Wildlife and People:
Conflict & Conservation in Masai Mara, Kenya

Tourism and Conservation

The Masai Mara and surrounding areas comprise a world famous tourist destination that draws upwards of 200,000 international visitors a year to view its amazing wildlife spectacle and to experience Maasai culture and way of life. This presents both a threat and an opportunity.

Unmanaged tourism can have major negative impacts on the environment, the wildlife and the people of the area.

However, responsible tourism can conserve wildlife whilst providing benefits to local communities.

In the first phase of the programme we focused much of our research on the impacts that tourism was having on wildlife and its habitat within the Masai Mara. We mapped the roads and tracks, many of which are a result of illegal off-road driving. We worked with tour drivers to map the distribution of vehicle pressure within the Reserve. We measured the disturbance of a range of herbivore species, including topi, zebra and warthog, and observed the effects of law enforcement in preventing harassment of cheetahs and lions. Finally, we talked with all the relevant stakeholders and identified management recommendations for better management of tourism.

Realising that local Maasai communities rarely benefit from tourism but often suffer the costs of living with wildlife, the second phase of the programme is assisting communities to plan and develop alternative forms of responsible tourism. We are helping communities to form wildlife associations and training local coordinators. We are taking community representatives on study tours to see how other communities in Kenya are practicing tourism and wildlife conservation. We are also facilitating exchange and partnerships between communities and the private sector through professional evaluations and feasibility studies to identify the best types of tourism for each community.

Recently we have begun to work in partnership with Friends of Conservation, an international non-governmental organisation that has focused on conservation in the Mara ecosystem for over 20 years. FoC are also assisting communities to develop their capacity to manage and benefit from wildlife through tourism. Together, we have approached the European Union delegation in Kenya for funding to develop a much broader tourism management and development plan for the Mara ecosystem as a whole.

Publications

Walpole, M.J. & Leader-Williams, N. (2001). Masai Mara tourism reveals partnership benefits. Nature 413, 771.