'Serengeti shall not die': Can the ambition be sustained? Kideghesho, Jafari R.; Røskaft, Eivin; Kaltenborn, Bjørn P. ...
The international journal of biodiversity science & management,
20/9/1/, Volume:
1, Issue:
3
Journal Article
Serengeti, a World Heritage Site and a Biosphere Reserve, is increasingly being threatened by human factors, which undermine its natural resource base and, therefore, contradict the ambition ...contained in Grzimeks' popular book 'Serengeti Shall Not Die'. We discuss five forces against the ambition: rapid human population growth, poverty, illegal hunting, habitat destruction, and wildlife diseases. We also review some of the current strategies adopted in view of pre-empting the negative outcomes resulting from these forces by pointing out their deficiencies. We conclude that, although human population growth and poverty are underlying factors threatening the Ecosystem, the current mitigative strategies barely address them adequately. We, therefore, recommend that, for Grzimeks' ambition to remain valid, the two factors should take priority. We also call for more research to establish the reasons making people exhibit unsustainable behaviours toward the resources. We further suggest learning from past mistakes in view of correcting the identified deficiencies. Support in the form of alternative sustainable livelihood strategies and discouraging all ecologically destructive policies are equally important. Drawing from experience of the Kenyan part of the Ecosystem we suggest banning of land privatization, commercial agriculture and other development policies conflicting with conservation interests around Serengeti National Park.
The Arctic regions are one of the last frontiers of tourism. For about a decade, the islands of Svalbard in the Norwegian High Arctic have been a focal point of the adventure tourism industry; now ...they host one - fourth of all Arctic tourism. A remote and ecologically vulnerable location, Svalbard represents the last European wilderness. The largely intact ecosystems are potentially threatened by coal mining, oil and gas exploration, tourism and extensive field research activities. More than anywhere else in Europe, the challenge here is to preserve extensive wilderness areas. Current efforts include zoning of tourism activities, monitoring of the effects of tourism on the natural environment, and more active co - operation between managers and the tourism industry in defining future strategies for tourism. If we consider management regimes, current knowledge, legislation, the amount of staff and resources -- in short, the role and power of public management of tourism in natural environments -- it seems clear that the tourism industry has the potential to save as well as destroy the world's natural attractions. In some cases, the tourism industry can provide the best means for protecting the resources.
Despite a long tradition of nature and forestry management, conservation of nature has a relatively short history in Lithuania. Most aspects of environmental management are facing considerable ...challenges since Lithuania's recent freedom from the 50-year Soviet regime. New democracies tend to develop new and often unpredictable ramifications for environmental management, and there is an urgent need for developing national park concepts and planning models that are responsive to the local context. This paper discusses some of the challenges encountered in developing and adjusting national park concepts. Lithuanian parks, like protected areas in other parts of the world, are characterised by the interaction of diverse natural and socio-cultural factors. This more or less unique complexity is the essence of the national park identity. Sustainable management of integrated protected area resources demands a change from the former expert-based top-down Soviet management. New models of collaborative, adaptive management will need to consider multiple values and goals and be able to function within rapidly changing political and administrative contexts.
