New National Park for Tanzania
02 August 2019
This week, it was announced that Tanzania would begin the process of establishing Nyerere National Park in Selous Game Reserve.
Tanzania’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism plan to split the Selous Game Reserve into two wildlife sanctuaries with
Adolf Mkenda, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, confirming the start of the project.
The re-demarcation process of the new national park will be done in a scientific manner to ensure there is no impact on the reserve’s wildlife population.
Mkenda announced that more than half of existing Selous Game Reserve would be demarcated as the new national park – named in honour of the country’s founding president Julius Nyerere. The remaining area is set to be used as a hunting reserve.
This announcement comes shortly after the inauguration of the Rufiji hydropower project in the Selous Game Reserve.
While the government is excited about this new projects, there are arguments from environmentalists, UNESCO and the International Union of Conservation of Nature, who are against splitting up the Selous Game Reserve owing to its UNESCO heritage site status.
Read more about it here:
http://www.tourismupdate.co.za/article/193843/Tanzania-to-split-Selous-Game-Reserve-and-establish-new-national-park
