The World Bank has offered Tanzania an alternative to stop a major road project across the Serengeti national park that conservationists say threatens one of Africa’s biggest wildlife spectacles.
Conservation groups say the government’s planned highway through the northern edge of the Serengeti would hinder the annual migration of some 2 million wildebeest (gnuer).
World Bank Country Director for Tanzania, Uganda, and Burundi John Murray McIntire said the Bank was ready to help the east African nation in financing an alternative route for the road that would otherwise cut through the park.
– The World Bank is proposing alternatives that we believe will achieve Tanzania’s development objectives while preserving the unique character of the Serengeti as part of the world’s environmental heritage, McIntire said.
Meanwhile, Germany has offered the government of Tanzania the option of financing a study on an alternative road connecting areas bordering the Serengeti National Park (Senapa) in the north without crossing through the park.
The offer follows the government’s plan to construct a 53-kilometre highway stretch through Senapa.
Asked about the offer, the minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Ezekiel Maige, said Tuesday that his ministry’s responsibility was to ensure the protection of flora and fauna.
President Jakaya Kikwete stated recently that the connection of rural areas was one of the main reasons why the controversial highway is needed.
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Serengeti nationalparken blev oprettet af den dav. britiske kolonimagt i 1951 og har et areal på ca. 12.950 km². Den ligger mellem Lake Victoria, Lake Eyasi og Great Rift Valley og er medtaget på UNESCOs liste over vor umistelige Verdensarv (Heritage sites).
Området har bl.a. flere end 2 millioner gnuer, 500.000 gazeller og 250.000 zebraer – se mere på www.serengeti.org
Navnet stammer fra masai-sprogets ord “Serengit”- uendelige sletter.
Serengeti er uløseligt forbundet med den tyske ZOO-direktør, Bernhard Grzimek (1909-1987), som i 1959 udsendte dokumentarfilmen “Serengeti må ikke dø”. Den fik en Oscar og blev også vist herhjemme.
Filmen skabte international opmærksomhed om Serengetis skæbne og værdi for kommende generationer og medvirkede i høj grad til, at området blev bevaret som nationalpark, da det dav. Tanganyika opnåede selvstændighed fra briterne i december 1961.
Hans søn, filmmanden Michael Grzimek, døde under optagelserne i Tanzania, da en grib fløj ind i hans lille fly. Far og søn ligger begravede på randen af Ngorongoro krateret i et naturreservat, som støder op til den nationalpark, de begge elskede og kæmpede for.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org og andre
