Greater Serengeti Conservation Society
Focus Areas
Our vision is to ensure a resilient and thriving Greater Serengeti Ecosystem to the benefit of the local and global community. Our mission and motto is ‘Serengeti Forever’.
We have identified five interlinked thematic focus areas to engage affected and interested stakeholders. None of this can be pursued in isolation. Successful and long-term conservation effects will only be achieved if efforts in all five areas are aligned. This requires holistic management as well as true and innovative partnerships.
As a convening body we facilitate, enable and initiate such an approach.
How do we want to achieve this?
We have initiated two truly innovative communication mechanisms to strengthen conservation in Greater Serengeti:
Annual Greater Serengeti Summit
Once a year we bring the leading conservation professionals, the top scientists, the most active community leaders and the best tourism operators to jointly deliberate, identify and collaborate on the near and long term priority research, conservation, law enforcement, community and tourism activities.
State of the Serengeti Report
Resulting from the Summit is our annual report that describes the health of the ecosystem and the agreed priority actions. The report raises global awareness and offers invaluable information for decision-making and to coordinate conservation and development partners’ assistance to Greater Serengeti.
Research and conservation alignment
Establishing sustained and reinforcing linkages between research and conservation in Greater Serengeti.
Greater Serengeti, similar to the Yellowstone and Kruger National Parks, has long been the subject of scientific research and monitoring. Eminent field researchers from Dr.Mary and Louis Leakey, Bernard and Michael Grzimek, Anthony Sinclair, Markus and Felix Borner to the present day Tanzanian Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI) have contributed to a rich scientific data record for Greater Serengeti.
Today, scientists from universities in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe are engaged in a range of multi-faceted multi-disciplinary research projects across Greater Serengeti. However, management actions and informed decision-making needs to be better supported by coordinated science.
Conservation action
Ecosystem resilience and integrity are key to the Greater Serengeti’s survival. These two things allow an ecosystem to respond to disturbance and recover quickly.
The area managers are engaged in a long-term endeavor to reintroduce and translocate key native wildlife species across Greater Serengeti. The present efforts focus on establishing viable free-ranging black rhino and wild dog populations. Future efforts may involve re-establishing a full suite of viable, thriving, wild ungulate populations found in the area such as greater kudu.
Wildlife disease monitoring and warning systems coupled with apt coping mechanisms are of particular importance in areas of high wildlife density such as Greater Serengeti. Maintaining a constant vigil over wildlife and plant disease outbreaks and being ready to deal with it is vital.
Habitat manipulations, including corrective hydrology and prescribed burns, are essential in a diverse and dynamic ecosystem such as Greater Serengeti. An aggressive campaign to arrest and eradicate the spread of invasive plant and animal species is needed.
Wildlife law enforcement
Wildlife poaching and illegal encroachment into protected areas present a constant threat to the Greater Serengeti.
The small black rhino populations are under round-the-clock surveillance. The expansion of the black rhino range is limited by the inability of the present ranger force to cover a wider area. The growing elephant populations pose a tempting target to poachers as they decimate elephant populations in other parts of Kenya and Tanzania.
About 100,000 wild ungulates are poached annually by neighboring communities as the migration passes through. The present wild ungulate populations appear to sustain such losses but this may change if demand increases and populations decline.
Illegal incursions and the presence of domestic cattle herds throughout Greater Serengeti have increased significantly in recent years. Land conversion along its borders poses a direct threat of habitat destruction and provides a potential vector for disease and invasive species. Proper perimeter patrolling is needed to protect its borders while allowing for approved and desired free movement of humans, as well as wild and domestic animals.
Society places a high priority on mobilizing adequate resources and political will to address urgent wildlife law enforcement needs throughout Greater Serengeti. The annual Greater Serengeti Summit will offer an effective platform to deliberate and achieve coordinated and properly-resourced effective wildlife law enforcement across its jurisdictional and national boundaries. Society bridge funds will address immediate actions not dealt with by institutional funds e.g. updates and expansion of ranger posts, equipment, and training.
Community and rural development
Communities have to benefit from the conservation of the Greater Serengeti ecosystem if they are to be its champions and not its detractors.
The well being and support of neighboring communities is integral to the conservation and resilience of Greater Serengeti. The communities are part of this ecosystem and their social development and engagement in its management are critical. They have to benefit from the conservation of Greater Serengeti if they are to be its champions and not its detractors.
Balancing the conservation needs of protected areas with the development needs of neighboring communities is integral to establishing an effective conservation strategy for Greater Serengeti. The border attracts many people and settlements. The annual demographic growth rate within Ngorongoro and along Greater Serengeti is nearly 4% per annum compared with the Tanzanian national average of 3%.
The Society will facilitate the implementation of effective and proven methods of integrating conservation and development in and around Greater Serengeti. The Greater Serengeti Summit will offer an apt venue to review lessons learned and cooperate on coordinated implementation of proven community conservation and development models.
In areas neighboring Greater Serengeti, the Summit may direct particular attention at mechanisms to improve community education and health; strengthen wildlife management areas; establish community/village rangeland reserves for domestic livestock; implement village land use plans; improve agriculture and irrigation practices; improve animal husbandry and grazing systems; improve veterinary services and disease prevention and control; etc.
Responsible and Sustainable tourism
Greater Serengeti is a veritable Eden for wildlife tourists from around the globe.
The Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area are the flagship tourist attractions of Tanzania as is Maasai Mara for Kenya. The revenues earned by SNP and NCA contribute significantly to making tourism the largest foreign currency earner in Tanzania. Nonetheless, the vast and multifaceted tourism potential of Greater Serengeti remains largely untapped.
Wildlife tourism, both consumptive and non-consumptive, is the major source of revenue for the conservation efforts in Greater Serengeti. It is vital that tourism is developed to its potential in a comprehensive, holistic way across the entire area to better contribute to its conservation and community development.
Greater Serengeti holds a high potential for a range of tourism attractions from culture and paleo-archeology to wildlife across the core and peripheral areas. The potential for anthropology, geology, and paleontology tourism across the system is immense and undeveloped. Season-specific, diverse cultural and outdoor activities across the core and peripheral areas can be further developed.
Society will be an important catalyst in holistic, complementary and sustainable tourism development of the entire Greater Serengeti. The Greater Serengeti Summit will dedicate particular attention to facilitating stakeholder conversations on developing its tourism potential without comprising the primacy of conservation and communities and in accordance with its natural and cultural ethos.
