Save the Serengeti

Fauna & Flora International (FFI) was saddened to hear the news that the government of Tanzania has approved a major commercial highway across Serengeti National Park.

The northern Serengeti – located near the Kenya border – is the most remote and pristine area in the Park’s entire ecosystem.

With Kenya’s world famous Masai Mara reserve, the Serengeti National Park comprises an ecosystem of massive global importance and local value, which depends on and is defined by the migration of around two million wildebeest and zebra.

This wildlife, which has relied on traditional migratory routes for centuries, will be severely impacted by the plan, as will be local livelihoods and the important wildlife tourist industry.

FFI has joined other conservation organisations, including our local partner the East African Wildlife Society and the IUCN, in sending a letter to Kenyan Ministers urging them to intervene to stop or re-route the planned highway. Though the road is within Tanzania, its construction would cut across the wildebeest migration attempting to enter the Masai Mara Reserve to the north. A route to the south of the Serengeti would be much better for development and wildlife alike.

Please join the growing local and international support network that is working to re-route the road. Send an email to the Tanzanian President via forests.org and spread the word via email, Facebook and Twitter.

Photo credits: Frankfurt Zoological Society