The ecologist in charge of Gorongosa elephant research in Mozambique credits local communities with part of the success in recovering the animals, stressing that the National Park sees the well-being of local people as a priority.

"There's no point in us giving money or alternative livelihoods if we don't give autonomy, responsibility, leadership to these local voices and if we don't look at the welfare of these communities as a priority," said Dominique Gonçalves, who leads the Elephant Ecology Project in Gorongosa National Park.

The elephant population in Gorongosa dropped from 2,500 to about 200 animals due to the civil war in Mozambique that lasted from 1981 to 1994, but since then the number of elephants has increased fivefold, from about 200 to nearly a thousand, according to the researcher's figures.

In an interview with Lusa on the eve of speaking about "The Link Between Conservation and Human flourishing" at the National Geographic Summit 2022, which took place this Tuesday in Lisbon, Gonçalves stressed that it was "a great advance".

"It's a big increase, over the last 30 years. It's practically my age, from the time I was born until today," he stressed.

The young specialist attributed this success not only to the park's restoration project, underway since 2008 when the Maputo government teamed up with the Carr Foundation, but also to the resident communities around the park, who are "helping a lot to protect these elephants."

And he argued that if there is to be this coexistence between humans and wildlife, and if there are to continue to be elephants or lions, "the welfare of the people who live next to these places must be given priority."

According to Gonçalves, the park "is a leader" in seeing conservation and human development "as two sides of the same coin" and invests "a lot more" in human development and sustainable development than in conservation per se.

"We believe that this is a cycle that turns virtuous," he said.

But the focus on human development is not just about building schools or hospitals, "it's deeper.

"It's really listening, having local voices in decision making, it's really empowering. (...) We need local voices as champions of this biodiversity that we want to preserve," he said.

He admitted that there are still conflicts between humans and elephants, as happened in January when two people were killed by Gorongosa elephants, and admitted that this will not end.

But Dominique Gonçalves stressed that the park works to decrease the likelihood of such events.

The rangers monitor the location of the herds through GPS collars placed on some elephants, and react whenever any approach settlements.

The communities themselves have been taught how to scare the elephants away, namely with the use of fireworks, whose noise, lights, and smoke have acted as a deterrent, driving the animals back inside the park, which has no physical fences, but only technological ones.

"This is something that happens today, we don't know how much longer it will work," because animals are intelligent and adapt their habits.

Another measure that the park developed was the creation of barriers with beehives, which are mechanically triggered when elephants approach, causing the swarms to react and the elephants to turn back to escape the bees, with the advantage that the hives are exploited by the inhabitants for honey production, he explained.

And the park has also been building brick and cement barns, which are sturdier and more airtight, as traditional barns allow elephants to smell and approach to eat the stored grain, knocking down the precarious structures.

With these and other measures, namely a focus on education, explained Gonçalves, the park tries to ensure that the basic needs of the communities are assured, because "when they have better life opportunities, better income," people want to participate in conservation.

With an area of about 4,067 square kilometers, Gorongosa National Park was once home to one of the densest wildlife populations in all of Africa, including carnivores, herbivores, and more than 500 species of birds, but the civil war in the country has caused 95% large mammals to disappear and the ecosystems have come under severe pressure.

It is located in Sofala province, at the southern end of the East African Rift Valley, with an area of about 4,000 square kilometers.

The Carr Foundation, created by American Gregory Carr, allied itself with the Mozambican government to protect the park and, in 2008, signed a joint management contract for 20 years, which has since been extended for another 25, committing then to an investment of 40 million dollars.

Dominique Gonçalves, who in 2015, joined the Elephant Ecology Project as a researcher, which she now leads, is one of the speakers at the 4th National Geographic Summit, under the motto "One day to change the next", which brings to Lisbon today "explorers who use the power of science, exploration, research and 'storytelling' to publicize and protect the wonders of planet Earth," according to the organization.