Sep 14, 2026 |
Fifteen teenagers from the communities neighbouring Maputo National Park spent a week learning the conservation trade on land and at sea.
The participants, pupils at Salamanga Primary School and Zitundo Secondary School, both in the protected area's buffer zone, took part in the third edition of the Junior Rangers programme, run by Associação Natura Moçambique with Maputo National Park (MNP) and with the support of the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC) and the Peace Parks Foundation (PPF).
According to the PNM, the programme combined classroom sessions on the role of the conservationist and the future forest and wildlife ranger with field work, including a guided safari out to the marine area. There the group joined the team responsible for patrolling and monitoring the Ponta do Ouro coastal strip, on the border with South Africa, and saw the dune protection project.
The most hands-on day was at Machangulo, where the youngsters visited a community group replanting mangroves in an area destroyed by the floods of 2000 and took part in planting new seedlings themselves, after an explanation of the role these forests play in stabilising the shoreline.
The choice of buffer zone communities is no accident, since these are the people who live alongside the park's wildlife day in and day out and who carry the costs of that proximity, which makes training the youngest among them an investment in the relationship between the protected area and those living on its doorstep.
The park itself shares 20 per cent of its revenue with the communities, according to the National Administration of Conservation Areas, which also points to community initiatives in conservation agriculture, sustainable fishing, aquaculture, ecotourism and paid mangrove restoration work.
Photo: MNP
