Mozambique has expanded Gorongosa National Park and created a "buffer zone" to limit human activity near the park which was badly damaged during the country's civil war, a spokesman said Wednesday.
The new boundaries gave some park land to nearby villages, but overall expanded its size by about 10 percent to 4,067 square kilometres (1,570 square miles), government spokesman Alberto Nkutumula told AFP.
A new buffer zone of 3,300 square kilometres (1,274 square miles) was also created, allowing local populations limited farming, hunting and mining near the park, Nkutumula said.
"They can only perform sustainable activities there because the impact of human activity outside the park can have an influence on the park," he said.
The park in central Mozambique once had one of Africa's densest wildlife populations, which was slashed by 95 percent during the 15-year civil war which ended in 1992, according to park authorities.
In recent years, wildlife groups have begun reintroducing animals into the park, which the government hopes to transform into a tourist attraction.
The decision was taken in consultation with local villages, and people have already starting moving from the newly protected areas, the spokesman said.
The new boundaries take effect in two weeks.
Government also hopes to develop tourism in the park as a way of creating jobs.
"We will open (the park) to the private sector to create infrastructure for tourism for people there to get jobs," said Nkutumula.
Copyright 2010 AFP Global Edition
