Many of you will be aware of the Tanzanian government's proposed plan to construct a commercial highway through the Serengeti National Park which would ultimately lead to thousands of vehicles passing through one of the greatest world heritage sites in the world. We blogged about this a few months ago which you can read HERE. Despite all the international pressure against this coming in from Scientists, Conservationists, the Tourism Industry and from within Tanzania, the idea is still in the pipeline. In a bid to keep the pressure on, a movement for a global day is being planned. Below is a copy of the article published by ATTA, which is Camps International is an active member of:

Why does the Serengeti need its own day of recognition around the world? The Serengeti ecosystem (the Serengeti National Park and the Masai Mara Reserve in Kenya) is in imminent danger of being lost. A plan by the Tanzanian government will cut a commercial highway through the Serengeti that will bring thousands of trucks a day through a wilderness area critical to the great migration. It will mean the end of the Serengeti as we know it. Holding a special Serengeti Day will focus world attention to this crisis. It will also help bring the facts to the people of Tanzania, who have not been told the truth about this highway.

What is being planned so far for the day?
Many countries around the world have their own organizers who are coordinating activities and helping to publicize the issue. People will be hosting awareness parties, doing letter and postcard writing campaigns, walking to raise funds and awareness, and even bringing this into the schools with a special curriculum. The most immediate issue facing the Serengeti is a road plan that would cut the park in half.

How will this impact the wildlife?
The proposed road will be a major commercial route that cuts across a narrow stretch of the Park near the border with Kenya. It goes through a wilderness zone critical to the annual migration of 1.3 million wildebeest and 0.7 million zebras, antelope, and other wildlife. This will involve extracting a strip of land from the Park itself, resulting in both the fragmentation of the ecosystem and the removal of the Serengeti National Park from the list of UN World Heritage Sites.

The government’s own estimates are that by 2015, there will be 800 vehicles a day, or about 300,000 a year.These will mostly be trucks carrying freight between the Lake Victoria region and eastern Tanzania. Their numbers will steadily grow. By 2016, over a million vehicles will have crossed the Serengeti. By 2035, the volume will rise to 3,000 a day, a million vehicles a year! Experts say these traffic estimates are also underestimated as projections were made on the basis of reduced traffic flow during rainy season. Experts have recently published a sophisticated model simulating the impact of the highway on the migration. But now with the projected traffic numbers, only common sense is required.

The migration will not only move across the highway twice a year, wildlife actually resides in the area for weeks and months on end. Ultimately, though, its not traffic per se, but expanding agriculture and settlement that will unravel it all.

Do you think Tanzania’s tourism industry will benefit from the road? This road will have a devastating effect on tourism, both in the short term and long term as the ecosystem collapses. A survey was done last year among tourism companies that send travellers to Tanzania. The results were clear – building the highway would cause a precipitous drop in tourism. Why? In part because the Serengeti would be damaged goods, no longer protected and respected by the government. But there would also be a backlash of protest. In fact, many tour companies predicted that there would be a call for an international boycott of tourism to Tanzania.

Why do you think the government is pushing ahead with the road in face of so much criticism?
This is the big question. The fact that the President Jakaya Kikwete has recently refused funds from the World Bank for a southern route around the Serengeti, which would actually benefit more people, means that there’s something we don’t understand. It appears that there are interests being served besides those of the Tanzanian people.

How do Tanzanians feel about the road plan?
Many Tanzanians do not know about it. Or if they know anything, they have only heard the government’s version.The President presents this simply as a dirt road, not a highway. And the government has dismissed opponents as “green activists,” even though this includes the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. People certainly do not know what the economic consequences will be, especially for the 60,000 people who directly or indirectly are employed because of tourism.

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It’s been a great year for us at Camp Kenya and a wonderful way to end with this little piece written by Sarah Herbert who stayed with us for three months. Sarah and her fellow gappers had a lot on their plate. It was the last three months of the year and we were determined to finish several projects that we started this year. They tackled every challenge with determination and a lot of laughs.

My three months in Kenya can only really be summarized by a great big ‘wow’. What an amazing place full of contrasts; beautiful beaches, stunning mountains, and vast plains full of diverse wildlife. The people are the most welcoming and happy people in the world and take great pride in their appearance and belongings, one only needs to look at their beautiful clean clothes and tidy gardens to see this. But all of this juxtaposed with the grinding poverty, corruption and social injustice is what really hits home. The world could learn a lot from this stunning place.

In my three months I’ve made 56 new friends from the UK, Australia, and Kenya. I helped build an outhouse, school roof, school library, drench goats, plant trees, build a fish pond, weave palm leaves, collect mangrove seeds, net fish, build bridges for monkeys, layed bricks for a rangers post, a tank stand, made bricks from scratch. Between project work we relaxed at beautiful beaches, went on Safari through the African wilderness (saw all three big cats!), played netball and soccer with the kids, learnt bush skills, learnt to make Chapatis, went on some wonderful walks, snorkeled, toured Mombasa, and spent hours playing with children. In our spare time a group of us traveled with Camps International for a blissful week with rare Colobus Monkeys, spice plantations and stunning beaches at Zanzibar, Tanzania. Four of us even climbed Mt Kenya, one of the most amazing and self challenging experiences of my life!

Beat that!

I never imagined that I could do so much, see so much, and feel like I’ve achieved so much in three months. And never once did I feel unsafe or uncared for. The camp staff became our closest friends, and the chefs fed us amazingly well!

To anyone considering doing Camp Kenya my only advice is GO FOR IT! Remember, all of us were apprehensive before and I think most of us wondered what the heck we’d gotten ourselves in to as we left Australia! But upon completion I think we all agree that it was the most amazing thing we’ve ever done. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to top it, and quite frankly, I’m OK with that!

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