Jackson Mwalulu
16 September 2008
opinion
Nairobi — The recent bitter verbal exchange between two Cabinet ministers on whether or not one more tourist camp should be put up at the Maasai Mara national game reserve, must not be taken as just another episode in a drama that has come to characterise our politics since the formation the grand coalition Government.
While Heritage minister William ole Ntimama - the self-declared chief defender of the Maasai interest - is totally opposed to the construction of Olkeju-Ronkai tourist resort, Tourism minister Najib Balala has fiercely come to the project's defence.
MR NTIMAMA'S POSITION IS THAT the facility is irregular for two reasons: That the Maasai Mara is already saturated with lodges and therefore environmentally unhealthy, and that the project is located at the breeding grounds for the endangered rhino.
But his colleague reads politics in the whole argument - the owner of the controversial lodge is Ntimama's political opponent in Narok South constituency politics, Mr Hassan ole Kamwaro. Mr Kamwaro accuses Mr Ntimama of supporting a cartel opposed to competition.
In the end, politics may blur the gist of the debate which has been going on for a while now. The debate has centred on the need to preserve the Maasai Mara eco-system by controlling developments within and around the Mara triangle if the world class game reserve is to keep its status as a tourist destination.
The Mara recently entered the league of the wonders of the world because of its breathtaking beauty and the annual wildebeests migration fiesta. It remains one of the country's leading tourism income earners.
However, it is largely out of bounds for the majority of Kenyans cost-wise. Consequently, it is hard for the ordinary Kenyan to fully appreciate the Mara's splendour, leave alone its national importance.
Beyond the Maasai Mara National Reserve is a vast area of the Maasai community land, which forms an important part of the Mara eco-system. This land is a vital dispersal area for all the wildlife species for which the Maasai Mara is famous.
In recent years, this area has been sub-divided into hundreds of small parcels of land and allocated to individuals. In the past, these parcels were group ranches owned communally by the local Maasai before modernity necessitated individual ownership.
As a result, there are negative climatic changes in the parts of the outer Mara area where cultivation of maize and large scale wheat farms have been developed, resulting in the loss of wildlife habitat and huge decreases in wildlife population.
If this trend continues, the wildlife dispersal areas to the north of the Maasai Mara National Reserve, a critical component of the Mara ecosystem will shrink and with it, the buffer zone between wilderness and cultivated lands.
Conservationists and Maasai community leaders have come up with the idea of establishing wildlife conservancies as a means of mitigating the negative effects of the environmentally harmful farming activities.
Three conservancies have been formed so far; the Olkinyei, the Olare Orok and Motoroki. It is hoped that as a result, the neighbouring communities will also set up similar conservancies so that a substantial wilderness area is created.
The other threat to the wildlife is the big increase in new tourist facilities along the perimeter of the park, resulting into too many tourist vehicles.
The conservancy concept offers a solution to this problem. Within the conservancy, there is a limit to the number of tourist beds, with a maximum of one tent per 700 acres.
FOR LEADING BY EXAMPLE IN THIS direction, the Porini Safari camps in the Olare Orok and Ol Kinyei conservancies have been awarded a silver eco-rating by Ecotourism Kenya.
They are small and exclusive, so that guests have just a few other like-minded people as company.
The camps are run on environmentally sound principles. For instance, the Porini camps are built from non-permanent materials, use solar energy for electricity, and heat water with the sustainable charcoal briquettes.
The conservancy concept therefore offers the best way forward, the best tourist experience and provides competitive benefits to the neighbouring Maasai community members.
Above all, the setting up of the three conservancies has seen the re-generation of vegetation and an increase in wildlife numbers.
To reap the full benefits of the whole conservation of the Mara ecotourism, however, the Government should now put its foot down and stop further developments within the game reserve.
Mr Mwalulu is former MP for Taveta.
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