Limpopo National Park
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Parque Nacional do Limpopo
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| location | Mozambique, Gaza Province |
| surface | 10,000 km² |
| WDPA ID | 20295 |
| Geographical location | 23 ° 52 ′ S , 32 ° 8 ′ E |
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| Setup date | November 27, 2001 |
| administration | Direcção Nacional de Áreas de Conservação |
The Limpopo National Park ( Parque Nacional do Limpopo in Portuguese ) in Mozambique was founded on November 27, 2001 by amalgamating and protecting former hunting areas. Together with the Kruger National Park in South Africa and the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe, as well as some smaller protected areas, it forms the transnational Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park . The national park is named after the most important river in the national park, the Limpopo .
location
Limpopo National Park is located in the southwest of the country in the Gaza Province . In the west it borders directly on South Africa's Kruger National Park. From the north, the course of the Limpopos forms the natural border of the park in the east. The southern border forms the Lepelle (Olifants River) from the border of South Africa , which flows into the Massingir reservoir and then meets the Shingwedzi , which flows through the national park and which in turn forms the border from there to the confluence with the Limpopo .
history
On November 27, 2001, one year after the announcement of the project to create the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park , the Limpopo National Park was established by decree of the Mozambican government. With financial support from, among others, Germany , South Africa and the USA , the infrastructure has been created and local residents are trained as park rangers and tour guides. The development is closely interlinked with that of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park.
In 2002, the first 45 kilometers of border fence between the South African Kruger National Park and Limpopo National Park were removed. The remaining fences between the two parks are also to be demolished by 2010. This is currently still failing due to problems with cross-border crime and illegal border crossings. In December 2005, the Giriyondo border post opened between the South African Kruger National Park and Limpopo National Park.
About 27,000 people live and farm in the area of today's national park. In contrast to the previous understanding of national parks in southern Africa, animals and people will continue to live together in the national park in the future. A transition zone will be established especially along the Limpopos. The population living here should benefit from tourism in the national park through various programs. Only about 7,000 people from the western park area are to be relocated.
Landscape and vegetation
In the Limpopo National Park there is bushland, partly also the so-called Sandvelt , a species-rich bushland on sandy soils with, among other things, Afzelia quanzensis, peanuts and myrobalans . Extensive mopane and acacia forests occur mainly along the tributaries of the Limpopos in the north and in the area between the Shingwedzi and the Machampane in the east . Along the entire Limpopo and partly also the Shingwedzi , the landscape is characterized in parts by the agricultural areas of the population settling here on which all trees have been removed.
Wildlife
Most of the wildlife in the area of what is now the Limpopo National Park was wiped out by the struggle for independence and the civil war that followed for 16 years . Since the establishment of the national park, attempts have been made to relocate 10 different animal species from the South African Kruger National Park , including giraffes , elephants , zebras , wildebeests and warthogs .
Infrastructure / tourism
The headquarters of the park administration is in Massingir . Most of the infrastructure is still under construction. The park is divided into several zones with different levels of use. A national park is to be created in which the animals can also find retreat areas with little tourist use.
Park entrances
The park currently has three entrances.
- Massingir Gate, about 8 kilometers from Massingir in the south of the park
- Mapai Gate in northeast Mozambique
- Giriyondo Gate in the southern half of the Kruger National Park (South Africa)
- planned: Parvui Gate in the north of the Kruger National Park (South Africa)
- planned: Shingwedzi Gate at Shingwedzi from the Kruger National Park (South Africa)
Streets
Most of the park is only accessible with off-road vehicles .
Accommodations
The infrastructure is still under construction, besides a privately operated camp there are only tent sites for self-catering in the national park.
- Lodges
- Machampane Camp (private camp in the national park)
- Tent sites
- Campismo Aguia Pesqueira
swell
General sources
Homepage of the Limpopo National Park
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Homepage of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park ( Memento of the original from August 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b Record of AHEAD-GLTFCA 8th Working Group Meeting, 5. – 7. March 2008
- ↑ BBC News, December 9, 2002, Africa's biggest game park open
