Environment

Day 2, June 17, 2007

Gorongosa National Park was once the crown jewel of Mozambique's national parks and one of the most fabled in Africa. But after 28 years of war, the park is now almost empty.

What can you do with 40 million dollars? Greg Carr believes he can rescue a corner of southern Africa. Carr is investing his own money in a project to restore a national park in Mozambique. The project is also meant to create an eco-tourism system to help sustain the park in the future. Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks to Carr about his plan.

Greg Carr — Gorongosa National Park (8:00)

Click here to listen to the interview.

In a watershed experiment, the Boston entrepreneur is putting $40 million of his own money into a splendid but ravaged park in Mozambique.

Indigenous groups are threatened as Peru gears up for an energy boom.

In the center of Mozambique, a country of blinding white beaches and sweeping savannas, velvety green wetlands and spirit-filled forests, an American philanthropist is working to restore a long-forgotten national park; the first step, he hopes, in lifting this beleaguered region out of poverty.

Gorongosa National Park was once among the top destinations in Africa, with a greater animal concentration than on the Serengeti Plain. But during Mozambique's long civil war, soldiers and other poachers killed the animals, planted landmines and destroyed the infrastructure. For years, this beautiful landscape was all but abandoned.

A main challenge of the Gorongosa project is convincing the people living around the park that cooperating will serve their interests. Poaching, deforestation and slash-and-burn agriculture still threaten the restoration efforts.

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Video produced by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

Reporter: Stephanie Hanes

Videographer: Jeffrey Barbee

Editing: Alexandra Verville and Nathalie Applewhite

Map and war footage courtesy of the Congressional Research Services.

Produced by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and Azimuth Media

An estimated 150,000 people live in and around Gorongosa National Park.