•The park was protected as the country’s natural habitat through proclamation No. 48 of December 16, 1946, covering 117km per square.
•It was set aside to conserve and protect the wildlife that was under great threat from traders, prospectors and pioneer settlers, then the British colony.
The Nairobi National Park will commemorate 75 years on December 16 since it was gazetted in 1946.
When it was gazetted, it had plenty of wildlife in its natural habitat.
As preparations continue, the park’s life, nature lovers are warning of its impending end.
“We are worried about many infrastructural developments coming up at the park. We do not need a hotel inside the park,” Conservation Alliance of Kenya chief executive Steve Itela said.
Conservation Alliance of Kenya is an umbrella organisation of more than 50 NGOs advancing the preservation, protection and management of wildlife and its habitats.
Itela said the urban park must maintain its natural beauty.
That beauty has however been eroded by several projects that have been put up inside the park.
The park had over 100 mammal species, over a dozen different reptiles, over 400 permanent and migratory bird species find a place for themselves in the protected area.
African buffalo, baboons, the Eastern black rhinoceros, the Southern white rhino, common Zebra, Grant's gazelle, Thomson’s gazelle, Maasai giraffe, Elands, Impala, Ostriches, Jackals, Warthogs and Waterbucks all roamed in the park.
The park hosted more than 45 lions among other large carnivores such as leopards, cheetah, and hyenas.
Hippopotamus inhabit areas along the Mbagathi River and crocodiles are found in the dams.
The park is listed as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas in danger by Birdlife International.
It is an important roosting site for Falco Naumanni flocks on the passage (up to 5,000 have been recorded), although numbers have markedly declined in recent years.
The park was protected as the country’s natural habitat through proclamation No. 48 of December 16, 1946, covering 117km per square.
It was set aside to conserve and protect the wildlife that was under great threat from traders, prospectors and pioneer settlers, then the British colony.
It covers 29,000 acres.
Tourism CS Najib Balala says 2,000 more acres have been added to it after the national government donated what used to be a sheep and goats research facility.
This brings the total to 31,000 acres.
Some of the projects that have been constructed inside the park over time include the Sh327 billion Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway, Southern Bypass and Internal Container Depot roads.
A 6km viaduct to hold the Standard Gauge Railway has been constructed across the park, causing visual intrusion to the wildlife.
The SGR environmental and social impacts had identified several negative impacts of the project on the park environment.
It identified disturbance of park environment during the installation of about T-frame pillars along the 7.2 km long corridor.
Each pillar involved an excavation area of 4X4 m.
Other negative impacts are noise and vibration during the construction and operation stages and the risk of the introduction of invasive species during the construction and operation stages.
Others are noise and air pollution from traffic plying the road.
The study identified a negative visual impact on park tourism and solid waste disposal during the construction phase and also by train passengers during the operation stage.
Moreover, the Southern Bypass passes through the park, and it has cut off a section of the park that borders Wilson Airport.
The road took over 50 acres of parks’ land.
Other developments inside the park include old and new pipelines and wayleaves.
Overhead power pylons and underground power cables have also eaten into the park.
The infrastructural developments have added to the threats facing the park.
Even then, Balala said Kenya Wildlife Service has been compensated for land ceded to SGR and the roads.
“Almost Sh4 billion was deposited in the endowment fund of KWS and is earning interest for KWS. That endowment fund is never touched, only proceeds when we have challenges,” he said.
The top twelve issues that the park’s management plan has identified and that needs to be addressed are habitat loss and fragmentation in the dispersal areas, a decline in wildlife population, poaching, human-wildlife conflicts, alien and invasive species.
KWS said a lot of work is lined up for the park.
This includes fencing, a high-end eco-lodge, improvement of infrastructure, development of KWS Club House high-end restaurant (Orpul Place), designing and establishment of adventure activity concessions and facilitation of alternative activities to traditional game-viewing.
KWS is considering improving park habitat, coupled with fencing willing landowners in the park’s buffer zone.
It proposes an integrated land use management in the park's buffer zone and wildlife dispersal areas to achieve the park’s management objectives.
That is maintaining ecological integrity, enhancing the visitor experience, enhancing community benefits from wildlife, minimising human-wildlife conflicts and improving wildlife security.
KWS said the option acknowledges the service has no jurisdiction on land and land use outside the park hence, it is imperative that it first concentrates its efforts on the conservation and protection of biodiversity within the park boundary.
The service proposes negotiations with landowners in the park’s buffer zone to manage these separate but interconnected units together with the park as a single ecological unit.
Under this option, wildlife habitat in the park will be improved.
This will be managed per legal agreements entered between KWS buffer zone landowners, Naretunoi Conservancy owners and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries as regards Sheep and Goats Ranch.
This option proposes fencing the Southern park boundary.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris