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Measurements of Impact of Tourist Off-road Driving on Grasslands in Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya: A Simulation Approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Augustine E. Onyeanusi
Augustine E. Onyeanusi
Affiliation:
Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, Federal School of Wildlife Management, Private Mail Bag 268, New Bussa, Kwara State, Nigeria.
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Extract

A quantitative measurement of tourist off-road driving was conducted in Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. Off-road driving was simulated in a grassland area of the Reserve that was heavily used by tourists. A mathematical model was employed to estimate the overall impact of tourist off-road driving on the Reserve's grassland communities.

The results of off-road driving simulation experiments showed that damage increased with the number of vehicular passes. Off-road driving was more destructive to the vegetation at the loops than on the straight. The magnitude of the estimated loss due to extrapolation of the findings of the simulation experiments to the whole reserve was very small. The aesthetic quality of the reserve was, however, adversely affected by the off-road driving, as was, doubtless, the privacy of the animals.

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , Winter 1986 , pp. 325 - 329
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1986

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