Save Amboseli - update 31st October
Dear Friends of Amboseli,
We are now in an even more uncertain time. The
next High Court appointment is some weeks away and we wait
each and every day for news.
In this update you will find some interesting
developments:
1) Dr Richard Leakey speaks out.
2) Further comments from the nearly 8,000 people
who have written to http://www.saveamboseli.net
3) My own thoughts about the campaign going
forward.
1) Dr Richard Leakey Speaks Out.
On Saturday 29th October Dr Richard Leakey,
twice the former Director of the Kenya Wildlife Service, the
former head of the Kenya Civil Service, a conservationist
and palaeontologist of international repute and, above all,
a Kenyan, said in the East African Standard that the Kenya
Wildlife Service could collapse after the Amboseli National
Park was taken away, a move which would deny the KWS of about
22% of its income.
According to the paper, Dr Leakey said that
resources that had national outlook should be guarded for
the national good and not used for short-term political gains.
He went on to state that the Government's move had set a bad
precedent, adding that other communities might start demanding
parks.
Dr Leakey's analysis of the situation and his
prediction for the likely results of the de-gazetting (should
it go ahead) are very much with what we have been saying on
this site over the last few weeks.
2) Comments:
As usual, I simply cannot respond individually
to all the comments (now running into thousands) that I have
received and read. I will try to post answers to frequently
asked points and help to highlight specific themes that come
up time and again. I enormously value the overwhelming sense
of solidarity and support that you express - and the fact
that so many comments come from local Kenyans from all sectors
of society. Given that the number of Kenyans with regular
access to the internet is small, the fact that about 30% of
all emails I have received are from Kenya is simply remarkable.
Group A. Leave Amboseli as a National Park
(still about 96% of the messages received)
"Please leave Amboseli alone. Politics
in Africa can never conserve biodiversity" (Uganda)
"The government should leave Amboseli
alone. They should not mix politics and Amboseli issue"
(Kenya)
"India has looked upon Amboseli as a
model to save habitat. Any down grading might start a similar
process in India and then we will need all the support we
can manage from the international community." (India)
"The government should instead tarmac
the Emali-Loitokitok road if they want to do the Kajiado South
constituents a favour." (Kenya)
"I worked with KATO (Kenya Association
of Tour Operators for 6 years... now how Amboseli is one of
the key tourist attractions... this is more than outrageous"
(Kenya)
"Amboseli belongs to all Kenyans"
(Kenya)
"KWS did a good job on Amboseli. I knew
from first hand experience as a former safari driver/guide."
(Kenya)
Group B. In favour of Degazetting.(about
1% of messages)
"The Maasai Mara made more money that
Amboseli did and it is a game reserve which means that they
are doing a better job than the KWS." (Kenya)
"I am glad Amboseli has finally come
back to my people... I do agree that proper legal procedures
were not followed properly but I don't really care about that.."
(Kenya)
"I sincerely hope that the conservation
organisations opposed to Maasai management of Amboseli do
two very important and fair things: 1) Strongly consider working
with the Maasai to develop community relations and appropriate
elephant and Maasai conservation practices - environmentalism
isn't just about preserving non-humans, it's about being anti-racist
and preserving humans' positive relationships to the land...
and 2) You must present and publicise this issue fairly. I
understand that it's in your interest to mention nothing about
the Maasai, but please consider the condition of the Maasai
(they are poor, they are being exploited by tourism operators,
they lack education and basic needs). (USA)
Group C: Useful comments (about 3% of messages)
"UNESCO should be invited to comment
on the degazettement and inform us what action they have taken
so far against this decision" (Kenya)
"Defend the Elephants Society of Sweden
supports Amboseli and are very eager that it remain a National
Park" (Sweden)
"I am a travel agent... I will advise
my clients to go to other countries such as Botswana for their
animal viewing" (USA)
"I request you send me and also at the
same time publish the email address of President Kibaki"
(USA)
3) My Thoughts on the Campaign.
A number of people have also asked if they can
raise funds or assist the campaign financially in some way.
I am VERY reluctant to do this or at least make this a major
part of our activities. I do not want our efforts to be characterised
as a naked attempt by us to 'line our own nests'. However,
to be honest, there are some very significant costs associated
with our efforts...
Let me be clear:
Most of my time managing this site is voluntary
as I am working on the Save Amboseli Campaign in evenings
or over weekends.
The costs so far are almost exclusively related
to legal fees.
I am reluctant (despite requests) to make this
a traditional postal campaign since this will cost so much
more than email so to those who have asked for a postal address
to be published my apologies, it is logistically not possible.
But I would really appreciate it if there was
some financial support for the legal costs. If you are interested
and able to help then please drop me a line on email to traverswill@yahoo.co.uk
Thank you very much indeed.
Finally, I have also received some interesting
remarks relating to the idea of International Nature Reserves
(or perhaps that should be International Parks)
"I agree with the idea that a world
fund should be set up.... the burden should not be on the
poorest countries alone but shared and the local communities
need to benefit so that the pressure to sue these areas for
other purposes is reduced." (Switzerland).
I would really like to explore this idea further
but after the Amboseli situation is resolved one way or the
other. Might the world be ready for a more inclusive, transparent
and collaborative way of sharing the responsibility for wildlife
and wilderness areas that are of international significance?
Thank you all for your support, encouragement
and comments which whether they be positive or negative are
part of a vital debate which may well decide the future of
wildlife conservation not just in Amboseli, not even in Kenya
but in many places around the world.
Keep on campaigning and check http://www.saveamboseli.net
for more updates just as soon as they are posted.
Will