Niassa Reserve is a nature reserve

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

 in Cabo Delgado Province and Niassa Province

Niassa Province

Niassa is a province of Mozambique. It has an area of 129,056 km² and a population of 1.027.037 . It is the most sparsely populated province in the country. Lichinga is the capital of the province. There are a minimum estimated 450,000 Yao people living in Mozambique...

, Mozambique

Mozambique

Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...

. Covering over 42000 sqkm, it is the largest protected area in the country. The reserve is part of the Trans-Frontier Conservation Area

Peace Park

Peace Park may refer to:*Peace park, another name for a transboundary protected area*Santiphap Park, Bangkok, also known as Peace Park*Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, a park in Hiroshima, Japan dedicated to the legacy of Hiroshima as the first city in the world to be nuclear bombed* Peace Park , a...

 and links to the Tanzanian Lukwika-Lumesule Game Reserve. It will connect to the Lake Niassa Reserve when it is completed.

History

Founded in 1954 while Mozambique was still Portuguese East Africa

Portuguese East Africa

Mozambique or Portuguese East Africa was the common name by which the Portuguese Empire's territorial expansion in East Africa was known across different periods of time...

, Niassa did not receive effective protection until the end of the Mozambican Civil War

Mozambican Civil War

The Mozambican Civil War began in 1977, two years after the end of the war of independence. The ruling party, Front for Liberation of Mozambique , was violently opposed from 1977 by the Rhodesian- and South African-funded Mozambique Resistance Movement...

 with the signing of the Rome General Peace Accords

Rome General Peace Accords

The Rome General Peace Accords between the Mozambican Civil War parties, the Frelimo and the Renamo , put an end to the Mozambique Civil War. It was signed on October 4, 1992. Negotiations preceding in began in July 1990...

. Since then, the Mozambican government has set up management systems in order to protect the ecology of northern Mozambique.

The relative isolation and lack of development that protects the park also hurts its potential for tourism. Mozambican officials admit constraints to development of the park's appeal include "remoteness and difficult access ... lack of any established tourism infrastructure and the logistical hardship associated with starting an enterprise under these conditions."

Borders

The northern border is formed by the Rovuma River, which also forms the border with Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

. Niassa Reserve is twice the size of Kruger National Park

Kruger National Park

Kruger National Park is one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers and extends from north to south and from east to west.To the west and south of the Kruger National Park are the two South African provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga. In the north is Zimbabwe, and to the east is...

 and comparable to the total area of Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 or Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

.

Ecosystem

Niassa is part of the Eastern Miombo woodlands

Eastern Miombo woodlands

The Eastern Miombo woodlands are an ecoregion of grassland and woodland in southern Tanzania and northern Mozambique.-Setting:These species-rich savanna ecosystems cover wide areas of gentle hills and low valleys containing rivers and dambo wetlands...

, which also encompasses parts of Tanzania and Malawi

Malawi

The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...

. The reserve is one of the largest miombo woodland preserves in the world, with miombo forest covering half of the preserve. The remainder is mostly open savannah, with some wetlands and isolated patches of forest. 95% of the preserve's biomass is vegetation, which includes 21 types of plant matter and 191 species of trees and shrubs.

Niassa Preserve boasts an African wild dog

African Wild Dog

Lycaon pictus is a large canid found only in Africa, especially in savannas and lightly wooded areas. It is variously called the African wild dog, African hunting dog, Cape hunting dog, painted dog, painted wolf, painted hunting dog, spotted dog, or ornate wolf...

population of over 350, significant for an endangered mammal with a global population estimated at 8000. The park boasts a sable antelope population of over 12000, an elephant population of 16000, over 400 bird species, and large populations of Cape buffalo, impala, wildebeest, zebra and leopards. The area has three endemic species - the Niassa wildebeest, Boehm's zebra, and Johnston's Impala.

The reserve is home to Mecula Mountain, located at the center of the park with a height of 1441 metres (4,727.7 ft).