October 6, 2018 by Merritt Clifton

Marginal roles

NAIROBI, Kenya––Looming over Kenya like the Standard Gauge Railway trestle at the northern edge of Nairobi National Park, or the marabou storks overlooking the dense traffic on the highway into Nairobi from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, is the question of how $10 billion in recent Chinese investment in railway, road and airport infrastructure will transform wildlife tourism. Small-holding farmers and pastoralists ––people who live by herding––have for decades breathed the dust from speeding tourist vans and jeeps;  chased animals straying out of the national parks from their crops and huts;  mostly kept their own sheep,  goats,  and cattle outside of the parks,  despite notorious encroachments during drought years;  lost animals to predators from the parks;  and yet have been relegated,  mostly by lack of education and professional training,  to increasingly marginal roles in tourism as dancers,  bead-crafters,  woodcarvers,  and roadside vendors.

The Africa Network for Animal Welfare (ANAW) Director of Programs, weighs in the discussion.

For more details click onto the link below:

https://www.animals24-7.org/2018/10/06/10-billion-from-china-buys-big-changes-in-kenya-wildlife-tourism/