Serengeti General Management Plan

Serengeti National Park General Management Plan
provides the community with significant income from the annual lease as well as employment
opportunities for its members. Another area of direct economic benefit comes from the
SENAPA Revenue Sharing Programme, which provides a percentage of Park fees through
the Support to Community Initiated Projects (SCIP), described below.
Social services from community outreach
In line with TANAPA’s Support for Community Initiated Projects (SCIP), the communities adjacent
to the Park are given technical, material and financial assistance to implement community
based development projects, such as the construction of school, health and water facilities
and feeder roads to villages. The total value of the SCIP projects contributed to by the
Park since the start of the scheme in 1992 is about US$ 1,082,000. The SENAPA Community
Outreach Department also has a very strong and active conservation education programme,
which encourages and supports conservation clubs in over 70 primary schools surrounding
the Park. In particular, SENAPA provides educational materials for students including
maps, posters and activity books and holds regular teacher training workshops to increase
teachers’ ability to convey conservation ideas to their students.
Figure B.3: Local school children visiting the Seronera Visitors Centre
Water catchment
The Park is drained by the Mbalageti, Grumeti and Mara Rivers all flowing westwards to
Lake Victoria. The Mbalageti River drains 2,680 km 2 of the southern open, treeless grasslands,
whilst the Grumeti River drains much of the central and northern hills with a catchment
area of 1,100 km 2 ; nearly all of which are in the Park. The Mara River drains a large area in
Kenya (10,300 km 2 ), and flows through the Park draining only the far north region of the Serengeti.
The Park, alongside the Maswa Game Reserve, also protects the watersheds of
Simiyu and Duma Rivers. Together these watersheds constitute an important water supply
for large numbers of people living to the west of the Park, which is critical to the success of
their main economic activities of agriculture and livestock keeping. It is estimated that the
Mara River alone supports the annual production of Tshs 17 billion worth of crops in Tarime,
Musoma Rural and Serengeti Districts (Gereta et al. 2003).
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