Save Amboseli
On the 28th September 2005,
The President of Kenya, The Rt Hon Mwai Kibaki MP, asked the
Minister for Tourism and Wildlife to publish a legal notice
in the Kenya Gazettement Supplement No. 20, declaring that
Amboseli National Park would henceforth become a National
Reserve. This would mean that the management of the
Park would be removed from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS)
and placed in the care of Olkejiado County Council.
This change of status would also
permit a wider range of human activities within the protected
area that are not allowed in a National Park.
The reaction from wildlife experts
including former director of KWS, Dr David Western, the East
African Wild Life Society, Born Free Foundation and others
has been one of dismay. The facts to consider:
1. That the change of status
has been done in a manner which is illegal since it has not,
as we understand it, conformed to the requirements of the
Wildlife Act which would require that any such proposal should
be only undertaken following consultation with relevant stakeholders
such as KWS, a 60 day public comment period and ratification
by the National Assembly. As far as we are aware, none
of these provisions have been complied with.
2. Amboseli National Park
is a UNESCO Man and the Biosphere site which should mean that
it is accorded the highest possible national priority in terms
of its conservation. Downgrading the Park's status to that
of National Reserve is inconsistent with that obligation
3. Amboseli National Park
last year generated approximately 240 million Kenyan Shillings
(approximately 3.5 million US $) funds that would have been
directed to the KWS and which would, in part, have been used
to support other national parks that are less well known and
less able to generate revenue. It seems almost certain
that other parks will suffer following this withdrawal of
income source.