Maputo, May 6, 2026 (Lusa) - Over 160,000 people received essential health services in 2025 while 22,000 mothers and 35,000 children received nutritional education in Gorongosa National Park, central Mozambique, officials said on Wednesday.
A 2025 Gorongosa Restoration Project report shows 353 mobile health brigades provided services to over 160,000 people, including almost 25,000 children.
Nutritional education helped cut chronic malnutrition among underweight infants in Muanza district from 52% to less than 25%.
"Over 8,000 women received prenatal care, with Gorongosa and Nhamatanda leading service delivery. Early pregnancies continued to decrease, reflecting continued outreach and the work of child protection teams," the document said.
Community mentors conducted over 2,000 sessions on family planning, healthy pregnancies and gender-based violence for women, men and young people in Sofala province.
Mentors made 2,287 home visits in the last quarter, reaching 2,502 pregnant women and involving partners in 79% of consultations to "strengthen shared responsibility for maternal health."
"Elementary multipurpose agents (community health workers) made more than 45,000 home visits to provide basic care, advice and referrals. Monitoring in the final quarter confirmed 152 agents visited nearly 6,900 homes to offer nutritional screening, vaccination, disease surveillance and family planning support, closing gaps in remote communities," the report stated.
The project says nutrition posts screened 6,840 children for malnutrition, identified 30 cases, and supported 20 children to full recovery through integrated treatment and follow-up.
Furthermore, over 3,500 vulnerable families received emergency food support after late rains and poor harvests.
"By combining practical nutritional education with home support from Model Mothers and Fathers (community mentors), families adopt healthier approaches to meals, breastfeeding and childcare, improving eating habits and well-being," the report explained.
The document said the project also completed 28 new schools for 15,000 students using "resilient architecture" to allow buildings to serve as community shelters during bad weather.
"We finished five more health centres to provide care to more than 40,000 people. We completed the 10-hectare Cheringoma Community Conservation Area Centre, where 256 community members, including 98 women, received training during construction," it says.
The restoration project also developed 13 community projects in beekeeping, fish farming and cashew production, benefiting 30,000 people in 3,500 households. Teams planted around 350,000 native trees across 312 hectares.
Gorongosa became Portugal's first national park in 1960 during the colonial era, but the civil war that followed Mozambique's independence tore it apart between 1977 and 1992.
The project is a management partnership between Mozambique's government and the Greg Carr Foundation, a US philanthropic organisation.
Over the last two decades, the project has gained international recognition, with National Geographic describing the work as "the greatest wildlife restoration in history". The project received praise for its integrated model of biodiversity conservation and human development.
LCE/LYT // ADB.
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