Gregory Carr is the American visionary who in 2008 dreamed of bringing Gorongosa, a national park in Mozambique, back to life. Once a popular wildlife park, its million acres were ravaged by civil war. This is the story not only of how, but why he answered the challenge, as well as hurdles faced, victories won, and gifts shared. Today, the flora, the fauna, the local communities — all are thriving. Gregory Carr has pledged more than $100 million over 35 years to restore and protect the park’s biodiversity and to assist communities living adjacent to the park with health care, education, and agriculture in a public-private partnership with the Government of Mozambique.
With Elisa Langa, Greg shares the story of how he and his team accomplished what National Geographic calls “perhaps Africa’s greatest wildlife restoration story”. They did so with ecotourism, conservation of the land, as well as building community, providing healthcare, a sustainable coffee farm, and education — from a children’s school to a Master’s in Conservation Biology, the only master’s program in the world taught entirely within a national park. This inspirational case study of how the complex parts of an ecosystem fit together, sets an inspirational example for reclaiming our planet for the good of us all.