Professor Edward O. Wilson, a man heralded by the National Geographic Society as ‘the greatest naturalist of our time’, has lent his name and vision to a premier biodiversity research facility in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique. The esteemed evolutionary biologist was the guest of honor at the opening of the ‘Edward O. Wilson Biodiversity Laboratory’ on Thursday, March 27th. The laboratory is the first of its kind in Mozambique.
Special guests at the E.O. Wilson Laboratory grand opening included Beca Jofrisse, Greg Carr, Douglas Griffiths, Professor E.O. Wilson, Abdala Mussa, Anibal Nhampossa, Paulo Majacunene, and Mateus Mutemba.
Gorongosa National Park sits at the southern end of the Great East African Rift Valley in central Mozambique. The diverse landscape and topography of this area gave rise to immense biodiversity; including species found nowhere else on Earth. Gorongosa was badly damaged by a generation of civil conflict in the late 20th Century when large scale poaching occurred. But today, thanks to a restoration project, the Park is well on its way to reclaiming its iconic status. Since the project’s initiation, excellent facilities have been built and large animal numbers have increased by as much as 40%. In 2004, the Carr Foundation, a U.S. not-for-profit organization joined with the Government of Mozambique in a 20-year co-management effort, known as the “Gorongosa Restoration Project” (GRP), to restore Gorongosa National Park. To date the Gorongosa Restoration Project has revitalized anti-poaching teams; rebuilt Park infrastructure; conducted biological monitoring; reintroduced zebra, wildebeest, buffalo, elephant, and hippopotamus; established a school, a community education center, a medical clinic and agriculture programs.