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 Reserve
Kenya’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.
Each year the Mara plays host to the world’s greatest natural
spectacle, the Great Wildebeest Migration from the Serengeti.
7th wonder of the world, 4th preferred tourist destination of the worldMaasai 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.
The Mara: Economic Cornerstone of Tourism
Majority 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: 520,000
Mara Triangle Visitor Days/yr: 115,500
Total: 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$ 33,078,000
Annual revenue Mara Triangle all sources: US$ 10,157,000
Total 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• Outdated management infrastructure, equipment and systems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.
Agricultural Encroachment on Protected Areas
Mara
Cropping %
Serengeti
Amboseli
Red = 10-20%
Tan = 40%
Green = 60%
Light blue = 80-100%
Tarangire
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 migration
Create a physical barrier for wildlife movement
Destroy the wilderness characteristics
Result 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