Serengeti General Management Plan
Serengeti General Management Plan
Serengeti General Management Plan
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Foreword<br />
The <strong>Serengeti</strong> National Park is the oldest, largest and best-known National Park in Tanzania,<br />
and over the years it has been at the forefront of international research into ecosystem dynamics<br />
and the development of conservation management approaches. It is therefore very<br />
fitting that this new <strong>General</strong> <strong>Management</strong> <strong>Plan</strong> for the <strong>Serengeti</strong> is pioneering TANAPA’s revised<br />
strategic planning process.<br />
There are significant management challenges facing the <strong>Serengeti</strong> National Park and its associated<br />
wildlife and the migration that contribute to the Park’s uniqueness and global importance.<br />
These pressures are arising not just internally from escalating visitor use, but also externally<br />
from expanding human settlement and development in the wider ecosystem, which is<br />
impacting on wildlife dispersal areas as well as on the Mara River and other catchments that<br />
are the lifeblood of the <strong>Serengeti</strong>. The actions we take in the next ten years to address these<br />
pressures are certain to be critical to conserving those unique aspects of the <strong>Serengeti</strong> that<br />
we all hold dear, and to our ability to fulfil the pledge of Tanzania’s First President, Mwalimu<br />
Julius Nyerere, to conserve our precious heritage for the benefit of future generations.<br />
To succeed in this endeavour, there is a need for an effective collaboration between all the<br />
stakeholders involved in the management and use of <strong>Serengeti</strong> National Park. In this regard,<br />
we are very pleased that we have been able to forge such collaboration in the production of<br />
this GMP, through the adoption of a multidisciplinary and consultative approach involving the<br />
diverse stakeholders from within the wider ecosystem. This participation has ensured that all<br />
legitimate concerns are adequately addressed and that an optimal balance between protection<br />
and use of the Park has been established. Some may be disappointed that the GMP<br />
does not provide greater scope for tourism development in the years to come, while others<br />
will feel that the plan has been too lenient in this regard, and that more restrictions are<br />
needed to ensure that the <strong>Serengeti</strong>’s globally-renowned exceptional resource values are<br />
safeguarded. This is the nature of protected area planning, and we are confident that this<br />
GMP provides the best possible foundation for achieving the management objectives that are<br />
clearly and succinctly laid out throughout the document.<br />
Maximising plan implementation success has been a priority of this plan and close attention<br />
has been given to making the plan as accessible and relevant to SENAPA managers and<br />
their day-to-day activities as possible, as well as to other stakeholders. This has been<br />
achieved by organising the plan by <strong>Management</strong> Programmes that are directly linked to specific<br />
SENAPA departments. Each Programme has used the “logical framework approach” to<br />
clearly present the Programme objectives and management actions in relation to the management<br />
issues they address. The <strong>Management</strong> is especially pleased by the introduction of<br />
a new 3-year rolling action planning component, which helps to practically ground the 10year<br />
GMP strategic framework. To accommodate this innovation, the GMP has been produced<br />
in a new loose-leaf binding, to enable the 3-year action plans to be rolled forward and<br />
for new planning sections to be added during the lifespan of this plan. The end result we<br />
hope is a dynamic plan that keeps pace with changing circumstances and management priorities,<br />
not a static document gathering dust on a shelf.<br />
We are confident that the implementation of this plan will enhance the conservation and<br />
management of the <strong>Serengeti</strong> National Park within the context of the broader ecosystem, at<br />
the same time maintaining the support of all stakeholders. It is therefore with great pleasure<br />
that we entrust the implementation of this GMP to the Chief Park Warden of <strong>Serengeti</strong> National<br />
Park, his staff, and to all other concerned stakeholders.<br />
G. Bigurube<br />
Director <strong>General</strong>, Tanzania National Parks<br />
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