Find your Gorongosa

Gorongosa National Park (GNP) in Mozambique is perhaps Africa’s greatest wildlife restoration story, and its miraculous re-birth has been funded and managed by the Carr Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1999 by American entrepreneur and philanthropist Gregory C. Carr. The foundation’s mission is to “conserve and restore the natural world through science, education, and community engagement.”

What Gregory Carr has done for Gorongosa in the last 20 years is a powerful story of an American multi-millionaire who retired early so that he could devote the remainder of his life to bringing back to life a desolate area that had been destroyed by decades of civil war. Every animal in Gorongoza was slaughtered and all that remained were malarial mosquitoes when Gregory Carr showed up – determined to bring the ecosystem back to life with his resources and compassion. Not only did he re-populate the area with its natural animal species, but he insisted that the humans around the area needed to be uplifted quantifiably – out of poverty. He went even further and insured that everyone had access to higher education so that they could have the power of choice to lead better lives with greater hope for the future of their families.

In 2008, the Government of Mozambique and the Carr Foundation formed the “Gorongosa Project”, a 20-year Public-Private Partnership for the joint management of the Park, and for human development in the communities near the Park. On June 7th 2018, the Government of Mozambique signed an extension of the management agreement of Gorongosa National Park for another 25 years.

By adopting a 21st Century conservation model of balancing the needs of wildlife and people, the Carr Foundation protects and saves the wilderness, returning it to its rightful place as one of Africa’s greatest parks. The four core areas are:

Conservation:

Protecting Gorongosa’s animals and landscapes for the future

Community:

Providing educational programs, health care, and agricultural support to families so that the well-being of local communities is enhanced

Science:

By studying how all the parts of Gorongosa’s complex web of life fits together, they make informed conservation and management decisions

Sustainable Tourism:

By developing sustainable tourism, employment is created for local people and sustainable revenue is generated for the Park. Every guest that visits Gorongosa plays a vital role in this conservation effort.

Gregory Carr said to Scott Pelley on 60 Minutes, “this is such a satisfying way to spend my money (over $100 million). What else am I going to do with it? Put it on my casket? This place has blessed me in ways I could never have imagined” As he watches the sky turn 100 shades of orange at dusk while elephants saunter through the glorious wilderness teeming with majestic animals, Scott Pelley is moved to say to him, “you’ve certainly found your Gorongosa.”