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Review Article

‘Serengeti shall not die’: Transforming an Ambition into a Reality [ 228-248 ]

Jafari R Kideghesho

Abstract
The slogan “Serengeti shall not die” (German: Serengeti darf nicht sterben) is widely credited for alerting the global community to the urgency of conserving the Serengeti and its biological values for the benefit of local and global communities. The slogan has become popular since 1960 when Bernhard and Michael Grzimek authored a book, Serengeti Shall Not Die. However, despite this commitment the management challenges in Serengeti are growing, causing skepticism about the potential for realizing such a goal. These challenges include illegal hunting, habitat loss, and human-wildlife conflicts aggravated by human population growth and poverty. In addressing these challenges and therefore transforming the ambition “Serengeti shall not die” into reality, the multiple strategies required are presented in this paper. The paper starts by reviewing the challenges contradicting the ambition.


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General interest summaries (when available)
    English: ‘Serengeti shall not die’ is a popular catchphrase worldwide attempting to describe the ecological value of Serengeti along with underscoring the urgency to addressing the challenges threatening its ecological integrity. It is an ambition towards a healthy ecosystem which can offer multiple benefits for the current and future generations. In this article, a review is made of the major challenges contradicting the ambition. They include; human population growth, poverty, human-wildlife conflicts, illegal hunting, habitat loss and unsustainable development of infrastructure and tourism projects. Based on these challenges, multiple strategies are proposed in view of transforming an ambition - ‘Serengeti shall not die’ – into a reality. These strategies include: promoting factors inducing positive attitudes towards wildlife conservation; adopting livelihoods and production strategies that are ecologically friendly; making human population growth an agenda of priority; ensuring adequate conservation status to critical wildlife areas; discouraging policies, land uses, and projects likely to cause adverse impacts on wildlife species and habitats; conducting applied research and ensuring effective utilization of the findings to guide management interventions; ensuring adequate and active participation of local communities in natural resources management; promoting the traditional practices and systems that enhance sustainable use and conservation of wildlife resources and; implementing sustainable tourism policies. The paper ends by urging the global community to increase support for conservation of the Serengeti taking into account that Serengeti, being a World Heritage Site, is a global asset. The article proposes the following as the ways in which the global community can intervene: supporting the local communities through income-generating projects and providing alternative livelihood options that will inspire people to refrain from ecologically destructive activities; supporting research programs that will provide practical solutions to problems facing the ecosystem; supporting training programs that will improve the management of the ecosystem; supporting the infrastructure and funding family planning and HIV/AIDS control programs.

    Español: “El Serengeti no debe morir” es una frase que describe el valor ecológico y social de un area de interés mundial para la protección de la biodiversidad de áfrica oriental y que subraya la urgencia de encarar los desafíos que amenazan su conservación continuada. La conservación del Serengeti debe también tener como meta paralela el mantener servicios ecosistémicos que benefician a los pobladores locales. Sin embargo, los autores claman que los desafíos incluyen un crecimiento acelerado de la población humana, pobreza extrema, conflictos entre humanos y la fauna silvestre, cacería ilegal, perdida del hábitat y un desarrollo no sustentable de infraestructura y proyectos para turismo. Para encarar estos desafíos es necesario implementar estrategias múltiples y de modo simultaneo. Estas incluyen, entre otras, el promover una percepción y actitudes positivas hacia la conservación de la flora y fauna silvestres en la población local, adoptar sistemas de manejo de la tierra que son ecológicamente amistosos y que mantengan y mejoren el modo de vida de los habitantes rurales, llevar a cabo un monitoreo del crecimiento de la población humana, asegurar el estatus de conservación de áreas criticas para la vida silvestre y evitar la implementación de proyectos de desarrollo turístico u otros con un impacto adverso sobre la vida silvestre.

    Português: ‘Serengeti nõa morrerá’ é um slogan popular em todo o mundo que tenta descrever o valor ecológido do Serengeti juntamente com a urgência de ressaltar os desafios ameaçadores à sua integridade ecológica. É uma pretenção para um ecossistema saudável que pode oferecer múltiplos benefícios para as gerações presentes e futuras. Nesse artigo, é feita uma revisão dos grandes desafios que contradizem essa pretenção. Eles incluem; crescimento populacional humano, pobreza, conflitos homem-natureza, caça ilegal, perda de habitat e desenvolvimento não sustentável de infra-estrutura e projetos de turismo. Baseado nesses desafios, estratégias múltiplas são propostas tendo em vista a transformação da pretenção - ‘Serengeti nõa morrerá’ – em uma realidade. Essas estratégias incluem: promover fatores que induzem atitudes positivas para a conservação da vida silvestre; adoção de meios de subsistência e as estratégias de produção que sejam ecologicamente amigáveis; fazer do crescimento populacional humano uma agenda de prioridades; assegurar estado de conservação adequado em áreas críticas para a vida silvestre; desencorajar políticas, uso da terra, e projetos susceptíveis a causar impactos negativos em espécies da vida silvestre e habitats; conduzir pesquisa aplicada e assegurar utilização eficaz dos resultados para guiar intervenções de manejo; assegurar participação adequada e ativa das comunidadeslocais no manejo de recursosnaturais; promover as práticas tradicionais e sistemas que realçam o uso sustentável e conservação dos recursos de vida silvestre e; implementar politicas sustentáveis de turismo.

    Français: « Le Serengeti ne doit pas mourir» est un slogan populaire dans le monde qui veut essayer de décrire la valeur écologique du Serengeti soulignant ainsi l'urgence pour faire face aux défis qui menacent son intégrité écologique. L'objectif ou l'ambition est d'avoir un écosystème en bon état qui peut offrir de multiples avantages pour les générations actuelles et futures. Cet article se compose d’une revue sur les majeurs défis en contradiction avec cette ambition. Ces défis comprennent : la croissance démographique, la pauvreté, les conflits entre les humains et la faune sauvage, la chasse illégale, la perte d'habitat et le non-développement durable des infrastructures et des projets touristiques. Sur la base de ces défis, plusieurs stratégies sont proposées en vue de la transformation de cette ambition –‘le Serengeti ne doit pas mourir’- en une réalité. Ces stratégies comprennent: la promotion de facteurs induisant des attitudes positives vers la conservation de la faune; l'adoption de moyens de subsistance et de stratégies de production respectueux de l'environnement; faire de la croissance de la population humaine un programme prioritaire, veiller à l'état de conservation adéquates pour des aires fauniques critiques; les politiques de dissuasion; l'utilisation des terres, et les projets susceptibles de causer des effets néfastes sur les espèces sauvages et les habitants; mener des recherches appliquées et assurer une utilisation efficace des résultats pour orienter une bonne gestion des ressources naturelles; la promotion des pratiques traditionnelles et des systèmes qui améliorent l'utilisation durable et la conservation de la faune sauvage ainsi que la mise en œuvre des politiques de tourisme durable.
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   Tropical Conservation Science is an open-access e-journal that publishes research relating to conservation of tropical forests and other tropical ecosystems.

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