• The Kenya Wildlife Service draft management plan intends to increase the attractiveness of the Nairobi National Park, among other identified interests.
• Conservationists and nature lovers are opposed to the establishment of a permanent luxury tented camp in the park.
The destiny of Nairobi National Park cannot be redefined by a few people, a conservation lobby has said.
The East Africa Wildlife Society said the park is one of a kind wilderness that deserves the attention of everybody, not just the Kenya Wildlife Service.
“Together, we can all play a critical role in redefining the destiny of Nairobi National Park,” the EAWS said in a statement on Tuesday.
There has been no management plan for the park in the past 10 years. The previous one expired in 2010.
In the new plan, KWS wants to address 12 issues facing the only park in a city in the world.
The issues are habitat loss and fragmentation in the dispersal areas, decline in the wildlife population, poaching, human-wildlife conflicts, alien and invasive species, pollution, mining and quarries.
The others are climate change, low park visitation, increased urbanisation, settlement threats on the sheep and goats ranch, and infrastructure development.
The management plan will be scaled down to 10 national parks to improve their attractiveness.
Some of the work KWS has lined up for the park includes fencing, the construction of a high-end ecolodge, improvement of infrastructure, development of a clubhouse, high-end restaurant (Orpul Place), establishment of adventure activity concessions and facilitation of alternative activities to traditional game-viewing.
The parastatal is also considering improving park habitat, coupled with progressively fencing willing landowners in the wildlife facility’s buffer zone.
It proposes integrated land use management in the buffer zone and wildlife dispersal areas to achieve the park’s management objectives.
The plan is purposed to maintain ecological integrity, enhance visitor experience, enhance community benefits from wildlife, minimise human-wildlife conflicts and improve wildlife security.
But the EAWS maintains that the plan must be subjected to public scrutiny as the park's management is a concern of everybody.
"Critical to the plan is the widest possible consultation with stakeholders and the development of objectives that can be agreed and adhered to by all who have an interest in the use and ongoing survival of the area concerned," the society said.
The organisation is involved in forests, wetlands, marine and wildlife besides advocacy, public education, stakeholders’ participation and capacity building.
“We are asking you to read the draft and submit your comments via our website, where we can consolidate them and present a more compelling memo to the KWS,” it said.
The EAWS wants the public to share their expertise, opinions and hopes before the submission of comments deadline on June 12. "We excel in evidence-based conservation advocacy, but we can’t do it without your help."
The Tourism ministry was compelled to extend the time for public participation after an uproar from conservationists and nature lovers.
The greatest concern in the draft plan is the proposed establishment of a permanent luxury tented camp in the park.
- mwaniki fm