Gorongosa National Park and its surrounding buffer zone span 10,000 square kilometers in central Mozambique. After a quarter century of civil war and political turmoil following Mozambique’s fight for independence in 1975, more than 95% of the large mammals were wiped out within the park. The entire park ecosystem was on the precipice of collapse.

In 2008, a public-private partnership signed by the Mozambique government and the Carr Foundation set Gorongosa Park on a path to recovery. Today, the rebounding of nature through wildlife management, sustainable agriculture, and systems of economic support for the surrounding community has been hailed as one of the most successful wildlife restoration projects in the world.