well, I have no facts, but ask yourself the same question in your town / district / council etc. in the US or Europe or anywhere else in this world.

i am not going to state anything regarding whether "joe average" was involved in making that decision...

i am just watching what is going on in kenya in view to developments of new camps and lodges!

the mara is packed from july till oct and one won't find easily a camp bed for a couple of consecutive rights - that was already the case in march!!!
some more "semi-permanent" camps are to be build WITHIN the masai mara reserve for the durartion of the migration.

the same in other parks and reserves.

i am very sure within the next 5 years or so - if there is no terrorism attack which will tourism figures bring down again which would be excellent for the animals - kenya has kicked itself out of the safari market for high-end tourists because the reserves are mass market like the beach resorts already!

Game reserve hotels threaten elephants (Kenya)

Steve Bloomfield, The Independent
20 May 2007

One of Kenya's finest game parks is under threat from uncontrolled development of hotels and lodges, conservationists claim. The building of four new hotels, which would more than double the number of beds in Samburu National Reserve, has been criticised environmental groups which warn that elephant migratory corridors and lion breeding habitats could be destroyed.

The BBC wildlife presenter Saba Douglas-Hamilton, whose father Ian runs Save the Elephants, which operates in the park, warned that the developments would do "untold damage" to Samburu if they were allowed to go ahead.

"These current proposed developments are all along the river. There will be a huge impact on the area most heavily utilised by the wildlife," she said. "We have to be very careful how we plan for the future. If landscape planning in Samburu is not managed it will have an adverse effect on the environment and the people who rely on tourism for their livelihoods."

Save the Elephants had been threatened with expulsion from Samburu, where the group carries out conservation work protecting the region's 5,500 elephants, at the end of April. The group was given until tomorrow to leave the reserve after being accused by Samburu County Council of "publishing malicious reports". But the charity earned a last-minute reprieved after local councillors committed to protecting the reserve managed to overturn the order. Councillor Christopher Lalkalepi said Save the Elephants was now "in safe hands. They will not be chased away."

The fight to stop the new developments will continue, he added. "These mushrooming developments are against the general management plan of the reserve. Conservation is being affected. We have saved Save the Elephants - now we go on to the lodges. We want to stop them being built."

The new lodges will increase the number of tourist beds in Samburu and neighbouring Buffalo Springs reserve from 338 to 767. All will be built in pristine woodland and two of them will be at the riverside. One of the hotel sites falls within an elephant migratory corridor. An assessment of the proposed hotel carried out by the National Environment Management Authority found that it would have an "irreversible impact" on the corridor.

Since Save the Elephants was targeted, conservationists have become wary of speaking out. One campaigner, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the new lodges would do terrible damage to the very animals tourists come to see. "One is even called 'Elephant's Bedroom'," he said. "But they've taken the bedroom away from the elephant to build the lodge."

Kenya is currently enjoying a tourism boom after several poor seasons caused by fears of terrorism. Numbers fell after the 2002 bombing of a hotel in Mombasa on the Indian Ocean coast, but more than 1.8 million people are expected to visit the country this year. Many of the tourists who come to Samburu are British, and Ms Douglas-Hamilton urged tourists to "vote with their feet".

"I hope they will go to places, and with companies, which are implementing good environmental practices. The whole world over we're dealing with this problem of human footprint. This is precisely what is happening in Samburu."

Article at the following link:
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/wildlife/article2562754.ece

My big problem with all this that Dr Douglas-Hamilton could have private interests involved here!

Do not hang me yet!

I have followed his work ever since I saw a film about the family a number of years ago when Saba was a little girl of about 4 years. In fact one of my dogs is called Saba in honor.
But because he is a conservationist who luckily has spent his working life in conservation & the study of elephants it does not mean that he is above being a NIMBY!
We should not immediately jump to the conclusion that he is right & the council is wrong.

I totally agree that uncontrolled development is wrong & from my limited experiences the parks are slowly becoming zoo\'s or at least UK style Safari Parks but a true African wildlife holiday was at one time the haven of the rich. If we\'re not careful it will go back to that.
Let extra lodges be built to allow more people take a wildlife vacation but with stringent controls on their siting to give less impact on the environment. OK a number of lodges in Africa have built water holes to entice the animals. A good thing? ...But!... Who is now missing the water used to fill it? All our actions have a reaction.

Again from my limited experience it would seem to me that better policing of the tourists & their guides would go a long way to improve the situation, well sited lodges with low impact, controlled access, controlled routes, even semi tame animals around the lodges would satisfy most tourist. Let\'s be honest 75% do not really care about their impact, all they want to see is the animals & then go back to their luxury hotel..Oooops!.. Sorry!...Lodge!!! For lunch, dinner & an antiseptic holiday.
But, one, just one, might then take note & go on to do more for the country they are visiting. Education??
So allow the people to take their trip of a life time, controlled, yes, but bringing their ,Pound, Dollar, Euro into the economy thus helping the people & the environment.

Kipper:

I agree with most of what you say.

Please let me expound on the little I have learned on my three trips to Samburu. I stayed in Oria Douglas-
Hamilton's Elephant Watch Camp on all three occasions. Oria has only five tents there - total of 10 - 15 guests per day so what they take from the reserve (space, water, etc) is far less than other camps and lodges already there. Admittedly it is high-priced camp. When I last inquired about booking it was going to cost me (a single traveler) $650.00 per night! I can no longer afford to take advantage of it.

However, Oria has been working closely with the Samburu women over the years teaching them things that might improve their lives. She has created a women's handicraft course teaching the women to make lovely crafts that can be sold in the reserve gift shops. She has created a big cat conservation program, lead by Shivani Bhalla who regularly monitors all the cats in Samburu. They have a Bees and Trees project to teach local students how to harvest honey. They teach them how to wrap the acacia tree trunks with chicken wire to protect them from being knocked over by the elephants. Oria and Shivani have set up a scholarship fund for the Samburu kids to enable some of them to attend secondary schools in the area. And Shivani and Iain together work with a small group of students each year trying to teach them how to conserve wildlife, taking them on elephant collaring treks, teaching them some basic computer skills. All of these are extremely worthwhile projects and I believe are far above the norm of the average camp/lodge owner/manager. They are to be highly commended for all they have already done for the Samburu people. Iain has been available to help with censusing and collaring all over Kenya and indeed Africa. This family has done far more than the average in giving back to the people, and the Council should commend them rather than taking aim at them!

That being said, when I was in Samburu in 2004 and 2005 I noticed then how much the river looked like a tidal river. In the morning the water level would be high and water flowing quite fast. By the afternoon it was moving sluggishly and the water level was decidedly much lower. This wasn't just from camp/lodge use because all the wildlife and domestic animals were taking water from it at the same time. Knowing that water was already so precious, how could the Council even think of adding more pressure on the river? I just can't figure it out.

There needs to be some transparency with all the Councils as to what they are doing with their money. I just quickly figured out at $30.00 per day per person reserve rate (300 people in Samburu now) that is $270,000.00 per month and three million, two hundred forty thousand dollars per year the Council takes in just from gate receipts. This does not add in lodge/camp rentals, etc. The roads in most parks certainly aren't upgraded often. Then what the H--L is the Council doing with that amount of money that it is not passing down to the people?
The government should also be taking a look at this to be sure that they are receiving tax money correctly.

What to me is so very sad is that Councils do not want to learn from people like Iain who could teach them things that will help make good decisions for many years to come . This is typical in many African countries - so very sad. And, now that Iain has been put on the line for giving an honest opinion, and I'm 99.9% sure it had absolutely nothing to do with hurting his wife's 5 tent camp, all wildlife experts will be afraid to open their mouths and say anything to protect wildlife and the environment they are working so hard to protect. So very sad.

There are many things in life that we do for no monetary reward because it is the right and correct thing to do.

Jan,
The latest I've heard is that Iain has been allowed to stay on until further review. Whatever that means! Anyway, i have problems understanding African mechanisms of wildlife conservancies when it comes to custody and management of them. You see, Ngorongoro, for example, is also meant to be "owned" by the council of the area. However, what I have recently found out is that all income derived from the conservancy is collected by the management which is council approved BUT, and its a huge but, the money then goes mostly to the main ruling political party which is CCM! If i remember correctly, only 10 or 15% remains with the council.

Apparently, this was the agreement drawn up when the conservancy was made legal and in order for the Gov to justify parting with the land. So while millions of $$ end up with CCM who use it for everything other than natural resources conservation, the little amount retainerd by the conservancy barely covers the costs! I wonder if Samburu works under a similar agreement??