Conservation Philanthropy and the Shadow of State Power in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique

Abstract

Transnational networks of donors, NGOs, private foundations, and companies shape conservation policymaking in Mozambique. In a context of neoliberal conservation that frames a reduction of the role of the state, policymaking is not the sole purpose of state agencies and thus questions state sovereignty. This article addresses state agency in a conservation philanthropy project in central Mozambique. The Gorongosa Restoration Project (GRP) is a public-private partnership between the state and the Carr Foundation, an American philanthropic organisation, for the management of Gorongosa National Park. The Frelimo state-at the head of the country ever since independence in 1975-is still rather weak in Gorongosa region, an opposition stronghold. State sovereignty is reformulated, for GRP is greatly externally driven and performs state functions such as the running of a state-owned national park. But in spite of weak state capacities, state sovereignty remains at the forefront: central and local state are key for daily conservation management, and the philanthropic apparatus is an opportunity for the state to further its local presence and control in the hinterland.