The “green lung” of Mozambique’s capital wants to attract the young into conservation

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The “green lung” of Mozambique’s capital wants to attract the young into conservation

11:13 CAT | 02 Mar 2022

Photo: Twitter/@EmbEspMaputo

Jardim Tunduru – the Tunduru Gardens, the largest botanical gardens in Mozambique – opens a new chapter today, focussed on raising awareness among the young of the importance of conservation in the urban environment, in an integrated project supported by Spain.

“We want to focus more on environmental education, since the older generations are more or less lost to us when it comes to nature conservation […] We prefer to start from the bottom – with the youngest,” declared Jardim Tunduru manager Ana Michaque in an interview with Lusa.

The new strategy is to develop partnerships with schools in the Mozambican capital, promoting guided tours and lectures for students in the garden, with the aim of raising children’s awareness of the importance of conservation, especially in urban areas.

“We have a playground here in the garden, and an itinerary of visits and lectures which will focus on environmental education about the various species that exist here, in addition to a component covering waste recycling,” Michaque added.

The new plan to boost the “green lung” of the Mozambican capital is part of a project called “Composting – Education and Environmental Action: Pilot Experience in Jardim Tunduru” [Compostando – Educação e Ação Ambiental: Experiência Piloto no Jardim Tunduru].

The initiative, which consisted of rehabilitating garden infrastructure, was implemented by ‘Ingeniería Sin Fronteras’ (‘Engineers without Borders ‘) with just over €70,000 funding from the Municipality of Barcelona.

“We believe that all cities need a green area, and this is indeed the lung of the city of Maputo,” Engineers without Borders representative in Mozambique Elena Erquiaga told Lusa.

For the Spanish ambassador to Mozambique, Alberto Cerezo, Jardim Tunduru is today just like those other green spaces that “decorate” world capitals, highlighting the importance of promoting the infrastructure as a reference in Maputo.

“All the capitals of the world have a big park. New York has Central Park, Barcelona has Park Guel .. Maputo has the Tunduru Gardens,” the Spanish diplomat explained.

Aquí pots trobar el vídeo promocional que vam presentar! #JardimTunduru #Maputo #Moçambic pic.twitter.com/Zwc1fNPX5L

— ESF Catalunya (@ESFCatalunya) February 28, 2022

Embajador @OzerecO participó en presentación video promoción parque Tunduru. Proyecto “Accion y educación ambiental” implementado por ONG española @ESFCatalunya junto Ayuntamiento de Maputo, financiado por @BCNJustGlobal pic.twitter.com/IV0PRCQQ9I

— Embajada de España en Mozambique y Esuatini (@EmbEspMaputo) February 26, 2022

The Tunduru Garden was built in the 1880s in what was then Lourenço Marques, and is considered “the green lung” of the Mozambican capital, because of its abundance and diversity of botanical species.

Before independence in 1975, the place was known as Jardim Municipal Vasco da Gama, but was given its current name in homage to the Tunduru Education Centre in southern Tanzania, which hosted the main Frelimo (Front for the Liberation of Mozambique) school, the ruling party that proclaimed the country’s independence.

Source: Lusa