Most of the special campsites on the Narok side of
the MMNR are presently utilised on an exclusive basis
by
individual mobile camping operators. This
arrangement is unlike the special campsite management system
in
place in most other Kenyan protected areas, where
the campsites are normally managed through a
centralised
booking system, and as such are available to all
campsite users on a first come-first served
basis.
The existing exclusive campsite arrangement in
MMNR-CCN is the result of historical practices
whereby
campsites have been allocated to individual
beneficiaries or groups of beneficiaries from the local
community,
who collect the campsite fees from these sites
instead of the CCN. These arrangements have evolved
over
many years ostensibly as a way of distributing the
economic benefits of the Reserve to community
members,
although over time this in many cases has become a
means of rewarding favoured individuals in the
community,
to the detriment of the wider
community.
While outside the immediate scope of this
management plan, these beneficiary arrangements have the
potential
to undermine the plan at several levels: they
significantly impact on the revenues generated by the
Reserve
that are available for Reserve management, they
encourage the misuse of special campsites for
other
types of tourism accommodation (such as the
seasonal camps that have sprung up on several special
campsites
in recent years), and they are a barrier to the
effective and efficient management of the special
campsites.
Most significantly, because a number of special
campsites are being closed under this management plan
for
environmental or tourism product reasons29 (see
Zonation & Visitor Use Scheme), under the existing
beneficiary
arrangements a situation will develop where some
beneficiaries will loose all their benefits, while
others
will potentially receive greatly increased
benefits because of the higher special campsite fees to be
introduced
through the plan (see Pricing & Revenues
chapter).
The aspect relating to the management of special
campsites which is of immediate relevance to this plan
is,
however, the need to transition from the existing
exclusive use arrangements to a centralised booking
system
as used in other Kenyan PAs. This approach
optimises the revenues of individual campsites while at the
same
time allowing for ecological recovery of
individual sites as necessary. In this regard, a pilot centralised
booking
system has been in operation for seven MMNR-CCN
campsites for a number of years, under an
agreement
between CCN and Campfire Conservation Ltd.
Similarly, the special campsites on the Trans
Mara
side of the Reserve are centrally managed and
booked through the Mara Conservancy, with site
availability
data being shown on the Earthview website. Based
on the experience with the Campfire prototype,
MMNR
special campsite users have strongly advocated
replacing the existing exclusive campsite arrangement in
the
Narok section of the MMNR with a new centralised
campsite management scheme, to be operated by
an
independent campsite management agency contracted
by the CCN to provide these management
services.
Some of the key features of the new campsite
management scheme are as follows:
u All special campsite
bookings will be made in advance on a first-come, first-served
basis through the
campsite agency’s office in Nairobi, on
payment of an agreed booking deposit on a per night basis.
Both
hard copy and electronic booking charts will be
established, with eventual transition to an
Internet-based
booking system.
u The campsite agency will be
responsible for collection of all special campsite fees and their
onward
transmission to the CCN (less the agreed
management commission) on a monthly basis,
accompanied
by detailed occupancy returns.
u The campsite agency will be
responsible for maintaining full and proper records of accounts for
the duration
of the contract, which will be made available to
CCN on request.
u The campsite agency will
establish a roster of mobile camp operators that are members of the
campsite
management scheme, and entitled to book MMNR-CCN
special campsites. A key requirement of this
roster will be the agreement of the operator to
abide by the special campsite users’ Code of Conduct
(see
overpage) as well as the special campsite use
prescriptions contained in this plan’s Zonation &
Visitor
Use Scheme. In addition, all operators using sites
must be registered with an appropriate industry
body
(e.g. the Kenya Association of Tour
Operators).
u The campsite agency will
establish a distinct “footprint” for each
special campsite layout that can be provided
to all users of the site and discretely demarcated
on the ground as appropriate, and will also be
responsible
for ensuring that all site users adhere to this
footprint
u The campsite agency will be
responsible for carrying out periodic inspections of all special
campsites under
their management, both to check for violations of
the special campsite Code of Conduct as well as
for signs of environmental degradation because of
campsite overuse. In such instances, the
campsite
agency will liaise with the MMNR-CCN Senior Warden
and MMNR ecologist to determine when such
campsites should be closed to allow habitat
recover, and for how long.
u The campsite agency will be
responsible for taking any necessary disciplinary action with its
users in the
case of repeated violations of the Code of
Conduct, including temporarily or permanent removal
from
the roster of approved mobile camp
operators.
u It is anticipated that
self-drive campers will from time to time wish to use MMNR-CCN
special campsites.
These independent users will, depending on
availability, also be given the opportunity to book
sites
through the campsite agency, provided that they
also agree to adhere to the special campsite Code
of
Conduct.
Because of the track record that Campfire
Conservation Ltd (CCL) have already established in the
management
of seven of the MMNR-CCN campsites, and for
reasons of continuity, this management action
proposes
that CCL be given responsibility for the initial
development of the new campsite management
scheme,
on an initial 3-year management agreement with
Narok County Council, and subject to specific terms
and
conditions and a handling fee to be agreed between
CCL and CCN. After the initial three-year period, it
is
proposed that the contract to manage the CCN
special campsites be put out to tender, with CCL
being
permitted to tender to continue managing the
scheme should they so wish.
Because the Mara Conservancy already has a
centralised booking system established for the smaller
number
of special campsites in the Trans Mara section of
the Reserve, it is proposed that the MMNR-CCN
special
campsite scheme be initially established on a
standalone basis. A decision can however be taken at a
later
stage concerning the desirability of merging the
two separate campsite management schemes into a
single
MMNR-wide scheme, and this can perhaps best be
done after the proposed initial three-year contract
with
CCL has been completed. However, all special
campsites in the MMNR will be subject to the special
campsite
Code of Conduct.
