Wildebeest crossing the Mara river in Masai Mara. Picture by BrianScott: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianscott/
In the past few months, one of the most predominant news item from the Kenya tourism industry has been the existence of illegal camps and lodges in the Maasai Mara game reserve. According to the Kenyan government, more than 70% of the Masai Mara lodges, safari camps and resorts are operating illegally. Kenya’s Minister for tourism, Najib Balala, went as far as threatening to shut down all these lodges (see this story).
A twin issue related to this is that some of these camps are said to be intruding in the niches of endangered species like the black rhino, threatening the already fragile ecosystem (see story here).
Of course, if these camps and lodges have not been licensed, shutting them down is a very logical action. But this would present one big problem: a drop in tourist numbers. Currently, there are approximately 108 camps and lodges in the Masai Mara area, with a total bed capacity of about 4000. If you forcefully close 70% of these, bed capacity would probably drop by the same margin (to about 1200 persons). Considering that Masai Mara is the most visited and best known game reserve in Kenya, such a reduction would affect the entire tourism sector in more than one way.
For many tourists for example, the number one reason they travel to Kenya is to go on a safari. After the safari, some choose to go to the coast for beach relaxation. Others may start with the beach holiday first, then the wildlife safari before traveling back home, but still the safari lure plays a role towards their coming. Likewise, before and after their safari, some tourists rest for a day or two in hotels in Nairobi and other towns. The consequences of a slight drop in tourist numbers in the Mara is therefore likely to be felt by the entire industry. This, I think, is why the Kenyan government is playing it soft on the “illegal” establishments.
Or may be not. In the main Kenyan newspapers today, the Narok county council ran a feature aimed at “dispelling the rumors” about mismanagement of the game reserve. You may already be aware that the Masai Mara is not administered by the Kenyan central government. Instead, it is the county council of Narok that manages the park for the benefit of the neighboring Masai community. You probably also know that around the Mara, you can find plenty of African wildlife outside the officially protected or gazetted game reserve. In fact you can enjoy a relatively good safari experience outside the reserve.
Narok county council’s argument therefore is that there are only 19 lodges and camps within the gazetted area. The remaining 89 are outside the park. As such, the claims that these camps are driving some animal species to their extinction are misinformed.
So the question remains, between the government of Kenya and the Narok county council, who is telling the truth? And why is the government not acting on their threats to close the illegal lodges down, if indeed they are not licensed and they are not paying taxes?
Only time will tell, perhaps.
If many of these lodges in the Maasai Mara National Reserve are illegal and without license, then instead of shutting them down the government can provide legal licenses after imposing some fine so that these kind of incidence do not occur. As tourist industry is the one of the main sources of income, they should try and build on that reputation.
Both authorities need to deliberate a lot before any action is taken since it has implications on the tourists flow to the national reserve. Now that it has come ti light that most of the Masai Mara National Reserve lodges are illegal and without license, it is more appropriate that instead of shutting them down, the government can provide operational licenses after imposing some fine. It must be a well calculated step taken otherwise tourists flow stands to be affected.