The Limpopo National Park was born when the status of Coutada 16 Wildlife Utilisation Area in Gaza Province, Mozambique was changed from a hunting concession to a protected area. It forms part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park with the Kruger National Park, South Africa and the Gonarezhou National Park, Zimbabwe.

With the help of R42 million donated by Germany the new park is being developed with fencing and anti-poaching units. The park is divided up into three separate zones of use: a tourist zone, a wilderness zone, and a resource utilization zone (hunting). In the south is the Massingir dam and the town of Massingir which is the administrative headquarters of the new park while on the northern border is the Limpopo River.

In 2001 the translocation of a large number of animals from the Kruger National Park to new park had got underway. Work on the new Giriyondo Border Post between South Africa and Mozambique has started in March 2004

See Also: List of conservation areas of Mozambique