Painting in the living landscape

Gorongosa National Park was a key component of the initial chapter released for E.O. Wilson’s Life on Earth.  Many more people have now toured the Park through this platform as over 700,000 have downloaded our book as of 5 weeks ago. Besides being a case study for rebooting an ecosystem, our project is about showing how complex and diverse geographic features shape a multitude of eco-regions throughout the Park and the surrounding area.  This geographic diversity supports the incredible biodiversity in Gorongosa. 

The bands of slacks and levees along the Pungue River tell the story of past
flooding and changing courses of this river on the southern boundary of the Park. 

Yesterday we had an opportunity to analyze and document these features with an aerial survey over a large section of the park on a approximately 450 kilometer circuit that we took with the helicopter.  Project director Morgan Ryan and I were led by science director Marc Stalmans and pilot Mike Pingo.  We recorded the route with GPS (point/ 3 seconds).  Morgan and I shot photos of unique geographic features, prominent vegetation, human occupation, and wildlife.  I shot over 1,500 photos along the way.  It was incredible to view the scene with the doors off the helicopter.  I was even able to lean out and step on the strut for particular shots.  Fortunately Bell helicopters have secure seatbelts that prevented us from being a lion’s or crocodile’s next meal.

Crocodiles along Lake Urema as seen from the open door.

We spotted 3 lionesses and two cubs in the center of the Park, about 30 kilometers
from Chitengo.  This was a region where lions hadn't been sighted before.  

This work is part of the E.O. Wilson’s Life on Earth project and will also provide material for digital media that can be used for future visitors of the region that will bring maps to life with photos and video.  Much of this is supported by the Moore Foundation.  In particular we hope to show areas of Park that cannot be accessed by most.

Not far from Chitengo we saw nearly 30 blue wildebeest which was a great sign
of recovery. It was also a scene right out of a Lascaux Cave painting.