Serengeti General Management Plan

Serengeti National Park General Management Plan
Park operations strategy
94
Programme purpose: Efficiency and effectiveness of SENAPA park
operations enhanced, such that SENAPA becomes a role model nationally
and internationally
The SENAPA park operations strategy seeks to align the park infrastructure, services and
operations with the programme purpose described above and with relevant national policies.
The aim of this strategy is to provide a general statement of principles and policy to guide the
Park Operations Programme over the next 10 years.
The principal national policy-level instruments that the SENAPA park operations strategy
needs to take into account are: the National Policies for National Parks in Tanzania
(TANAPA, 1994); the Development-Action-Lease Procedures (TANAPA 1995b), the Environmental
Impact Assessment (EIA)/Pragmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) guidelines
(NEMC, 1997), the Wildlife Policy 1998 and the Code of Conduct for rangers. The other instruments
include the Financial Regulations and Procurement Act of 2001.
The Park Operations strategy incorporates a set of principles designed to achieve the programme
purpose and to ensure alignment with national policies and strategies, as described
below:
Protection of resources and use
Serengeti National Park is world famous for its natural resources; however, local communities,
who are traditional hunters, surround the Park and some are involved in the illegal and
unsustainable extraction of these wild resources. In response, SENAPA management will
protect these resources for present and future generations, by supporting non-consumptive
in-park activities, strengthening law enforcement, and influencing responsible hunting practices
in surrounding protected areas and communities.
Following the discovering of gold deposits in the Kilimafedha lavas and sediments, which are
exposed in the hills and streambeds of north-central Serengeti, the prospect of the commercial
extraction of mineral resources from the Serengeti is a feasible threat to SENAPA. The
Mining Act (No.5 of 1998) and TANAPA policy does not allow mining in national parks except
with the written consent of the authority having control over the Park. In line with the recommendations
of the Committee on Mining in Protected Areas (established by TANAPA) and
the conservation strategy of the Wildlife Policy, permission will not be granted for exploration
or mining within the Serengeti for the duration of this GMP.
Visitor safety in the Park
The funding needed to manage the Park relies on the revenue generated by the thousands
of tourists that annually visit SENAPA to experience the Park’s resources and landscapes.
SENAPA management appreciates the importance of visitors and recognises that if their
safety is not assured, visitor numbers and the revenue needed to maintain the Park would
fall. Therefore, ensuring the security for visitors in the Park, whether they are in a lodge, hotel,
campsite or on a game drive, is a high priority to SENAPA management in their day-today
operations.