Serengeti road scrapped over wildlife concerns (maybe)
[Update: As usual, optimism is not supported by the evidence: Paved road across Serengeti will go on as planned – World Heritage site to be mined for uranium.]
By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News
24 June 2011 Controversial plans to build a tarmac road across the Serengeti National Park have been scrapped after warnings that it could devastate wildlife. The Tanzanian government planned a two-lane highway across the park to connect Lake Victoria with coastal ports. But studies showed it could seriously affect animals such as wildebeest and zebra, whose migration is regarded as among the wonders of the natural world. The government confirmed the road across the park will remain gravel. In a letter sent to the World Heritage Centre in Paris, the Department of Natural Resources and Tourism says the 50km (30-mile) section of road across the park will “continue to be managed mainly for tourism and administrative purposes, as it is now”. […] Last year, a group of scientists warned that the proposed road across the park could bring the number of wildebeest in the park, estimated at about 1.3 million, down to 300,000. Collisions between animals and traffic would be unavoidable, they said. And with a corridor on either side of the road taken out of the hands of the park authorities and given to the highways agency, fencing would almost certainly result, blocking movement of the herds. […] Environmental campaigners have welcomed the government’s decision, with the organisation Serengeti Watch saying: “A battle has been won”. […]
Serengeti road scrapped over wildlife concerns [Desdemona is pleased to post the occasional good news, but before we start celebrating, here’s what Serengeti Watch says on its Facebook page.]
We have worked hard since the announcement on Thursday, analyzing the letter and talking with our contacts and sources. SW/STSH’s position is that the fight is not over. While the letter has some positive elements – that TANAPA (the Tanzania park authority) will be managing any “road” inside the park and not TANROADS, there is still talk of a “road”. Currently there is only a two lane dirt track, not a gravel road. The mention of the Southern Route is also positive, but not a for sure thing. So – our work is not done here. We feel that the media over reacted and that people will walk away from the fight – which by now means is over. We must all stay together and work to save the Serengeti in the long term.
