The Serengeti-Mara squeeze—One of the world's most iconic

ecosystems under pressure

The Serengeti-Mara ecosystem is one of the largest and most protected ecosystems on
Earth, spanning 40,000 square kilometres and taking in the Serengeti National Park and
Maasai Mara National Reserve in East Africa. Every year a million wildebeest, half a million
gazelle and 200,000 zebra make the perilous trek from the Serengeti national park in
Tanzania to the Maasai Mara reserve in Kenya in their search for water and grazing land.
Now, an international team of scientists have discovered that increased human activity along
the boundaries is having a detrimental impact on plants, animals, and soils. The findings are
published in the journal ​Science​.
The study looked at 40 years of data, and revealed that some boundary areas have
seen a 400 per cent increase in ​human population over the past decade, while larger wildlife
species in key areas in Kenya have declined by more than 75 per cent.
The study reveals how population growth and an influx of livestock in the buffer zones of the
parks has squeezed the area available for migration of wildebeest, zebra and gazelles,
causing them to spend more time grazing less nutritious grasses than they did in the past.
This has reduced the frequency of natural fires, changing the vegetation and altering grazing
opportunities for other wildlife in the core areas. The study shows that the impacts are
cascading down the food chain, favouring less palatable plants and altering the beneficial
interactions between plants and microorganisms that enable the ecosystem to capture and
utilize essential nutrients. The effects could potentially make the ecosystem less resilient to
future shocks such as drought or further climate change, the scientists warn.
The authors conclude that, even for reasonably well-protected areas like the Serengeti
and Mara, alternative strategies may be needed that sustain the coexistence and livelihood
of local people and wildlife in the landscapes surrounding protected areas. The current
strategy of increasingly hard boundaries may be a major risk to both people and wildlife.
The study was led by the University of Groningen with collaborators at 11 institutions around
the world, including the universities of York, Glasgow and Liverpool.
Dr. Colin Beale, from the University of York's Department of Biology, said: "Protected areas
across East Africa are under pressure from a wide range of threats. Our work shows that
encroachment by people should be considered just as serious a challenge as better known
issues such as poaching and climate change."
Dr. Michiel Veldhuis, lead author of the study from the University of Groningen, said:
"There is an urgent need to rethink how we manage the boundaries of protected areas to be
able to conserve biodiversity. The future of the world's most iconic protected area and their
associated human population may depend on it."
Dr. Simon Mduma, Director of the Tanzanian Government's Wildlife Research Institute
added: "These results come at the right time, as the Tanzanian government is now taking
important steps to address these issues on a national level."
"This paper provides important scientific evidence of the far ranging consequences of the
increased human pressures around the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem, information that is now
urgently needed by policy makers and politicians.