Maasai Mara Region: Kenya Flashcards
where is the Maasai mara region located?
Southern Kenya which covers 150,000 hectares of land
what two regions is the protected area composed of?
Mara triangle west of the Mara river, and the newer portion to the east of the river.
what type of bush was the area rich in? What was this brush known for?
acacia brushes - housed the tsetse fly known to carry the ‘sleeping sickness’ disease (African trypanosomiasis)
How did the government deal with the harmful disease
government workers and indigenous communities cleared acacia over the last century thru grazing/fire - harming the ecosystem of the Maasai Mara region
what groups of people originally come from the Maasai region?
Maasai tribes - known to live semi-nomadic lifestyles, whereby they would leave every few years to find new pastureland for their cattle
what where the groups of huts called that would surround livestock to prevent animal predation and cattle theft?
bomas
What effect did colonialism have on the region?
the english divided areas among different Maasai clans = group ranches (limiting nomadism)
What happen to the Maasai Mara region after the second world war?
Became a game reserve controlled by Narok county council (NCC)
Game reserve changed into national reserve, this meant…
major grazing areas were removed from the reserve and attaching to existing group ranches. This action reduced overall area of MMNR and allowed tribes to continue using areas for cattle grazing
How did they use the reserve?
- grazed area for livestock
- cultivation
- rent land to outsiders
- eco tourism
why are the people of Maasai pissed off by the wildlife?
- large elephants trample crops
- animals intentionally eat crops
= farmers may fence of lands which limit wildlife and biodiversity range - wild beast outcompete cattle for grass and introduce diseases to the domesticated animal population
why are the animals pissed off by the people
- tourism = litter, noise pollution
- increase pop. = interferes with wildlife migration patterns + less space
- repeated use of hiking trails=soil erosion
Problems between tourism and the maasai tribes
the tribes have often not benefitted from the revenue (self interest policy)
how did they limit self interest policies
Trans-Mara county council found a solution by granting management control to non profit Mara conservancy since 2000. The conservancy aims to reduce embezzlement by making revenue flows more transparent. It has also shifted science-based management of Mara triangle, with support from ecological researchers to develop 10 year ecological management plan.
why is fencing off land not very common in the tribal communities?
tourism depends on open land migration, so managers pay Maasai people to continue grazing their land rather than fencing it off for cultivation. (so both parties gain)
