SAFEGUARDING THE RIGHTS OF A SILENT STAKEHOLDER
IN SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK - TANZANIA
*Ms. Delphine Kessy and Prof. James J. Spillane, S.J.
Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management
St. Augustine’s University of Tanzania
P.O.Box 307, Mwanza, Tanzania
Email: delphinekesy@gmail.com
: spillane43@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Tourism is an indispensable part of local,
national, regional and international attention
aimed at stimulating economic development
in different countries. There has been little
benefit for the fast growing local communities
and a shocking impact on the animals despite
the growth in tourism. East African
conservationists say that soaring visitor
numbers have severely damaged roads and
grasslands. Equally threatening to wildlife
have been the growth and changing the
lifestyles of the rural population around the
park areas.
This case study recognizes the contribution of
human and non- human activities that affect
the development of one of the most important
tourist destinations in Tanzania [Serengeti
National Game Park] and how they contribute
to or detract from social and economic well
being of the communities surrounding it. It
concludes that involving all stakeholders in
the planning process at all levels is essential
in order to reach holistic tourism planning
goals.
Keywords: Serengeti, wildlife, poaching,
trophy hunting, community based tourism,
conservation.
1.0
INTRODUCTION
In one of the late Michael Jackson’s songs, he
asks the critical question: “What about us?”
perhaps referring primarily to marginalized
people especially in Africa. However, in the
video version there are several scenes of the
endangered animal living on the vast African
continent. Their fate is especially crucial for
Tanzanian tourism, which depends heavily on
the attraction of Serengeti National Park. The
current debate about sustainable development
often begins with the concept of stakeholders
yet ironically never seems to discuss the
“rights” of animals living in tourist
destinations areas. This paper will try to shed
some light on this neglected area.
The Serengeti National Park ecosystem is a
geographical region located in north-western
Tanzania and extends to south-western Kenya
between latitudes 1 and 3 S and longitudes 34
and 36 E. About the size of Belgium, it covers
an area estimated to be 14,763 km2 (Lyogello
1991) of the country stretching from the edge
of Ngorongoro Conservation Unit. From
Mwanza one can get to Serengeti in two
hours. From Arusha to get the heart of
Serengeti (Seronera) it 3 might take six hours
as it is 335 kilometers. The Serengeti hosts
the largest and longest overland animal
movement in the world, a semi-annual
occurrence. The migration is one of the ten
natural travel wonders of the world.
While the focus on tourism is on the profit
from tourist’s activities, the communities
surrounding the destination have given little
attention to the non-human component in this
area as a result of conflicts between the
government and the local community itself.
These conflicts arise where the benefits from
tourism activities are not equally distributed.
For example, the Wildlife Management Area
of Serengeti is at the risk of falling apart
simply because its components do not receive
equal benefit. The planning is thought to be
too top down and not participative enough
from the planning to the implementation
stages.
The myth that conservationists promote
conservation for tourists with the attraction of
also earning profit for the poor masses does
not exist. It is already said in the previous
section that the benefits of tourism are not
equally shared. Therefore the poor
communities around the destination involve
themselves in different activities such as
hunting, crop cultivation and livestock
keeping to generate income that help them
cope with economic hardships.
The social costs of tourism and failure of
national parks to protect certain valued
wildlife species should be well addressed in
order to prevent it from happening. For
example, there once was the perception that
increasing livestock would usher in the
expansion of the Sahara desert down to the
Equator. The founder of Serengeti National
Park wrote in his obituary, Serengeti Shall
Not Die, in 1960:
Africa is dying and will continue to die. Old
maps and remnants settlements and animals
show that the Sahara has advanced 250 miles
northward on a 1,250 mile front during the
last three centuries. In that short time 390,000
square miles of good land were lost. In
neighbouring Kenya the desert advances six
miles against the primeval forest every year.
So much of Africa is dead already, must the
rest follow?...One small part of the continent
at least should retain its original splendour so
that…[‘white’] men who follow us will be
able to see it in its awe-filled past. Serengeti,
at least, shall not die (Girzimek, 1960).
It is also well known that protecting
biodiversity in developing world is essential
to the environment and economic wellbeing
of the developing and developed world as
well. But economic and wellbeing should be
supportive of each other for sustainable
wealth. Girzimek might be very correct but
where should the pastoralists go? Blaikie
(1992) argues that:
Poverty and environment are linked in a close
and complex way. Poor people live in and
suffer from degraded environments and very
often they create environmental degradation
because their poverty forces them to do so. It
is obvious but worth repeating that farmers in
the Highlands of Ethiopia or Nepal do not
farm steep and eroded hillsides through
perversity but through necessity.
This may also be the case for pastoralists and
farmers communities under the area of study.
They graze and farm around the parks despite
the efforts of the government on the land
policy mainly to get the basic needs. While
some of them are evicted from the
conservation area, there is undeveloped land
with tourism potential in other parts of the
country owned by few individuals that may
be useful to provide an alternative solution to
the prevailing problem.
Increases
in
global
warming
and
technological advancement may change the
weather. It hinders the whole issue of
sustainable development. Hall et al (2006)
argued that to ensure sustainable development
the complex questions such as demand and
supply side constraints, corporate pressures,
government responsibilities, environmental
impacts and ethical imperatives are raised.
The global environmental changes disturbs
the fragile balance between ecological
resilience, social equilibrium and human
induced stress whereby host communities in
such areas may then find themselves
becoming increasingly vulnerable to forces
that diminish their quality of life (Ibid).
That is why Eagles et al (2002) argued that it
is critical for planners and tourism operatives
to understand social, political and economic
trends that affect the whole environment of
the wildlife. Such understanding provides
opportunities to capitalize on planning,
develop actions that are more efficient and
effective and ensure that strategies and
actions can be adapted to changing conditions
(Ibid).
2.0
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1
Tourism Destination Planning in
Tanzania
Michelle et al (2008) argued that the Northern
Safari Circuit, stretching from Arusha to the
Serengeti National Park in Northern
Tanzania, is one of the most valuable strips of
tourism real estate in Africa. In 2008, it
accounted for more than half of Tanzania’s
total foreign earnings from tourism. In
addition, it is one of the few destinations in
Sub-Saharan Africa outside of South Africa
which operates on a large enough scale to
attract mainstream international tour operators
(Ibid). Despite this fact, this circuit is thought
to lack good management. Involvement of
local communities in tour operations and
benefits has been informal such that it is
difficult to measure the contribution of
tourism on poverty reduction. The poor have
the greatest exposure to the development
pressures that come from boosting the tourist
destination. They find it hard to survive
through living and working in a fragile
environment. For example, in the Ngorongoro
Conservation area, the difference in interest
between tourism segment and wildlife
protection on one hand and indigenous and
their economic and cultural activities on the
other are quite wide. They are strongly
opposite since the satisfaction of the former
means the rejection of the fundamental rights
of the later.
Hall and Brown (2006) argued that one
crucial element of stakeholding is power, both
in terms of mutual responsibilities and in the
ability to translate proposals into concrete
actions. Stakeholders are not homogeneous;
there are human and non-human stakeholders.
The non-human stakeholders always suffer
the consequences. If there is no moral
obligation on the part of the human
stakeholders, it may lead to the disappearance
of these non-human stakeholders. Hall and
Brown (2006) argued that the primary
objective of sustainable tourism appears to
have become the sustaining of tourism itself.
This means preserving the natural, built-up
and socio – cultural resource base upon which
tourism depends in order to perpetuate
tourism rather than aspiring to wider holistic
and altruistic ideas. The authors argued that
focusing on sustainable tourism has removed
the development element from the process.
From this perspective, sustainable tourism is
still seen as a controversial issue if it does not
consider the non-human stakeholders and
their development. For example, in all 14
expanding Tanzanian National Parks, 30
Game Reserves and 38 Game Controlled
Areas animals and environment should
receive benefits arising from tourism and it
should be the focus of the planning process.
Tourism is an indispensable part of local,
national, regional and international attention
aimed at stimulating economic development
in different countries. Therefore, involving all
stakeholders in the planning process at all
levels is essential in order to reach tourism
planning goals. The ongoing debate of tusks
flooding from the country may be a result of
failure of responsibilities. For example,
although poaching in Selous Park takes place
throughout the year, it peaks in the rainy
season when a large area of the park is
difficult to access and tourist operations close
for the season. The illegal activities may be
connected to corruption as Mande reported in
The East African (March ,2010) that a
massive haul of ivory originating in the
Tanzania port of Dar es Salaam indicates the
involvement of organized criminal syndicates,
abetted by corrupt officials in the Tanzanian
Custom Authorities. This shows that
developing or protecting a destination is not a
concern of one individual group or sector.
Rather developing a tourist destination is the
mixing of holistic sharing of knowledge
strategies into improvement policies to solve
a broad range of environmental, social and
economic problems.
Tourism planning requires an in-depth study
of the Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and
Threat (SWOT) analysis of the specific
destination. This will help in the conservation
and compatible improvement of the resource,
which the tourists seek and the residents
enjoy. It is effected by either developments or
through repair of the damage caused by
tourists often unintentionally, or the
community at an existing attraction. The
SWOT requires the contribution of all sectors
of the economy such as environment
(vegetation and animal life), transport,
accommodation,
finance,
industry,
agriculture, construction, health, security and
safety, and education of the masses at all
levels nationally and internationally. For
example, Mande reported in The East African
(February, 2010) that sophisticated poaching
syndicates and networks with international
links are operating in the country posing a
serious threat to Tanzania wildlife. The threat
may be due to negligence, which was a result
of lack of good control. The reporter added
that between 1989 and 2010 Tanzania ranked
the first among African countries in terms of
the total volume of ivory reported by largescale seizure. The number is claimed to be
high due to other tusks from the neighboring
countries such as Zambia. Accusing Tanzania
of having high elephant tusks destroys the
image of the country, as it is associated with
the violation of animal rights. For example
when the Kenyan Minister for East Africa
asked why they should want to make a quick
buck by killing elephants to sell ivory, it was
not known if it justified Tanzania’s
involvement in illegal business or just to
destroy the market potential of the country’s
tourism. However, if the former holds true, it
would deprive the region of valuable tourism
potential. (Kazooba, 2010).
2.2
Planning in Serengeti
Serengeti National Park is the keystone
attraction in Tanzania’s important naturebased tourism industry. The Serengeti offers a
broad based nature ecotourism that everybody
would enjoy. Bassett and Zueli (2003) argued
that the special appeal of the savannah, in
particular the African savannah landscape, for
western tourist is well known. Hall and
Gossling (2005) added that the African
savannah is widely viewed as the archetypal
wild environment, a place of unspoiled
nature. The appeal of the safari landscape is
composed of scattered thorn bushes, wide
vistas, yellow grass, herds of animals with
charismatic fauna such wildebeest, elephants,
lions and cheetahs, which are interdependent
components in a single system. Adams and
McShane (1992) observed that:
We cling to our faith in Africa as a glorious
Eden for wildlife. The sights and sounds we
instinctively associated with wild Africa –
lions, zebras, giraffes, rhinos, and especially
elephants – fit into the dream of a refuge
from the technological age. We are unwilling
to let the dream slip away…the emotional
need for wild places, for vast open places
like the East African Serengeti Plain persists.
With plenty of natural resources as explained,
the country has lost market share to South
Africa. What may be the cause of losing the
market share? Reduction or disappearance of
some of the animal species? Maybe it be
caused by negative service quality gaps for
most services and facilities provided by
TANAPA, the Tanzanian National Park
Agency and other tour operators? Tanzania
Wildlife Policy (1998) places much emphasis
on maintaining and developing a wildlife
protected area network and involving all
stakeholders in the conservation of the
resource. It must also contribute to the well
being of local communities and national
poverty reduction. By this policy it was
thought that Tanzanian tourism sector would
have been performing better such that it could
not loose the market share to South Africa.
The policy of involving all stakeholders in the
conservation of the resource must contribute
to the well being of local communities and
national poverty reduction. But is the policy
well implemented? Gunn (2002) argued that
integrating tourism planning into official
community planning has been slow to take
place. Many communities and religions view
tourism as a separate layer that is simply
added to the community. Empowerment,
emphasized as a tool for achieving sustainable
tourism, does not involve the local people in
the planning process but only in the
implementation stage. Could this be the case
for Serengeti? This is because it is argued that
more than half of the wild animal populations
in Kenya and Tanzania are to be found in
Maasailand (Adams & McShane, 1996) but it
is not known if Maasai are involved in
decision making especially on the issue of
evicting them from Ngorongoro Conservation
Area (NCA). Moreover Hall and Gossling
(2005) added that whether or not visitors and
tour operators recognize their presence, the
people that inhabit these environments are
often clinging to a precarious livelihood in
marginal
conditions.
Reshaping
the
landscape, creating huge national parks in
conflict with the interests of both settled and
unsettled local communities and nomadic
pastoralists who find themselves in
competition with wildlife for the use of
savannah plains has resulted into loss of
scarce species that are nowhere to be seen
today (Ibid.)
Hall and Brown (2006) argued that tourism
has clearly always been seen as a process of
self-regeneration as well as relaxation,
education or indulgence and the growth of
holistic holidays as one dimension of wellness
have been notable. The destination is a critical
factor in influencing consumer choices with
provision of a full range of services. The
ongoing poaching of rhinos and elephant may
hazardously affect any destination by losing
customers as well as natural beauty. For
example, of the 15, 000 rhinos left in Africa,
Tanzania has only 120 compared to Kenya
which has 930 while Uganda has 11 rhinos.
The rhino population is at risk from massive
poaching for their horns, a kilo of which can
fetch as much as $50,000 in the black market.
The rest of the world’s rhinos are found in
Asia (Halima Abdallah, The East African,
2010).
It has been said earlier that Serengeti is the
keystone attraction in Tanzania simply
because of its well-packaged ecology of
different animal species. The only fear is how
the animals of this World Heritage Site are
treated and protected in relation to climate so
that they remain within its ecosystem which
has remained intact over the past million
years. For example, despite the fact that the
number of lions has decreased worldwide,
many African countries still allow
commercial hunting as a way of attracting
terribly needed hard currency. In Kenya
which used to have one of the largest wildlife
populations in the world, the number of
animals—including lions—, has decreased by
as much to more than 50 percent in recent
years. In Tanzania between 1965 and 1989
there were only an estimated 47 blocks set
aside for hunting. The number jumped to 140
between 1990 and 1997. This sharp increase
reflects the importance that some stakeholders
had come to attach to commercial trophy
hunting and to the hunting industry as a whole
(Majamba, 2001). Poaching is said to be on
the increase in Serengeti where it has
increased by 100% in 2009.
Catastrophic effects have resulted from
climatic changes in many parts of East Africa
and Tanzania in particular. Wet and dry
seasons that directly affect the migration
patterns of the great herds of Serengeti
ungulates (the most important source of food
for the region’s predators) resulted from a
weather phenomenon known as El Niño that
occurred almost a decade ago. Farming and
increasing deforestation may inevitably be a
cause of changes in climate that results to the
disappearance of some attractive species. The
Mara River in the Northern Serengeti, for
example, has lost much of its water due to
deforestation of the Mau forests and excessive
irrigation elsewhere. Eviction of nomads in
the area has being accompanied by reports of
bribes such that some are spared and others
are evicted. This causes larger herds of cattle
to roam around with other areas overwhelmed
causing environmental degradation (Maunga,
The Citizen 13 April, 2010).
2.3
Review of Other Studies
2.3.1 Conservation in Serengeti
The adage “Serengeti shall never die” is
popular globally, both as a means and an end
for the survival of one of the world’s flagship
conservation areas. In addition to its role in
inspiring conservation commitment, the
slogan has also served as a legendary
marketing catch phrase for Serengeti’s terrific
tourism attractions. Survival and prominence
of Serengeti and its wildlife largely depend on
the presence of a series of protected areas –
tools construed as a solution to conservation
problems. However, the fact that these areas
are a source of numerous opportunity costs
and other social and economic costs to local
communities means that they have long been
perceived as a liability. Conservation of these
areas has, therefore, emerged as one of the
key challenges, due to hostility and
opposition towards the conservation policies.
This challenge inspires the need for a
thorough understanding of how local people
perceive these costs. This will provide an
entry point and a basis for workable
management interventions towards a win-win
situation for both conservation interests and
local people. Kideghesho and Mtoni (2008)
examined local people’s perceptions of the
costs they incur by virtue of sharing land with
wildlife in order to recognize the involuntary
contribution they offer to ensure survival of
Serengeti and its resources. They argue that
creation of protected areas and wildlife
conservation implies numerous social and
economic costs that are rarely compensated.
They specifically address the following
questions. What are the costs of living close
to protected areas? Are all costs of equal
importance to local communities? What are
the possible effects of upgrading and
expanding the boundaries of protected areas?
How adequate and appropriate are the
conservation benefits in compensating for the
wildlife-induced costs? The results indicate
that local people in Serengeti perceive the
existing wildlife protected areas as a burden
due to competition for land and other
resources, property damage and risk to life.
Respondents also expressed a deep negativity
on intervention that sought to upgrade the
lower categories of protected area because of
the further costs that are likely to emerge. On
analyzing benefits from conservation, there
was a strong feeling that the benefits are too
minimal to compensate for the costs they
incur and do not address their immediate
needs.
Thirgood et al (2007) draws on nearly 50
years of personal research in the Serengeti to
demonstrate how a long-term perspective is
important to understand ecosystem dynamics
and guide evidence based management.
Mduma (2007) highlights the value of
thorough understanding of the behavioural
ecology and demography of lions derived
from 40 years of study in the Serengeti in
developing a sustainable harvesting model for
sport hunting of lions in Tanzania. Keyyu
(2007) examines the direct and indirect
impacts of a 30-year study of cheetahs
(Acinonyx jubatus) in the Serengeti.
Laurenson (2007) reports on the results of
long-term research on spatio-temporal
patterns of carnivore diseases in the Serengeti
and illustrates the potentially devastating
effect of disease for species and ecosystems.
Thirgood (2007) assesses the contribution of
an ongoing study at the Gombe National Park
to chimpanzee conservation. Mduma (2007)
contributes to the debate on the relative merits
of resource protection and community based
approaches to biodiversity conservation.
Keyyu (2007) reports on the results of a 10year study on the impact of different
conservation strategies on the Katavi-Rukwa
ecosystem in western Tanzania. Finally
Laurenson (2007) addresses biodiversity
conservation on a much larger spatial scale
and broader taxonomic base that the
previously mentioned paper.
2.4
Animal Rights in Serengeti
Towards the end of 20th century NGOs have
emerged with ideas for fighting for animal
rights. Although their arguments are different,
many of them focus on non-human
stakeholders who have the right to live freely
like any other creatures in the animal
kingdom and that human beings should not
use them as a source of raw materials or food.
These protests have not yet suggested an
alternative way that can be used. Therefore,
the animal rights movement from this
perspective has focused on the violation of
natural animal rights which is described as
any action that is against the laws that govern
the non-human stakeholders of the
destination.
2.4.1
Hunting Issue in Serengeti
Although wild meat is an important source of
protein across Africa, patterns and reasons for
its demand are poorly defined. The study of
Ndibalema and Songorwa (2008) was
conducted on consumption by inhabitants of
ten villages in five districts to the west of
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. The first
sample of 600 villages was systematically
selected from village registers and surveyed
using a questionnaire. The second sample
consisted of 341 arrested illegal meat hunters.
Nine
species
dominated
by
eland
(Taurotragus
oryx)
and
wildebeest
(Connachaetes taurinus) in terms of meat
taste and hunting vulnerability respectively
were found to be most preferred or consumed.
There were remarkable variations in
consumption and preferences for each species
among ethnic groups and localities.
The economics of protein consumption
indicates that wild meat is consistently
cheaper and hence consumed more frequently
that other meat. Respondents’ topmost tasty
meat – eland and topi (Damaliscus lunatus)were rare. Consequently, common species
e.g. buffalo (Syncerus caffer) and wildebeest
were the substitutes mostly consumed to
supplement beef and fish. Presence of
carnivore species on the menu clearly
demonstrates survival techniques when
availability changes. Therefore, wildlife
manager should bestow attention to the
conservation of all species for a balanced
ecosystem and species survival.
Since 1993 the Serengeti Regional
Conservation Project (SRCP) in Tanzania has
conducted a game cropping operation (the
commercial utilization of wild animal
populations in natural habitats) in areas
immediately outside the Serengeti National
Park to provide adjacent villages with
incentives to abstain from illegal hunting. The
study of Holmern et al (2002) carried out a
comparative economic analysis of the SRCP
cropping operation and illegal hunting. The
extent of illegal hunting was mapped by
utilizing questionnaires distributed to Village
Game Scouts employed in five of the Project
villages. Their research indicated that the
cropping operation was not economically
sustainable and made only a minor economic
contribution to the project villages compared
to illegal hunting. Furthermore, cropping
quotas were small, utilization of quotas low,
and the level of community involvement
limited. Illegal hunting was extensive around
both project and other villages. They
suggested that SRCP discard the inefficient
cropping operation and instead concentrate on
diversifying income opportunities for the
project villages.
Barrett and Arcese (1998) developed a model
coupling wildlife population dynamics to
endogenous human consumption and
poaching behaviour in an environment of
imperfect labour and product markets and
static agricultural production technology
subject to environmental shocks. Using a
model of the Serengeti wildebeest herd, the
paper simulates how long an integrated
conservation and development project based
on managed wildlife harvest might effectively
delay biodiversity loss by pre-empting
poaching. Alternative interventions that more
directly tackle the problem of time-varying
returns to peasant agricultural labour appear
to offer more durable solutions to the
challenge of wildlife conservation in the
midst of endemic rural poverty.
2.4.2
The Poaching Issue
Poaching is forbidden in almost all reserve
/protected areas in the world. If someone
would like to have an animal from the park
area he or she should have permission from
the park administration. Otherwise harvesting
animals is illegal. Illegal hunting is a real
threat to the Serengeti and could become a
most serious menace to its wildlife (Noyes
1960). It is carried out by local people living
near the boundaries of the park and
sometimes by strangers. Poaching ever
reduced the number of rhinoceros from 100 to
under 5 individuals between 1965 and 1980
(www.serengeti.org). Non-human animals
have the right to live under the control of
humans. Thus, going against these laws is a
violation of animals` rights. Reducing the
number of rhinos to fewer than 5 was a
violation of animal rights and could lead to
the eradication of one of the scarcest species
in the world. Naturally it seems that either
rhinos do not reproduce much or there are
both high reproduction and harvesting rates.
By 2004 the total of rhinos was up to 17
(Ibid). It requires high interventions both
from government and private sectors to be
employed to restore the situation.
With elephant the case may not be different
from that of rhinos. The high demand for
ivory tusks has made this animal scarce.
Illegal ivory trading has been reported in
different areas inside and outside of Tanzania.
The argument that the population of elephant
has increased seems to be disputed by the
figures available and the decreasing trend of
the same. In Tanzania it is estimated that
between 1970 and 1986 elephant were
reduced from 2,460 to 467 (www.wikipedia).
Reducing the number of elephants would
automatically have a big impact on tourism
investors and the industry in general. Tom
Masoba (2010) reported that private investors
were foreseen problems in the push to sell
ivory. They said that the choice of Tanzanian
game reserves as preferred destinations by
high end tourist from UK and US would be
undermined by campaigns linking the country
with elephant killing and smuggling. Elephant
killing and smuggling are both against animal
rights. If the trade is at all legal, then it should
be called hunting. Elephant poaching is not
only caused by the availability of a market in
Asian countries but also because of the trophy
hunters who come from the world over. Asia
has only become a sacrificial lamb for all
poachers because there is a high demand for
the ivory of African elephant. Tanzania has
been blamed for getting involved in this
business. All in all, animals have the right to
live and be protected.
2.4.3
Diseases
Animals that are kept side by side in
Serengeti may sometimes cause the spread of
diseases to other wild animals. Rinderpest
eliminated over 90% of wildebeest and cattle
in previous years. The 2002 outbreak of foot
and mouth disease in UK caused the slaughter
of over 6% of the livestock herds (Hall et al.,
2006). Increased human mobility including
tourism has become a major factor in the
current and emerging patterns of diseases.
Humans can also act as a vector of a range of
pathogens that can severely impact other
species (Ibid). Therefore, the disease
management in the park area is a challenge
for both the ecosystem and the biodiversity.
In their natural environment wild animals
may be separated from domestic animals
through an intervention that would not disturb
either of the two. Preventive measures might
also be taken in case the former fails.
2.4.4 Grazing Land
There is high competition for grass, water and
the land itself between human and non-human
stakeholders in Serengeti. The Maasai who
see land as source of prestige and pride
compete for pastures and farming land.
Currently the number of people residing
around Serengeti has increased and this has
also contributed to the scarcity of land. The
same Maasai people are causing deforestation
which results in the reduction of pastures and
change of weather. This might be the result of
improper planning. Mussa Juma (2010)
reported that there are many people in the
Ngorongoro Conservation Area who needed
to be reduced for the sake of wildlife in the
area. These people are still constructing
structures inside the game reserve. Eagles
(2002) argued that in the early days of
national parks, it was almost axiomatic that
protected area based tourism and built
accommodation went together. Many larger
parks and game reserves in Africa, for
example, constructed accommodations in the
parks to serve their visitors. In many other
countries, however, there is opposition to
building accommodations in these protected
areas. It is felt that such development should
take place in nearby communities instead.
Animal have a right to be protected in their
natural environment and with the entire
ecosystem undisturbed. Since 1940 when it
was first protected, the government should
have had a comprehensive plan that would
guide all stakeholders in and around the park
to avoid such competition. Competition also
comes from flocks from neighbouring regions
such as Shinyanga that are herded in
Serengeti.
2.4.5
Water
Animals have the right to get water. As they
compete for pasture land, the high population
of the Maasai herds compete for water.
Sometime the water is polluted /poisoned by
some Maasai people resulting in death of the
wild animals especially during dry season.
Some incidents have been reported during the
great Serengeti Migration which occurs semi
annually. Moreover, water pollution is a result
of farming and non-farming activities that use
pesticides. Hall et all (2006) argued that
pesticide pollution linked to tourism is mostly
associated with management of the grounds
of hotels and sports facilities. The pesticides
include insecticides, herbicides fungicide and
rodenticides and the best known is DDT
(Ibid).
2.4.6
Weather
Changes in weather are a result of both
human and non-human animal interaction in
any environment. The dry lands of Serengeti
provide a habitat of enormous herds of
animals, predators and prey and also attract
sports hunters, adventures and wildlife
tourists. The environment is now rapidly
changing as humans have become agents of
change through the destruction of flora and
fauna while competing for land and resources.
This has changed the views of Adam and
McShane (1992) that the African savannah is
widely viewed as the archetypal wild
environment, a place of unspoilt nature.
2.4.7 Local Community Rights
The devastating social effects of forced
removals and reduction of grazing lands
through the creation of national parks and
other protected areas are widely known. (Hall
et al 2006). It is increasingly recognised that,
in the process of expanding conservation
areas and tourists operations, local property
rights need to be protected as far as possible.
The tradition of government appropriating all
resources rights and centrally managing them
has not worked to the benefit of either
conservation or local development (Furze et
all 1996). In the past two decades, various
experiments in community based tourism and
attempts to give communities greater local
rights over wildlife and land have been
pioneered in dry environments (Hall et al
2006).
The community-based tourism has not shown
much success in Serengeti.
Other
interventions such as Pro-Poor Tourism (PPT)
would be the best tool to optimize the
potentials to ensure that all the stakeholders
benefits and that the business of tourism is
carried according to the culture of the host
community. Pro-Poor Tourism is tourism that
involves the participation of poor people in
tourism activities from planning to evaluation.
3.0
METHODOLOGY
The methodology of this research paper is
basically a descriptive research which used
secondary data sources. Some of the
stakeholders living near Mwanza side of
Serengeti were visited and informally
interviewed. Specifically this means that
unstructured interviews were conducted with
tour operators in Mwanza and organizations
such as SNV, the only NGO dealing with
tourism development in Mwanza.
4.0
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION
Education on the negative effects of climate
and environmental degradation are needed in
order to sustain the tourism industry in
Serengeti. Despite this fact, Gunn (2002)
argued that the best solution to sustainable
development is likely to come not only from
the advocacy of environmentalists or
government only but also from the voluntary
actions of private developers of tourism. The
Grumeti Foundation (GF), Serengeti National
Park (SNP) and Frankfurt Zoological Society
(FZS) are among many organizations found in
Serengeti making investments in policies,
wildlife conservation and community
outreach. However, instead of collaborating
with each other, studies have shown that these
organizations would rather seek individual
recognition and appreciation in their area of
operation. There are a few local NGOs in the
wildlife tourism which receive little or no
funding from wildlife sources to support their
activities. The destination also lacks global
development of NGOs which can contribute
their expertise, knowledge and funding. It is
argued that strong devotion and aspiration
from civil society, its agencies and
institutions and NGOs are crucial in the
process of sustainable development of a
tourist destination in the Third World
countries, particularly in Tanzania which is
especially vulnerable. Therefore, to develop
Serengeti the practitioners should not
compete but work together as a team.
Tourism development as well as sustainability
will result from planning, which is supported
by an up-to-date and comprehensive
information base. This would require linking
local people in all aspects of planning from
the initial to the final stages especially those
surrounding the destination area.
Since
animals cannot communicate in this process,
someone must try to give a voice to their
rights. Information such as whether excessive
grazing by pastoralists has caused the country
to deteriorate should be examined and the
information obtained should be incorporated
into the process of decision-making. Grzimek
(1960) argued that pastoral people never
consider the soil and its vegetation. He
claimed they never think of the future.
Although this information from Grzimek
might be outdated today, Hall and Brown
(2006) argued that the notion of local placebased community had been threatened for half
a century or more as a result of the increasing
mobility of society and growth of global
communication. The same notion has actually
re-emerged as a vehicle for rooting
individuals and societies in a climate of
economic restructuring and growing social,
cultural and political uncertainty (Ibid).
Therefore, sustainable development of a
destination would not be achieved without
involving the communities in the area. It will
be best achieved in situations where economic
growth is accompanied by an improved
standard of living for the local people.
tourism industry (Davidson & Maitland,
1997). In the past, the tourism industry
dominated the triangle. The reconciliation
between the three factors will bring tourism
sustainability. Therefore, in the business
competitive environment where growing
numbers of destinations are promoting
tourism development it is important to
develop
a
consistent
planning and
management
system
that
aims
at
sustainability and quality of the tourisms
products which must cater to the demands for
the changing market. On the other hand, the
animals of Serengeti must be properly
protected to ensure sustainable development
despite that they have not been directly
involved in tourism planning. It is important
to identify which stakeholders can protect and
speak for them as well as determine if they
have done so and will do so in future.
Serengeti is a key ‘jewel’ in the Tanzanian
tourism industry. If animals are not properly
treated, this destination would not be
sustainable and the whole Tanzania economy
and society would suffer because Serengeti is
a source of natural pride.
Sustainable tourism sees tourism within
destination areas as a triangular relationship
between host areas and their habitats (non
human) and people, holidaymakers and the
Another
relationship
is
that
of
stakeholder/wildlife
dynamics
on
a
destination as documented by David Weaver
(2001) on the use of a farm.
Farmers and
ranchers
Ecotourism
(hunters)
Wildlife
Other
recreational
users

The interaction between ecotourism and other sectors is a complex process involving
various external environments and interaction among the later. Each part in the
interrelationship above has its own interests and preference as to how wildlife (non
human stakeholders) in a destination should be treated. Owners of the Serengeti
(TANAPA) may have ability to act directly to wildlife. This relationship is unsure and it
depends on how wildlife is destructive/desire to preserve depending on the species.
Although the overall eyes of the TANAPA are on all animals, the most endangered
species have taken much of its concentration.

The relationship between agriculture and recreation hunting is not established.
Therefore it is not known how famers support wildlife in this area. On the other hand
hunters have to pay compensation to farmers for their support.

Ecotourism and other recreational users have high potential for competition and conflict
especially when they want to gain access to farmers land. However there is scope for
cooperation between the two groups if they separate according to time, space and
shared compensation to farmers/local community and contribution to conservation
measures. Therefore it is the responsibility of all the tourism stakeholders to find out a
permanent solution in this relationship for the betterment of themselves as well as the
non-human stakeholders (wildlife species).
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