seven villages with approximately 1,200 families are located within the Park’s Core zone and will be voluntarily relocated to World Bank standards. The resettlement is necessitated to enable Park Tourism development, which is essential for Park sustainability, and due to increasing Human-Wildlife conflict events.

Two Pilot resettlement projects for 20 and 18 families are in final stages of completion and with the continued support of the Government of Mozambique and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) donor funding the 4 year resettlement programme is due to start in late 2010 on receipt of €10m 3rd phase KfW funding.

The Park has adopted the following resettlement principles:

1. Resettlement should be prevented or minimised
2. Genuine consultation and participation must take place
3. A Community Livelihood Baseline must be identified
4. Equitable and Fair compensation must be negotiated
5. The Park must provide all necessary support to Resettlement
6. Resettlement developments must ensure that directly affected communities are benefited.
7. Special considerations must be given to vulnerable individuals and families
8. Host communities must be considered as parties affected by resettlement
9. Resettlement must be seen as an upfront cost of the project
10. A dispute procedure must be agreed and implemented
11. The Park must accept responsibility to ensure that best practices are applied
12. All legal obligations must be complied with
13. The existing community identity and structure must be remain unaffected as much as reasonably possible.
14. Customary and Traditional Community practices must be accommodated during and after the resettlement process.

Resettled Communities will be relocated to the Buffer Zone along the Limpopo and Elefantes rivers with the confluence of the Limpopo and Elefantes river supporting the majority of the relocation. This area has fertile soil and as it is already densely populated it is not ideal for tourism and wildlife habitation. The rezoning of this South Eastern section of the Park to a Buffer Zone is offset by the gain of the Shingwedzi river system through the resettlement process. A Barrier Fence will be installed during 2011 to limit human – wildlife conflict and this will run in an East North East direction from the Massingir gate.

In addition to benefiting from a continued share of Park revenues, families will be fairly compensated in the form of brick and mortar housing, agriculture and grazing land and monetary compensation for any loss of structures (eg granary, kraal etc), fruit trees etc. Families currently rely on rain fed subsistence crops and to reduce the risks associated with dry periods and increase resettlement sustainability each family will also benefit from participation in an irrigation scheme which will provide improved food security.

A Land Use and Carrying Capacity study and Socio-Economic Baseline survey will support the resettlement decision making and monitoring process and following resettlement, the Parks Community Development department will take responsibility for continued monitoring and support to resettled and host communities.