"What strikes you most about the Masai Mara, a massive game reserve in Kenya, is the amount of wildlife roaming its grassy plains," wrote Leigh Murray in a recent travel article for the Chicago Sun-Times. There you can see lions, cheetahs, giraffes and the wildebeest, which make their annual migration through the park.
I spent many a fun weekend with my family there, so it warms the cockles of my heart to discover that the Kenyan Government and the National Environmental Management Authority in Kenya has put a moratorium on construction in Masai Mara until a review and new management plan for the game reserve has been agreed upon.
Both conservationists and stakeholders in the hospitality industry favor the action. According to The East African Standard, "there has been haphazard development of lodges, camps and mushrooming of settlements outside the park gates" over the last 15 years. "More than sixty lodges and camps have been developed without impact assessment being done, exerting pressure on the fragile ecosystem."
The Mara river has suffered serious pollution due to effluent being discharged into the water from establishments along its shores. This river is an important the source of clean water for both human and wild game.
For more information:
allafrica.com/stories/200607240651.html
Monday, August 07, 2006
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