Covering approximately 1,728 square kilometres, Maputo National Park is located around 75 kilometres from central Maputo, approximately one hour and twenty minutes by car. On 14 July 2025, the Park was recognised by UNESCO as Mozambique's first Natural World Heritage Site.

The meeting provided an opportunity to learn more about the Park's tourism potential and its capacity to welcome international visitors, including Thai tourists, who have shown growing interest in nature-based tourism, national parks and safari experiences across Africa.

The Ambassador expressed the Embassy's readiness to raise awareness among Thai travellers of Mozambique's exceptional natural beauty, rich biodiversity and tourism attractions, with a view to further promoting tourism exchanges between the two countries.

 

During the meeting, Mr. Miguel Gonçalves provided an overview of the Park's history, which dates back to 1932. In 1960, the area became a reserve dedicated to elephant conservation. Today, the Park is home to more than 600 elephants, over 500 buffaloes and a number of leopards, collectively referred to as the Big Three, alongside various other wildlife species, including hippopotamuses, warthogs, antelopes, giraffes and zebras.

The conservation area was subsequently expanded to incorporate the Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve, which plays an important role in protecting marine ecosystems, including nesting grounds for sea turtles and migration routes for humpback whales that visit Mozambique's coastal waters annually.

 

Ambassador Bancha also highlighted Thailand's extensive experience in national park management and biodiversity conservation, noting that Thailand currently has 133 national parks. Among them is Khao Yai National Park, Thailand's first national park, which forms part of the UNESCO-listed Dong Phayayen–Khao Yai Forest Complex. Khao Yai National Park is renowned for its exceptional biodiversity and serves as an important habitat for numerous wildlife and plant species, including more than 400 wild elephants, gibbons, deer, hornbills and other rare and protected species.

 

In this regard, the Ambassador emphasised that biodiversity conservation and sustainable national park management could become promising new areas of cooperation between Thailand and Mozambique, particularly through the exchange of knowledge, expertise and best practices.

The Ambassador further reaffirmed that the Royal Thai Embassy in Maputo, together with the Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA) under Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, remains committed to promoting development cooperation between Thailand and Mozambique, particularly in areas where Thailand possesses considerable expertise, including agricultural development, aquaculture and seafood processing.

He also noted the potential to expand future cooperation to initiatives associated with Maputo National Park, particularly community development and social responsibility projects already being undertaken in communities surrounding the Park. Such cooperation could contribute to environmental conservation, sustainable development and the further strengthening of friendship and cooperation between Thailand and Mozambique.