Liwonde National Park, also known as Liwonde Wildlife Reserve, is a national park in southern Malawi, near the Mozambique border. The park was established in 1973, and has been managed by the nonprofit conservation organization African Parks since August 2015. African Parks built an electric fence around the perimeter of the park to help mitigate human-wildlife conflict. In early 2018, the adjacent Mangochi Forest Reserve was also brought under African Parks' management, almost doubling the size of the protected area. Description and geography Liwonde National Park is in Southern Region Malawi, just south of Lake Malawi, near the Mozambique border. It lies largely within the Machinga District, but also is in the Mangochi District. The Balaka District lies along its western border. The reserve covers of woodlands and dry savannah. A 30 km section of the Shire River runs through the park including a section of the shore of Lake Malombe, 20 km south of Lake Malawi . A section was added in 1977 on the northern edge of the park which connects it with Mangochi Forest Reserve. Liwonde National Park, and the contiguous Mangochi Forest Reserve, are managed by African Parks in collaboration with local communities represented by the Upper Shire Association for the Conservation of Liwonde National Park (USACOL) and 31 Village Natural Resources Committees surrounding Liwonde. Liwonde has a perimeter, which was unfenced until the nonprofit organization African Parks confirmed plans to construct a fully fenced border in 2015, which has since been completed. History Liwonde was established in 1973. When the park was gazetted, many inhabitants were forced to relocate to border communities outside the park, which has resulted in villages in the periphery of the park having relatively high population density compared to the rest of the country. Before the park was created, the land was used for agriculture, largely subsistence. Cotton, maize, tobacco, and rice were the main crops and fishing was another important industry. African Parks took over management of Liwonde in August 2015, after being enlisted by Malawi's Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW). Rebuilding the park's fence was a top priority for the organization, in order to reduce human–wildlife conflict by keeping animals within Liwonde's boundaries and to reduce poaching. This fence is monitored 24/7 to ensure animals stay in and poachers stay out Fencing the park cost US$1.6 million and took approximately 18 months to complete. In 2015, USACOL