The Masai Mara - 'It will not be long before it's gone'

The Masai Mara: 'It will not be long before it's gone'

As lodges and shanty towns proliferate in Kenya's Masai Mara, drastic and urgent steps are needed to save this beautiful game reserve from becoming an environmental disaster


http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2013/aug/23/masai-mara-tourism-politics

A distressing read, with Jackson commenting too.

Lai

Interesting article Lai, and follows on in a way from my post on "KWS and the Mara" in the Conservation and Environment thread. I do feel however that the article was written from a particularly biased point of view by someone who has only made a one-off visit to the Mara and has little experience of Africa. To understand the Mara (which I would not claim to do) you have to understand the culture and history of the Masai people, you cannot just look at the problems of the wildlife in isolation. Corruption is part of the way of life as it is in most societies including our own, although we prefer to use different terminology and governance is weak. Tourists and particularly tour operators have to take a lot of the blame for the problems. The one off tourist on his lightning trip of a lifetime expects to see 'everything' the glossy brochure showed him straight away and will tip and cajole the hapless guide into providing it before dashing off to the coast to lie in the sun. Sadly a lot of the time the guides and local tour operators are only providing what the wealthy tourist expects and wants. The problem of cattle and wildlife is a very difficult one to resolve and I know it has been discussed many times on this forum. The private conservancies I have visited seen to have reached a reasonable compromise and balance between the two. It is always easy for us in our "ivory towers" to pontificate and tell other countries and societies how to live their lives but perhaps we should spend more time sorting out are own problems!!

Safariman

  entirely Safariman. Having visited the Mara and several other conservancies and some privately/jointly owned areas in the north it now comes down to compromise, but I am inclined to agree with many points raised and the crowding of vehicles when a cheetah/leopard which I find intolerable. It is also true to say that many people want to see 'the big 5'

Lai