Information was received from Arusha that Tanzania’s President Jakaya
Kikwete during a visit earlier this week to the town of Karatu, issued a
directive that no more new lodges would be permitted inside the
Ngorongoro Conservation Area and that any new developments would have to
take place outside the UNESCO World Heritage Site. President Kikwete
reportedly made reference to the existence of some 50 accommodation
units already in place and suggested that new investors should look at
places like Karatu to put up hotels or lodges within or outside the
township.
Karatu is located at the foot of Ngorongoro, not too far from the
park entrance gate, and already has several tourist accommodation units
located on farms outside the township like the longtime favorite Gibbs
Farm, the Karatu Simba Lodge, the Umali Lodge, the Bougainvillea Lodge
and several others, which are used by safari companies to book their
clients at lower rates but often equal standards compared to the lodges
which sit on the rim of the crater and are subject to stiff concession
and royalty payments.
Nothing, however, was said about the increase in human population,
and their livestock, inside the NCA which has over the past several
decades risen substantially, posing regular challenges to the management
of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority which is legally in
charge of the park. This, according to several tourism stakeholders
sampled, poses an arguably greater long term risk to the sustainability
of the Ngorongoro Crater area than the steadily rising number of
tourists, which, as it was also duly acknowledged will at a certain
point need regulating to perhaps put a cap on daily entries at some
stage in the future.
Already have a rise in tourist visitor numbers resulted in logistical
changes to facilitate the tours into the crater itself, with full day
drives and the classic picnics taken on the crater floor now a thing of
the past as only half day tours are possible in order to meet the demand
by the tourism industry.
While making the announcement during his visit to Karatu, President
Kikwete also told his audience that the airstrip in Manyara would be
extended to facilitate larger planes to land there. For more information
about the NCA visit their website by clicking on
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