– Shady land deals –
“The more we reduce the park, the more the animals’ territory shrinks,” said Ali Tanvir, president of the Friends of Nairobi National Park group.
Supporters say the projects are crucial to decongest the capital of four million people, but the road and rail could slice through the reserve.
“Kenya is a developing country, we need roads, railway lines, bridges,” said MP Francis Nyenze.
“But it is unfortunate that most of the major infrastructure projects in Kenya will swallow parts of the park.”
Nairobi prides itself on hosting the regional headquarters of multinational companies, and of being the powerhouse driving the economy east Africa.
But it is crippled by traffic jams, with vehicles coming from the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa to the rest of Kenya – as well as to landlocked Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan – all travelling through Kenya’s capital.
Conservationists do not oppose the need for new transport links, but question how those plans are being implemented.
Shadowy deals have seen land sold and houses sprout up at times apparently unchecked. Land in Kenya is both increasingly expensive and a highly political issue.
“How have people been able to acquire titles to the land?” Nyenze asked.
Any development encroaching on nationally protected reserve must be approved by Parliament, said Nigel Hunter, from the East African Wildlife Society.
Although fenced in on the city side, the park is open-sided elsewhere else to allow the annual wildlife migration in search of grazing.
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