Based on these considerations, this Zonation and
Visitor Use Scheme puts in place a framework for the gradual
development of a new premium tourism product in the Mara Reserve,
while at the same time addressing the need to accommodate the
existing and well-established budget tourism model. The principal
mechanism used to achieve this is the promotion of a “dual
tourism model” featuring both the premium and budget tourism
niches. This is achieved through the spatial separation of the two
discrete tourism products in the Reserve, with the budget tourism
product being catered for in what is termed the “High Use
Zone”, and the premium tourism product being catered for in
the “Low Use Zone”. One further category of zone is
included in the scheme, which is the “Mara River Ecological
Zone”, established primarily on ecological grounds and
available to both premium and budget tourists. Each of these zones
is established on both the Trans Mara and Narok sides of the
Reserve.
In designing the scheme, the zones have been kept
as simple as possible, and wherever possible zone boundaries have
been aligned with roads or rivers to aid interpretation on the
ground. While separate zone areas have been defined for both the
CCTM and CCN sections of the Reserve, all prescriptions for each
zone type are standard throughout the entire
Reserve.
The High Use Zone covers those
areas that are presently used by the majority of Reserve visitors.
This zone will be the focus of management efforts to enhance the
budget tourism product that the MMNR has traditionally offered, and
will aim to provide a high quality, proactively managed, wildlife
viewing experience for visitors.
The High Use Zone (HUZ) will be the powerhouse
for the Reserve’s traditional budget tourism product, and
incorporates the areas in the MMNR that are already used by the
majority of budget visitors to the area. The zone will be the
primary focus of proactive management efforts to enhance the
current visitor experience in the MMNR, and to ensure that the
environmental impacts of visitation on the MMNR’s wildlife
and habitats are kept to a minimum. In addition to the zonal
prescriptions set out below, this will be achieved through a number
of management approaches including the further development of the
road and track network in these zones, which will reduce congestion
as well as the impetus for off-road driving (see Park Operations
Programme Action 4.4 and Tourism Management Programme Action 1.4),
and enhanced visitor management at key points and attractions where
visitors currently concentrate. In addition, new tourism
attractions including interpretation points and stopping points
will be established to enhance and diversify the visitor
experience, and to encourage visitors to spend more time out of
their vehicles and off the roads, thereby easing traffic
congestion.
Conversely, the Low Use
Zone covers those areas that have in the past been
characterised by low visitation, and it is in these areas that the
new premium tourism product, with lower visitor densities and
providing a sense of exploration and solitude, will be developed
(in conjunction with the Tourism
The Low Use Zone (LUZ) will be the powerhouse
for the Reserve’s new premium, high value tourism product,
and incorporates those parts of the Reserve that have not
traditionally been used by large numbers of visitors. Visitor use
of the LUZ will focus on providing a relatively low density of
visitors with a top quality, premium wildlife viewing experience,
characterised by a sense of exploration, adventure and wilderness.
Enhancement of the LUZ tourism product will be achieved through a
combination of approaches, including the development of a limited
number of small, highend ecolodges and ecocamps, premium fee
structures, and through the prescriptions limiting entry to this
zone to only four-wheel drive vehicles (discussed below). These
measures will ensure that the revenues generated by the LUZ are
significantly enhanced, while ensuring that environmental impacts
are minimised. Provision of a premium tourism product in this zone
will also strengthen the image of the MMNR as a brand leader for
both the Greater Mara Ecosystem, and Kenya’s wider protected
area network.
In contrast, the Mara River Ecological
Zone, which is a 1.5km strip on either side of the Mara River
for its entire length in the Reserve, is established primarily to
provide the necessary degree of protection to this zone’s
sensitive riverine forests, rhino breeding areas, wildebeest
crossing points, and the Mara River itself, and is the only zone
with a primary ecological protection function. The specific area,
boundaries, and activity and accommodation prescriptions for each
zone are elaborated in more detail later in this Zonation
Scheme.
The Mara River Ecological Zone (MRZ) has been
established to protect the riverine forests, rhino breeding areas
and wildebeest crossing points along the Mara River, and to reduce
the impact of tourism facilities on this critical area. In order to
mitigate environmental impacts and to secure the role of the MRZ as
the linchpin of the Reserve’s tourism product, visitor use in
the MRZ will be intensively managed. This includes the enforcement
of no off-road driving, and the establishment of temporary viewing
areas for wildebeest crossing areas. Access to specific points
along the Mara River will be from eastwest tracks originating from
a defined wildlife-viewing track running north-south along the
zone’s boundary (to be developed as necessary, see PA
Operations Programme Action 4.4). The zone may be used by both 4WD
and 2WD vehicles, and as such the MRZ will be accessible to both
premium and budget visitors to the MMNR.
Besides setting out a framework for the spatial
management of the Reserve, the Zonation Scheme also establishes
the MMNR’s Limits of Acceptable Use (LAU)
for visitor accommodation in the various zones, based on an
understanding of current patterns of visitor use and the
Reserve’s visitor carrying capacity. Based on these LAU, the
scheme then provides detailed zone-by-zone descriptions of the MMNR
visitor accommodation and activity prescriptions. Lastly, the
scheme ends with detailed guidelines for the types of
visitor accommodation facilities and
for sightseeing ballooning permitted in the
MMNR.
Ballooning
Sightseeing ballooning is a popular addition to
many MMNR visitors’ itineraries and, by providing an
opportunity that is not widely available elsewhere in Kenya,
diversifies the tourism product on offer in the
Reserve.
However, ballooning has a high visual impact on
the experience of other visitors using the Reserve, and if not
carefully regulated, can seriously undermine the sense of
wilderness that most visitors to the area expect. Balloons may also
disturb wildlife, and balloon collection vehicles can also cause
significant environmental damage when they are forced to drive off
road - especially during wet weather.
In order to prevent “undue habitat
destruction, animal harassment and the deterioration of the
Reserve’s aesthetic values”, the previous MMNR
Management Plan stipulated that “a maximum of five
balloons be allowed in the air on any one day” over the
MMNR, and that these be permitted to take off from three specific
staging points. However, as illustrated in Figure 6 below, there
are now five take-off points in or next to the MMNR (Adventures
Aloft takes off at a site near Fig Tree Camp just outside the
Reserve at Talk). This means that up to 15 balloons can now
be in the air at any one time over the MMNR, representing a density
of 1 balloon for every 100 square kilometres. In contrast, in the
much larger Serengeti National Park, there is one balloon safari
operator that operates from two take-off points, and that flies a
maximum of four balloons per day over the park. This represents a
density of 1 balloon for every 3,700 square kilometres,
i.e. balloons in the MMNR are 37 times denser than they are
in the neighbouring Serengeti.
