Gorongosa National Park is located in the heart of the central Mozambique lying at the southern end of the Great African Rift Valley. It covers over 4,000 square kilometers of area, which includes parts of surrounding plateaus and valley floor. In 1920, the first official act came to protect the Gorongosa region and Portuguese Mozambique. The park protects a large ecosystem defined and given life by all rivers that flow into Lake Urema, which is centrally located in the valley down the northern boundary of the park. The park comprises of mainly three types of vegetation, 76% of which is Savanna, 60% is woodlands and the rest is grasslands. The Savanna includes a combination of woods and grasses that favor drained soils.
It is home to a wide variety of species of animals ranging from smallest to largest mammals with each playing an important role in the ecosystem. It includes several kinds of birds and a wide variety of reptiles. A U.S. based non-profit organization known as Carr Found/Gorongosa Restoration Project is working together with the government of Mozambique to preserve and restore the ecosystem of the Gorongosa National Park.