This week’s Peace Parks TV episode comes to you from the warm, crystal clear waters of Ponta do Ouro beach, in Mozambique’s Maputo National Park. Here, a life-changing and -saving initiative is underway to train local youngsters to become professional lifeguards. Not only are they learning how to swim and respond to potential drownings, but also how to surf – building a vital, beneficial relationship between local young people and the ocean.
“It was natural that the surfers start to save the people who were drowning off the beach here in Ponta,” says Gabriel Cariao, Co-founder of Lwandi Surf, a Brazilian association that has been helping coastal communities. “That’s when the partnership with Maputo National Park and SENSAP – the National Public Rescue Service, from the Government of Mozambique – came about. They trained the eight young kids, aged 18 and above, to become lifeguards and start working here at this beach firstly, followed hopefully by other beaches.”
The initiative is bringing pride and positivity to the young trainees. “Being a community lifeguard here at Ponta do Ouro means a lot to me because I will be able to save many lives,” says Paulito Paulo Simbine. “My family is happy, and I always wanted to do this job; my dream has always been to work by the sea. Every time we go to the beach, we teach the youngsters that we need to take care of the ocean, and keep it clean because it is our home.”
Ponta do Ouro beach occupies a rich and pristine coastal region of southern Mozambique, forming part of the Maputo Environmental Protection Area, which also incorporates Maputo National Park. Through a co-management partnership, Peace Parks Foundation is working with Mozambique’s National Administration for Conservation Areas (ANAC) to jointly restore, protect and develop this land- and seascape, alongside partners, funders and donors providing technical and financial support for conservation and community development activities. The Ponta do Ouro area is flourishing, with infrastructure upgrades, and local empowerment and employment, providing significant benefits to community livelihoods and well-being.
Vaness Muianga, Ecosystem Manager at Maputo National Park, is passionate about this project’s personal development for Ponta’s youth, made possible through funding from MozBio with additional support from Mozambique’s Agency GOLO. “It’s important that we direct them towards a job that gives pride to their own community,” she says. “Nowadays they are admired by their community.” Investing in safety, job opportunities and the health and wellbeing of people and the ocean at Ponta do Ouro is becoming yet another of Maputo National Park’s shining success stories. Follow Peace Parks TV for more uplifting developments in Maputo National Park.
