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| credit: Eyes on Africa.net |
Tanzania faces considerable world-wide opposition to its proposal to build a paved highway smack through the middle of Serengeti National Park.
{"Serengeti highway"} The government has backed off the proposal somewhat by announcing that the road through the park will be unpaved with gates manned by rangers to avoid disturbing the annual migration through the 53km section of the road in the park. Earlier UNESCO, the organization which oversees world heritage sites, said the highway plan would be reconsidered leading many conservationists to uncork the champagne to celebrate saving another intact ecosystem from destruction. But the road has not gone away, it has merely morphed into something perhaps more salable. Regardless of park rangers in control of traffic, there will be inevitable collisions between wildlife and vehicles, especially at night. And there will be inevitable demands to keep the road open for the maximum amount of time, thus increasing the chances for conflict. The dust raised by vehicle traffic will be shockingly terrific for man or beast courageous enough to cross the road to get to the other side. Tanzanian officials seem not to appreciate the millions of dollars generated by wildlife tourism
[photo] since they rejected an offer from the World Bank to finance a southern by-pass avoiding the park altogether. The member of parliament representing the Serengeti region, Kebwe Stephen Kebwe says the road is badly needed by the 300,000 residents he represents. Over 2 million animals follow the rains from southern Kenya across the plains into central Tanzania every year. Without sounding too
judgmental,
US Person thinks that Tanzania would be proud enough of its incredible wild heritage to find another way.
