Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambique’s government has described Sunday’s inclusion of Maputo National Park on the World Heritage List by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as a “historic moment of pride”.
“It is a historic moment of pride for Mozambique,” said Secretary of State for Land and Environment Gustavo Dgedge, quoted in a statement from Maputo National Park.
UNESCO today added Maputo National Park to its World Heritage list.
The organisation adopted the inscription today during its 47th meeting in Paris, with UNESCO highlighting that Maputo National Park “includes terrestrial, coastal and marine ecosystems and is home to almost 5,000 species. The site complements the conservation values of iSimangaliso [a neighbouring park in South Africa], enhancing biodiversity protection across the entire ecosystem of the Maputo region.”
“UNESCO has recognised our work, powerfully endorsing the efforts here. This recognition honours the dedication of our government, communities and partners in restoring this unique landscape,” added the Secretary of State for Land and Environment.
In the same statement, Maputo National Park says that its inclusion on the World Heritage List represents an “important step forward for biodiversity protection (…) marking a significant achievement for Mozambique and an important step forward for biodiversity protection on the African continent.”
UNESCO previously indicated that Maputo Park features “diverse habitats, including lakes, lagoons, mangroves and coral reefs”, as well as long beaches, dunes, swamps, extensive wetlands and diverse grasslands, providing a habitat for a range of marine species from southern Africa, and the text also highlights its long-standing conservation.
Maputo Park is linked to the iSimangaliso Wetland Park in South Africa, which already has World Heritage status.
The history of environmental protection south of the Mozambican capital began in 1932, when it was a small hunting area where elephants were the main prey. In 1969, the importance of local biodiversity led to the area being classified as the Maputo Special Reserve.
The reaction to the decline caused by the civil war that followed independence received its main impetus in 2006 with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the government and the Peace Parks Foundation.
As a result of this cooperation, Maputo National Park has been growing steadily since 2010, benefiting from various species reintroduction and translocation programmes.
The iconic giraffes and elephants have their habitat here and can often be seen walking along National Road 1 (N1), but Maputo National Park combines the “sea and land” aspects in a total area of 1,718 square kilometres.
The authorities officially created it on 7 December 2021, bringing together two contiguous protected areas, the Maputo Special Reserve (1,040 square kilometres on land) and the Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve (678 square kilometres).
The administrator of the Maputo park told Lusa on 4 July that the elevation of its status will change the “visibility of the park”, a place to be presented to the world as a world heritage site because it is unique, with “universal values” defended by UNESCO.
With the elevation of the Mozambican park to World Heritage status, the administrator had previously said that the two parties (Mozambique and South Africa) would move forward with talks to find a new form of management, with the main concern being the movement of species.
“If this happens, we will create a joint committee and a joint operational plan [with South Africa]. Each country will manage its own operations, and we will coordinate jointly to maintain the value of both parks,” the administrator said at the time.
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