BY KAREN BOSSICK
In 2004 Sun Valley conservationist Greg Carr was invited by the government of Mozambique to join hands to save one of Africa’s last remaining wild places.
Carr took a look at the area on the southern edge of the Rift Valley, which had been ravaged by a 16-year civil war decimating 99 percent of some of its large mammals. And he inked a 20-year-contract with the government in 2008 to save Gorongosa National Park.
The work being done there to restore the wildlife and the ecosystem is also improving the lives of Africa’s rural population, putting women and girls front and center in a fight to save their natural heritage and lift their communities out of poverty.
Now, Carr has a new film exploring the challenges facing wildlife conservationists in Mozambique’s national park, which is considered one of the most bio-diverse places on earth. And he’s offering a sneak peak to the hometown audience before it’s released.
Carr will offer a free pre-release film screening of “Gorongosa: Park and People” at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 3, at Ketchum’s Community Library.
The screening will include a discussion with Carr and young Mozambique scientist Dominique Goncalves.
Gorongosa National Park is one of Africa’s last remaining wilderness areas. The park has been named one of National Geographic’s Last Wild Places and will be featured in a major article in the May 2019 issue of National Geographic magazine.
And, with a decade or protection offered by the Idaho-based Greg Carr Foundation, its large animal population has increased 10-fold.
But it’s a constant challenge to balance the needs of the habitat and the wildlife who call it home with the needs of the human communities around the park as they deal with such problems as elephants damaging their crops.
The Greg Carr Foundation is not only working to preserve the park and its wildlife but also offering health care, agriculture support and education for girls in the surrounding communities. Thus, the Gorongosa has become a new model for other protected areas in Africa.