Mozambique Ep6 Maputo National Park Rustic Camping - "Ironvan" Adventures with Wild Wonderful World

On the road from Karangani to Maputo Special Reserve, now the Maputo National Park. The Team from Wild Wonderful World and Ironman 4x4 Africa try out the new 4x4 route and some rustic camping.

On 7 December 2021, Mozambique’s Council for Ministers issued a decree to formally merge the spectacular terrestrial and marine ecosystems of Maputo Special Reserve and Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve into one conservation area —the new Maputo National Park.

The proclamation of the 1 700km2 park follows two decades of intensive development and restoration activities led by the country’s National Administration for Conservation Areas (ANAC) and Peace Parks Foundation. In 2018, ANAC and Peace Parks entered into a new 15-year partnership agreement with the emphasis on jointly developing the two reserves to achieve self-sustainability through a unified management plan – a mission that was the driving force behind the application for and eventual proclamation of the new national park.

https://www.peaceparks.org/mozambique...

The park protects part of one of the world’s 36 biodiversity hotspots regarded as the most biodiverse places on earth. Since 2010, a rewilding effort has released almost 5,000 individual animals, including the reintroduction of 11 previously eradicated species, including cheetahs.

The marine portion of the new park protects Mozambique’s most important nesting beaches for endangered leatherback and loggerhead turtles. Rare dugongs are protected in the ocean waters along with several shark species and the largest population of giant trevally in the entire world.

https://www.earth.com/news/maputo-a-n...

Maputo Special Reserve (formerly known as Maputo Elephant Reserve) is a nature reserve in Mozambique.

The reserve is located on Maputo Bay, approximately 100 kilometers southeast of the city of Maputo, Mozambique. The Reserve is 1,040 km2 (400 square miles) in extent and was originally proclaimed in 1932 to protect a small population of coastal elephants resident in the area.

The reserve combines lakes, wetlands, swamp forests, grasslands and mangrove forests with a coastline that lies within the Maputaland Centre of Endemism. According to the latest data, the number of elephants in the reserve is about 400.
The reserve will eventually form part of the Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation Area, which includes national parks from South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland. Currently, it forms part of the Usuthu-Tembe-Futi Transfrontier Conservation Area.

In 2018 the transfrontier conservation group Peace Parks Foundation signed a partnership agreement with the Mozambique government to support the management and development of the Maputo Special Reserve and adjacent Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve. This comprised US$16 million donated by a number of donors, including the Reinet Foundation, Wyss Foundation and World Bank-funded MozBio programme.

Eco-tourism infrastructure in the reserve consists of the Anvil Bay resort, which opened in 2015.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maputo_...

Grant & Michelle everything they do they aim to inspire a love for Africa and wildlife, educate people on conservation and do their part to empower key projects with the funding and resources they need to keep our wild spaces thriving.
https://www.wildwonderfulworld.com/

At Ironman 4x4, we are very passionate about 4 wheel driving. We love Overlanding and being out in Nature. As a responsible 4 wheel drive company, we are very aware of the challenges that Mother Nature faces with the relentless onslaught caused by our human activities. Now, more than ever, Ironman 4x4 has embraced a philosophy of Conservation Awareness in all of our activities as a company and as a team of Nature Lovers.

We are at the forefront of an industry that relies on our clients getting out there and enjoying everything that nature has to offer. We feel a tremendous responsibility to bring as much Conservation Focus as possible to our customers and our audience through our Social Media platforms as well as our day to day activities. To this end, we have elected to produce content that is Conservation focussed alongside our Overlanding and Technical 4wd content.

There are so many Organisations, Groups and Individuals involved in Conservation and we take great pleasure in bringing their stories, their struggles and their plight to the greater Ironman 4x4 following. It is our sincere intention and hopes that we can bring together some of these like-minded people with the aim to build on Conservation efforts for the benefit of, not only our current generation but also generations to come.

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