the impact of the proposed highway in the sergengeti national park on kenya’s maasai mara...
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The Impact of the Proposed Highway in the Sergengeti National Park on
Kenya’s Maasai Mara
September 2010
Serengeti—Maasai Mara Eco-system 25,000 square kilometres (9,700 sq mi)
The Maasai Mara National ReserveKenya’s Jewel of Protected Areas• 1,510 square kilometres (583 sq mile)• The Big 5• Unparaled landscape in Kenya• Major draw for visitors in Kenya
The Mara: Kenya’s #1 Tourism Attraction
The Maasai Mara Game Reserve is widely considered to be Africa’s greatest wildlife reserve.
7th wonder of the world, 4th preferred tourist destination of the world-Maasai Mara National Reserve, Africa's greatest wildlife reserve, hosts
the world’s greatest natural spectacle - the annual wildebeest migration also totted to be the world's greatest game show.
Each year the Mara plays host to the world’s greatest natural spectacle, the Great Wildebeest Migration from the Serengeti.
The Mara: Economic Cornerstone of TourismMajority of tourists include the Mara on Safari in Kenya and the
migration is a major draw for visitors. If this was lost, tourism across all of Kenya would suffer.
MMNR Narok Visitor Days/yr: 520,000Mara Triangle Visitor Days/yr: 115,500Total: 635,500 Visitor Days per year
Assuming each visitor stays for average of 2.5 nights, estimate of total no of individual visitors to the MMNR annually: 254,200.
Annual revenue MMNR Narok all sources: US$ 33,078,000Annual revenue Mara Triangle all sources: US$ 10,157,000Total estimated MMNR annual revenue: US$43m
The Mara: A National Treasure At Risk
• No adopted management plan
• Outdated management infrastructure, equipment and systems
• Steep declines in widlife numbers: 50% decline in lions over the last 15 years, 75% decline in wildebeest since 1970s, extinction of Roan Antelope and Greater Kudu.
• Reduced water levels: Mara River
• Deteriorating visitor experience because of overdevelopment and lack of planning and : 100 vehicles have been recorded around a single wildebeest crossing.
Mara
Serengeti Amboseli
Tarangire
Cropping %
Red = 10-20%
Tan = 40%
Green = 60%
Light blue = 80-100%
Agricultural Encroachment on Protected Areas
Source : Africover, FAO 2002
The Great Migration 1.4 Million Wildebeest, 500,000 zebra
The Serengeti Highway Proposal 71 km: Ecological bottleneck of the Park
The Serengeti Highway Proposal
Sever the wildebeest migrationCreate a physical barrier for wildlife movementDestroy the wilderness characteristicsResult in human death because of road accidents
Photo: Frankfurt Zoological Society
Sound Alternatives
Phase I: 425 km, 365 Km of paving.
Phase IIa: 555 km
Phase IIb: 677Km long requires 301km of paving.
Government’s Road Proposal requires 500 km of paving.
Alternative Road = More Beneficiaries
Source: Frankfurt Zoological Society
Botswana lost its wildebeest and zebra migration with fences. Banff National Park in Canada lost its elk migration
because of a dissecting road.
Kenya and Tanzania host one of the last great migrations in the world, lets not make the same mistake.
Conclusion
The development of the proposed Serengeti Highway as currently planned would have a severe impact on the Maasai Mara’s wildlife, tourism, and national economy.
There are sound alternatives to the proposed Highway.
The Serengeti National Park is a World Heritage Site. The proposed highway puts this status at risk and eliminates any opportunity for Kenya’s Maasai Mara to achieve WHS designation.
In addition to addressing this severe threat to the Mara, we encourage the Government of Kenya to address the other internal threats facing the Mara.
Thank You