With Gorongosa Mountain to its south-east, and the Manica Highlands bordering Zimbabwe to its west, the Macossa-Tambara Ecosystem in Central Mozambique is a vast Miombo forest, iinselberg, and riverine landscape in the heart of the Zambezi River basin. It is home to a wealth of biodiversity, including elephants, lions, pangolin, leopard, as well as communities of people with long histories on this land.

 

In 2024, Associação NATURA entered a long-term agreement with the government of Mozambique to lead restoration and protection of 4,800 km2 of this precious ecosystem in partnership with local communities. The area had been abandoned and without support management for a decade. Also in 2024, NATURA forged an agreement with Rio Save Safaris - a neighboring concession of 3,800 km2. Together these areas form a landscape the size of famous parks such as Yellowstone National Park and South Luangwa National Park. But, with one key difference: this ecosystem is still home to communities that depend on this living landscape as they have for centuries past.