• The Government of Tanzania has made a decision to build a highway across the Serengeti National Park, linking the north-eastern and northern regions - Arusha of north-eastern Tanzania and Mara, and Mwanza regions located in northern Tanzania
• National, regional, and international environmental interests have expressed concern over this decision
• The decision, if implemented, would according to the criticism, destroy the national park and the surrounding protected areas including the Loliondo Game Controlled Areas, which are the hub of the Serengeti Ecosystem and crucial dispersal zones for the migrating herds
• The Western Serengeti is heavily populated. The north-western section of the national park is a critical area for wildebeest, which use it as a refuge for much of the year
• A highway will add even more human population and development. Areas to the east of the Serengeti will be radically transformed as people migrate there and change land use from cattle grazing to farming
• These areas are crucial dispersal zones for the migrating herds. One of the more serious criticisms of the plan is the poor quality of EIA that was used in the decision process
• The proposed road will be constructed in two sections;
• The Eastern stretch of 214 km tarmac road from Mto Wa Mbu to Loliondo
• The Western stretch 117 km tarmac road from Makutano-Natta- Mugumu
• Mugumu – SNP 12 km and Loliondo – SNP 57.6 km will not be tarmaced
• The 53 km stretch traversing SNP will remain gravel and managed by TANAPA mainly for administrative and tourism purposes

This study is a capacity building project under ‘Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services’ (IPBES) in the Serengeti Ecosystem in Northern Tanzania. The project will study any impacts on the road by collecting data before, during and after the road construction. It focuses on different thematic Areas:

• Zoology (large mammals, birds, small mammals, reptiles, insects),
• Botany (Vegetation),
• Human and Animal Health (Communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases, zoonotic diseases, livestock
• and wildlife diseases),
• Environmental Science (Environment and water quality and quantity (hydrology and water quality, eco-hydrology, and soil science)
• Socio-Ecology (Human-wildlife interactions, natural resources management, livestock-wildlife interaction, tourism, socio-economics and livelihoods).

Important publications Go to ISI>://000281824900018

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• Case;
• The Government of Tanzania has made a decision to build a highway across the Serengeti National Park, linking the north-eastern and northern regions - Arusha of north-eastern Tanzania and Mara, and Mwanza regions located in northern Tanzania
• National, regional, and international environmental interests have expressed concern over this decision
• The decision, if implemented, would according to the criticism, destroy the national park and the surrounding protected areas including the Loliondo Game Controlled Areas, which are the hub of the Serengeti Ecosystem and crucial dispersal zones for the migrating herds
• The Western Serengeti is heavily populated. The north-western section of the national park is a critical area for wildebeest, which use it as a refuge for much of the year
• A highway will add even more human population and development. Areas to the east of the Serengeti will be radically transformed as people migrate there and change land use from cattle grazing to farming
• These areas are crucial dispersal zones for the migrating herds. One of the more serious criticisms of the plan is the poor quality of EIA that was used in the decision process
• The proposed road will be constructed in two sections;
• The Eastern stretch of 214 km tarmac road from Mto Wa Mbu to Loliondo
• The Western stretch 117 km tarmac road from Makutano-Natta- Mugumu
• Mugumu – SNP 12 km and Loliondo – SNP 57.6 km will not be tarmac
• The 53 km stretch traversing SNP will remain gravel and managed by TANAPA mainly for administrative and tourism purposes

Per Reviewed Publications

Engaresero, Loliondo. Photo: Per Harald Olsen/NTNU