Focus Areas

Our vision is to ensure a resilient and thriving Greater Serengeti Ecosystem for 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 these 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 innovative communication mechanisms to strengthen conservation in Greater Serengeti:

Annual Greater Serengeti Summit
Once a year we bring together 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 for 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 for coordinating conservation and development partners’ assistance to Greater Serengeti.

Research and conservation alignment

Establishing and reinforcing strong linkages between research and conservation in Greater Serengeti.

The Greater Serengeti, similar to the Yellowstone and Kruger National Parks, has long been the subject of scientific research and monitoring and is now one of the world’s best studied ecosystems. The first scientific descriptions of the Serengeti starting in the 1950’s focused on the spectacular natural history, biodiversity, and abundance of animals (championed by Bernard and Michael Grzimek in their book and film “Serengeti Shall Not Die”). Decades of science has resulted in 4 compendiums of research (Serengeti I, II, III, and IV) from a range of eminent field researchers led by Prof. Anthony Sinclair. This huge body of work has contributed to one of the richest scientific records of any ecosystem globally. The Tanzanian Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI) now oversees all the research in the 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 the Greater Serengeti. Our belief is that management actions and informed decision-making needs to be supported by coordinated science, and this is what we focus on.

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 managers of the Greater Serengeti are actively engaged in long-term endeavours to protect the ecosystem processes that promote diversity and resilience. For example, by protecting habitats and key corridors managers ensure animals can move freely between them. Reintroducing threatened wildlife species such as black rhino and wild dog populations ensures the Serengeti-Mara continue to have a full suite of viable, thriving, wildlife populations.

Monitoring wildlife diseases is particularly important in areas of high wildlife density such as Greater Serengeti because it provides a warning system. Maintaining a constant vigil over wildlife and plant disease outbreaks allows managers to consider mitigation strategies and interventions that may be needed to protect the ecosystem.

Managing and protecting key habitats such as the riverine forests, kopjes and the fertile short-grass plains is important for maintaining the unique biodiversity and resilience of the Greater Serengeti ecosystem. For instance, by strategically managing fires using prescribed burns and fire-breaks the diversity of vegetation that supports the huge diversity of birds, rodents and grazers can be promoted and protected. Similarly, an aggressive campaign to slow and eradicate the spread of invasive plants is needed to ensure these habitats are preserved.

Wildlife law enforcement

Wildlife poaching and illegal encroachment into protected areas present a constant threat to the Greater Serengeti.

Organised crime around the illegal trade of rhino horn and elephant tusks poses a large threat. Black rhino populations are under round-the-clock surveillance. Similarly, the growing elephant populations pose a tempting target to poachers who have decimated elephant populations in other parts of Kenya and Tanzania. As these populations increase in the Serengeti-Mara, there is a growing need to bolster the ranger force.

Illegal subsistence hunting for bush-meat by small-scale commercial operators who sell the meat locally removes up to 100,000 wild ungulates annually. Snares made of wire cables, or spotlighting at night and the use of motorbikes leads to indiscriminate killing. Although the wildebeest population has not changed over time and appears to be able to sustain such losses, many other species such as bushbuck and giraffe are declining rapidly because of indiscriminate killings.

Illegal incursions by domestic livestock into the Greater Serengeti often extend for 5 km into the protected areas and have increased significantly in recent years. Land conversion and intensification of agro-pastoralist activities along the borders pose a direct threat to habitats and displaces wild animals, as well as providing a potential vector for disease and invasive species. Protecting the perimeter boundaries with increased patrols and improved community relations is needed while still allowing for the free movement of sustainable traditional cultures that have co-existed with wild animals.

The Society places a high priority on the need to mobilise adequate resources and on ensuring that there is the political will to address urgent wildlife law enforcement needs throughout Greater Serengeti. The annual Greater Serengeti Summit offers an effective platform to deliberate and to coordinate effective wildlife law enforcement strategies across the jurisdictional and national boundaries. The Society is dedicated to ensuring that these initiatives receive sufficient resources.

Community and rural development

Local communities have to benefit from the conservation of the Greater Serengeti ecosystem.

The support of neighbouring communities is integral to the conservation and resilience of the Greater Serengeti ecosystem. These are the traditional lands of at least 6 different ethnic groups whose cultures and history were shaped by this landscape. Today, the livelihoods and wellbeing of many of these rural communities depend on having a healthy ecosystem, therefore their engagement in its management is critical.

Balancing the conservation needs of protected areas with the development needs of neighbouring communities is integral to establishing an effective conservation strategy for Greater Serengeti. Human-wildlife conflicts are common along the protected area boundary where the human population is growing faster than the national average, and where wildlife are often found. It is at these locations along the border where wild animals frequently encounter crops and people and where local agro-pastoralist communities suffer the highest losses.

The Society facilitates the implementation of effective and proven methods that promote conservation and reduce conflict around Greater Serengeti. The Greater Serengeti Summit is a venue where managers share the lessons learned and cooperate to implement effective community conservation and development models. For instance, coordinating efforts to improve community education and health services such as livestock vaccinations, or facilitating conservation-friendly village landuse plans often leads to very positive outcomes for both communities and conservation.

Responsible and Sustainable tourism

Greater Serengeti is a veritable Eden for wildlife tourists from around the globe.

The Serengeti National Park (SNP), Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) and the Maasai Mara Reserve are the flagship tourist attractions of Tanzania and Kenya. The tourism revenues generated by the Greater Serengeti ecosystem is one of the major contributors of foreign income in both Tanzania and Kenya. However, there is a need to diversify the tourism potential of Greater Serengeti away from vehicle-based mass tourism and towards a more ecologically sustainable approach.

The revenue generated from wildlife tourism supports the conservation efforts in the Greater Serengeti. Therefore, it is vital that tourism is developed in a sustainable and holistic way across the entire area so that it contributes more effectively to conservation and community development, and without damaging habitats or displacing wild animals.

Aside from the astounding diversity and abundance of wildlife, the Greater Serengeti is an area with rich culture and paleo-archeological history. For instance, Oldupai Gorge has one of the deepest records of human evolution and palaeontology in Africa, while Ol Donyo Lengai and Embaki Crater show the geological diversity between active volcanoes and ancient calderas of Africa’s Great Rift Valley. There are at least 6 different tribes of people that converge on the Greater Serengeti illustrating the cultural and anthropological diversity. Diversifying tourism provides educational opportunities and experiences, particularly around the periphery of the core protected area.

We believe tourism is the dividend of good conservation. The Society is a catalyst for sustainable tourism. The annual Greater Serengeti Summit dedicates particular attention to facilitating stakeholder conversations on developing tourism without comprising the primacy of conservation and the local communities. In this way, tourism can promote the celebration of the Greater Serengeti’s natural and cultural heritage.