Set up in 2010, the Ratata Natural Resources Management Committee, is located in the buffer zone of the Gilé National Park (PNAG), on the side of Impaca locality, in Pebane district and it is working in coordination with the Park, to find sustainable alternatives that seek to improve the livelihoods of the more than five neighbourhoods which accommodate about 7,000 households.

The Committee has benefitted from support from partners to strengthen its role in the work of raising community awareness about the conservation of natural resources, as well as strengthening the economic and productive activities of Ratata. In 2020, the Gilé National Park held training sessions about bee-keeping, non-timber forestry resources, driving animals away, and managing conflicts between people and wild life.

Other activities being undertaken in this committee, with the communities, concern the promotion of savings and strengthening the value chain of the agricultural materials produced by the community. It should be mentioned that this is a legalised committee, it has a bank account and it creates ways of generating incomes and sustainability through collecting enrolment and monthly membership fees from the members.

This information was shared during a recent visit by workers of the Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND) and staff of the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC), to the Gilé National Park under the project “PROMOVE Biodiversidade”, which seeks to cover three components: (a) the Conservation of Biodiversity; (b) Community development, and (c) Studies and research, which obey priorities that will be identified in coordination with the PNAG Administration. The component of conservation of biodiversity is managed by the FFS-IGF Foundation through direct support to the Gilé National Park.

Also in the context of “PROMOVE Biodiversidade”, the PNAG intends to hold training sessions in matters of conflict management and of running associations in order to improve the operations of the Ratata Natural Resources Management Committee and similar committees in the region.