EVICTION WITHOUT NOTICE.
“Nairobi National Park full-day wildlife adventure getaway weekend at Ksh 2000 per person sharing vehicle 4x4 Landcruiser, maximum 8pax” The poster read. At a time where cessations of movement and lockdowns have been enacted in most places in the world, this seems like a deal. A good deal. Nairobi is known for a number of things, among them the National Park within the city. This, however, might change as over the years there has been significant land grabbing of the park. Nairobi national park was founded in 1946 by British settlers and is the oldest one in Kenya. It attracts 120,000 visitors a year, eager to see four of the big five: lions, leopards, rhinoceroses and buffalos. In all the park boasts 80 species of mammal — including 39 lions and 90 rhinos — 450 bird species, 40 different amphibians and reptiles and 500 tree species.
Situated only 7km from Nairobi’s central business district, this 117 km² National Park marks the northern limit of seasonal wildlife migration from some 2000 km² of semi-arid savannah, known as the Athi-Kapiti plains. Along the NNP’s northern and eastern boundaries, an electric fence separates the urban and industrial growth of an eponymous capital city from the formally protected area within. To its south, the park remains unfenced, to allow free movement of wildlife as part of this broader ecosystem: In dry months (June to November), herbivores take refuge within the park boundaries. Conversely, the rainy season marks their return to the plains, where food is again plentiful and predators are more easily avoided. However, as Nairobi continues to grow, this migration is becoming increasingly difficult for the animals to sustain.
Government projects, illegitimate land grabbing and the increase in human population have been the main threats to the National Park. With little open space left in Nairobi’s urban fabric, the land around (and sometimes within) the NNP is increasingly coveted for uses other than conservation. Proposals for highways and dams have attempted to make use of the park’s territory, and in January 2011, an oil pipeline was constructed inside the park’s fence. Animal species in the park continue to decline because of this encroachment so much that today, the park only houses the big four, elephants cannot be found here because there's no more room.
“We don’t have any elephants, because the park is too small with insufficient woodland,” `Hudson Okum, a guide working for the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS),
The human settlement around the park is another major problem. Towns like Kitengela and Ongata-Rongai have cropped up in recent years fencing in the park further. This has increased human-wildlife conflict and the Maasai pastoralists who once roamed the park freely as they coexisted with the animals cannot do that anymore. Waste carried by wind and some dropped by visitors is found polluting the park from time to time. This according to Paula Kahumbu is the effect human settlement has on the park.
Government projects like the 30km Southern bypass which aimed to decongest the city, the new expressway which will provide a connection from route A109 Nairobi to Mombasa route and A104 Nairobi is going to take up a huge part of the park. The expressway which has been termed by experts as unnecessary is not only gonging to cost the country close to 50 billion but also a huge slice of the Nairobi National park.
The Nairobi National Park is under siege and sad thing is that no one cares about it.