I’m sure Deloitte will exist in another hundred years, but will the Nairobi National Park as we know it, be around in a hundred years?
This has been debated before but it sure to come up again and again as the city rapidly expands into all open land to the South and East.
And with the three-hour traffic jams (more) that some city residents experience daily, each way on roads like Thika Road and Mombasa Road, there is appetite for some improvement.
Decision-makers may find it easier to hive off land than to radically change other aspects of rapid urbanizations such as taxation (increase tax on cars to reduce their numbers), develop a mass public transport system, or infrastructure (more by-pass roads) which in any case would still have to run through the park.
So it’s likely that in a few years you can expect moves to reduce / encroach on the parks 117 sq km to create more residential and commercial space close to the city.
And residents lulled by the offer of more land, easier access to towns, offices and new homes may support the absorption of some park space by the city of Nairobi.
Though the park has stood the test of time and remains largely intact to past encroachment efforts, the animal numbers have diminished as developments to the South have cut off migration paths. Stories of lions or leopards being seen in the Langata area at night have all but disappeared. The Kenya Wildlife Service has proven adept at relocating animals including elephants and rhinos to other parks in the country and would be called upon to do the same here.
The park has few forested areas so it’s easy to see quite far in the park. But at night during the Deloitte function, you could see lights in the distance all around the park, marking the edge of human activity bursting to enter the park.
Good luck to Nairobi National Park over the next 100 years!
Wow; i didnt know that Deloitte had been around for 100 years.I thought it was 50-60.I know Barclays has been around for longer.
Nairobi Nat. park has too much human encroachment i think it will survive in a zoo format but not park.
By the way some Nairobians say it should be changed into building space.
There are many people who wish to have the park sold out to developers. My opinion is that it needs to be fenced with an electric fence like the Aberdares and the migratory routes of animals re-opened so that the human – animal conflict is reduced. Such a park calls for conservation since Nairobi is the only city in the world which has a park as its backyard. It can also be modeled like the park in New York City. It will take care of the pollution that is abound in the city.
I wasnt aware that Delloite had been here for that long!
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pesa tu: It was not always Deloitte, but the original partnership started in 1907 (and still has his great grandson at Deloitte now)
mmnjug: But fencing will not stop the need for land and migratrory routes have been cleared.
It is easy to justify immediate needs but we need to keep NNP for future generations…
Of course, there are better sustainable ways to improve the traffic in Nbi… how about “repossessing” grabbed land?
Alternate roads need to be built while existing roads can be upgraded…
The “repairs” of roads within Nairobi will do more to relieve traffic congestion than hiving off NNP.