Serengeti Highway Threat Looms Large – Learn Why

The Serengeti can be a source of continuing economic benefit and pride for the people of Tanzania. But population pressures, geopolitics, and private interests threaten the longterm viability of the entire ecosystem.

The Tanzanian government now has plans to build highways around the Serengeti. Though it maintains that the section through the park will not be paved, we’re not convinced.

See the presentation below to learn why.

The Serengeti ecosystem extends from Tanzania to Kenya and includes areas within and without the Serengeti National Park and Masai Mara Reserve. The area along the Kenya-Tanzania border is particularly important.

Click to see a full presentation

Another important step was taken by our Serengeti Teacher Environmental Program (STEP). A program was just completed outside of the Serengeti in the Maasai village of Ololosokwan, just east of the Park.

Our team of teachers and coordinators took twelve students and eight local teachers on a safari into the Serengeti National Park on February 14th. It was an eye opening experience for them.

The next two days were spent training teachers in the classroom, working on the curriculum that they will continue to use in their schools.

Three primary schools and two secondary schools took part. Teachers in these five schools now have training and materials to reach more than 1,800 students each year in a critical area near the Serengeti.

Serengeti Watch partnered with a new Tanzanian NGO, Serengeti Preservation Foundation, to coordinate the logistics, with the full support of the local ministry of education office. This is our second STEP project. The first was a pilot project outside Arusha National park.

Learn more about our STEP project here: