According to the Peace Park Foundation, three villages comprising of 488 families have by now resettled outside the park [1].  However, although the relocation plan is pending for the majority, the villagers have suffered negative consequences of the park’s establishment such as loss of access to land and resources, degradation and destruction of livelihoods, and human-wildlife conflict. Human-wildlife conflict has increased dramatically since the park’s establishment. In addition, residents are not allowed to defend themselves and in most instances. The park’s response to complaints from the villagers about wildlife is viewed as unsatisfactory by the villagers. 

After the park's establishment in 2001, residents quickly learned that hunting of any kind resulted in serious consequences if caught. The Peace Parks Foundation (PPF) and Mozambican Ministry of Tourism hired consultants in 2002 and determined that poaching was a ‘very likely’ threat to the park. Indeed one of the core objectives of PPF is to establish an expanded  Intensive Protection zone (IPZ). In 2018 an addition of 29 rangers have been trained and employed in the park for anti-poaching operation [1]

 It was concluded that residents would take advantage of the new high-profit game coming into the area. This is particularly pertinent considering the park was previously a hunting concession, where killing animals for subsistence and economic purposes was common. The influx of animals also presented problems such as cropland and cattle destruction, resources which the people rely on. When villagers report destruction of land to the park nothing is done, and when they attempt to defend themselves against the wild animals they are arrested and punished. There is no compensation provided to residents in such instances where crops or livestock are lost. 

The Mozambican Ministry of Tourism received initial funding from the German Development Bank to begin development in Limpopo National Park. The Mozambican Ministry of Tourism appointed the Peace Parks to assist the National Directorate of Conservation Areas in presiding over the development of Limpopo National Park. The first order of business was to draft a management plan for the park. Park development focused on six major programs: infrastructure, voluntary resettlement, protection, community support, tourism development, and administration. The resettlement program is posed as an opportunity for residents of the eight villages, who will receive employment opportunities and access to services that they do not have access to in the park. Resettlement is viewed as a “win-win” for both the park and the communities being relocated.

The eight communities are set to be moved either to the park’s buffer zone or out of the park entirely. Once relocated, they will receive concrete houses (based on the number of houses they had in the park), each household will receive a plot of land, infrastructure such as medical clinics, schools, and markets will either be built or already exist in the places these communities will be relocated to. It is important to note that these villages will be moved to and become a part of already-existing communities.

Resistance from these eight villages is targeted at minimizing effects to their cattle and keeping that aspect of their lives as similar as possible as it was to their lives in the park. In the case of the Nanguene community, some residents opposed the resettlement plans to reorganize cattle rearing through communal grazing areas by building their own corrals beside their homes. Other residents continued to keep their cattle in the park.

It is predicted that the remaining communities in the Shingwedzi River Valley will follow the Nanguene community and reject communal grazing lands for their cattle. Their resistance will likely take form in building corrals next to their houses or the decision to keep cattle in the park and cross the river every day to take care of them. Their concerns with regard to resettlement include reorganization of cattle rearing, cattle theft, and lack of space. Loss of food security, as well as income, are directly related to cattle. Resistance is tied to these perceived losses outside of Limpopo National Park.