I'm not too proud to admit I had no idea this was even something I should have been worrying about all this time.
Catching up, the story seems pretty clear cut. The government wanted to build a road (either because one was necessary or, as some argue, because it was a useful, economically hopeful political ploy) through an area that is teeming with amazing life, some of which tends to move through the area in massive herds.
What's weird is that it appears as though the government actually listened to the objections of scientists in deciding to prioritize the ecological well-being of the Serengeti. Or else maybe it was the argument that the damage the highway would do to the tourist industry in Tanzania would outweigh any economic benefits the highway would bring.
Leave a Comment:
Ok, this was more precisely a "new" thing on Friday when Richard tweeted it, but you may recall Friday evening got a little busy so I didn't finish writing it up. Still pretty new.
That's OK. Since I do not tweet I did not know.
Though on some show I had heard about the road awhile back.
Putting a road through the Serengeti makes as much sense as trying to build an underground subway line in Rome. Both require destruction of things that are irreplaceable. The subway is still under construction.
I am so glad to hear that a government is actually thinking before acting.
And why aren't we building roads and bridges, here in the U.S? Are we building all of these roads and bridges overseas for American outsourcing? It seems to be the new American way! You here all these politicians talk about American jobs but; wherever our military goes, American jobs seem to follow. I'm just saying why create jobs here, when you have a cheaper labor pool overseas! Cheaper taxes too.
A lot of the roads and bridges that we are building overseas are the roads and bridges that we destroyed in the first place. If the president you elected, (and I know you did), would have concentrated his efforts on Afghanistan, I believe we might have actually been able to rout the Taliban, get the bin, and help the Afghan people build something we could all be proud of. Instead of wasting enormous effort, people and money starting wars that had no viable end.
Maybe there is another story to this....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSbZ1wxV87c
Hey, how was I supposed to know Obama would be related to both Bush and Cheany!
Does this mean that Richard Engel is finally out of harm's way (ie, northern Africa)?
@Michael, you need to look ahead a few steps in the 'outsourcing' cycle. Outsource, then reshore the jobs when the labor market is so desperate, it will take the jobs back at a fraction of what their labor and skills are worth. Further, you 'reshore' to 'contract' companies, so no benefits to pay, and no responsibility when you screw them. Sweet, eh?
@Michael Williams: Read the article dude. We aren't building these roads and bridges anywhere. This was a project by the government of Tanzania.
Oh sure. Ruin a perfectly good rant by pointing out pesky details found only by actually reading and understanding the article. That's pretty heartless. Oh wait...I see you're into statistics. Never mind! :)
It is good to see more and more foreign governments recognizing the treasures they have in diverse ecosystems, plants and animals, etc. The US could learn some lessons; not enough seem to care.
THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA'S BEST IDEA is a six-episode series on the history of the national parks, directed by Ken Burns
We do get things right sometimes, even if we forget, sometimes. We were the first to save portions of our national heritage for our children. Yosemite Valley was set aside in perpetuity by Abraham Lincoln. It was the first time a federal government did that.
Unfortunately we aren't out of the woods on this one yet. It's been halted like three times so far. It's always being pushed and the Tanzanian people aren't supposed to have to worry about this. The reasons being stated are not the full story. One of the main reasons that this road was proposed in the first place is for the soda ash mine under Lake Natron. The only place that flamingos breed. It would devastate their population if this mine went forward. Plus they're playing with the language of what will or won't be allowed to happen. The group Stop the Serengeti Highway is doing a great job with keeping people up to date.
"The government curiously says that the current road across the same 53 km stretch across wilderness zone will "remain" gravel, though no such gravel road exists. There is a only a small two lane track. They do not exclude commercial use, stating that it will be "mainly for tourism and administrative purposes as it is currently." And clearly, it will be the only connection between upgraded roads being planned on either side of the Serengeti. Whatever route is now there, which is not much, will have to be upgraded to make this connection happen.
One good piece of news – the road will remain under the management of the Park. This will mean gates and restrictions. But for how long? We must remain vigilant and stay together to continue to fight to protect the Serengeti."
We'll see how this goes. For now we're happy but with a watchful eye.
If you're concerned about proposed projects like this, we should all be afraid of the UN's report on "agricultural land reserves". In a report sponsored by them they concluded that there is potentially twice as much agricultural land still available that is currently undeveloped. Nearly all of this "farmland" is in Africa and South America. The only way this can be true is if they are referring to all the flatlands currently occupied by rainforests and areas like the Serengeti. A truly frightening concept.
This is such a huge win.
Tanzanians view it as a victory for the people. I think it is...
Please sign this shared sacrifice petition to President Obama authored by Bernie Sanders and pass it on to all you know. Thank you
http://sanders.senate.gov/petition/?uid=c1fd7f9b-abd8-4e7a-a370-1867881259d8