director's letter
Tourism and unplanned development
threaten Maasai Mara Game Reserve
developments – some positioned
in ecologically sensitive areas. We
thus have no regard for the tourist
carrying capacity of the reserve and
for the ecological sustainability of
this landscape. There is also a lot of
development on small parcels of land
outside the reserve. This is different
from development in the private
conservancies, and is aimed at the
budget tourism market, by avoiding
the costs attached with staying in a
conservancy or within the reserve.
These establishments drive the cost per
bed night down across the board. They
also add to the overcrowding problem
in Maasai Mara Game Reserve. Of
the 200 cars at a wildebeest crossing,
perhaps more than half have come from
properties outside the reserve.
T
he Maasai Mara National
Reserve is regarded by many
as the most popular wildlife
destination in Kenya, particularly
during the months the Wildebeest and
Zebra move into and spend time in the
Mara. As a consequence the Reserve is
Kenya’s most visited site. But all is not
well and unless some urgent action is
taken, the Mara will be lost to Kenya as
one of the wonders of the world and its
status as a World Heritage Site will be
meaningless. The problems and issues
the Mara faces can be summarised as
follows:
Over-development: This has come
about because of a total lack of regard
to following the provisions of the
Environment Management and Coordination Act (EMCA), which require
an (EIA), public input and a Nema
Licence issued, for any drop within
a protected area. As a result there
are a considerable number of illegal
16 SWARA APRIL - JUNE 2014
Overcrowding: This stems from the
overdevelopment issue as the number of
people and vehicles visiting the park are
causing a complete lack of respect for
minimising disturbance to the wildlife.
For example it is not an exaggeration to
have over 200 vehicles lined up to watch
the Wildebeest cross the Mara River
and as the animals begin their crossing
to have every car start its engine and
surge forward to the river bank – often
causing the Wildebeest to stop their
crossing.
Misuse of revenues: Over several
decades, the Narok Council has received
millions of US dollars per year by
way of revenues. There is little or no
evidence of any of those revenues being
invested in infrastructure maintenance
or improvement; invested in community
development or invested in reducing
the costs born by local communities
bordering the reserve, such as
improving night time bomas so that
domestic livestock are at a lower risk
from lion predation.
Overgrazing: Because of a history
of the Narok Council failing to involve
communities living next to the reserve
in terms of benefit sharing, reducing
human- wildlife conflict, etc., there is a
complete disregard for the importance
of this National Reserve in terms of
a biodiversity resource underpinning
Kenya’s economic well being. This has
engendered strong local resentment and
when the grazing outside the reserve is
no longer adequate, large numbers of
domestic livestock are introduced into
the reserve to take advantage of the
better grazing inside.
Other issues: These four issues,
should not imply no other issues exist.
There is the growing problem of an
invasive species known as Parthenium,
which is predicted to have a serious
detrimental impact on the grazing
quality of the Reserve. Then there
are external factors such as the recent
desire of the Tanzanian Government
to build a tarmac highway only some
30kms south of the Mara Reserve,
without any regard to the consequences
to this ecosystem. These issues are
contributing to the lowering of Mara
as a high wildlife tourism destination
and if not checked this downward trend
will continue and the golden egg will
disappear.
Time to address the issues
An opportunity to address the problem
through the new Wildlife Conservation
and Management Act 2013 exists.
This Act introduces the following new
elements:
• No development will be approved
in the absence of a gazetted
management plan.
• The 5th Schedule articulates what
a management plan must contain,
including reference to tourist
carrying capacities. In addition
director's letter
the plan must detail the participation of neighbouring
communities in the preparation of the plan.
• In addition to the requirement to articulate the incentives
and benefit sharing that will be applied and distributed,
at least 5% of the benefits from the Reserve shall be
allocated to neighbouring communities.
These elements will help us work towards solving the
issues outlined above. For EAWLS to undertake a lead in
this advocacy initiative, a partnership with the tourism sector
to ensure that good and accurate information is available,
is needed. Nothing undermines advocacy work more than
bad information. We are also seeking a commitment from
the tourism players to undertake the advocacy work in a
joined up manner in to achieve success by using reason and
persuasion. Getting financial support to ensure there are
adequate funds to see the work through to completion is also
required. I am therefore making an appeal to our members
to support this advocacy initiative for the Mara and other
tourist destinations in East Africa.
Michael Gachanja
Executive Director
SWARA APRIL - JUNE 2014 17