Kenyan activist tries to block new Ritz-Carlton safari lodge opening
Dapash, who is a PhD candidate in sustainability education at Prescott College in the US and has run unsuccessfully for parliament several times, said the lodge sits on a wildebeest crossing point well-known to locals.
Joseph Ogutu, a Kenyan researcher at the University of Hohenheim in Germany who has studied wildlife migration in Maasai Mara, said the new construction would deal a further blow to fauna in the reserve. Many species' populations in the reserve have shrunk by more than 80% since the 1970s, according to Kenyan government data.
'It is highly ill-advised to build a lodge on one of the most critical paths of the great migration,' he said.
Grant Hopcraft, an ecologist at the University of Glasgow, said the project would 'likely have large and long-term ecological implications for the migration'. Hopcraft and Ogutu are not party to the lawsuit.
Lazizi's Patel said it was the county government that proposed the site to him. He questioned why Dapash had only started raising objections to the project in recent weeks.
'The project has been ongoing for a year,' he told Reuters.
'We pushed it so hard to avoid any disruption and damage to the environment.'
Dapash said he only learnt of the project in May because it is far from the main population centre.
The lawsuit questions whether a required environmental impact assessment was conducted.
Under Kenyan law, the national environment management authority must publish a summary of the assessment in the official gazette indicating where it may be inspected.
Reuters could not find any such notice in the official gazette. Patel said he could not share the assessment for confidentiality reasons and referred Reuters to the national environment management authority. The authority did not respond to requests for comment.
The lawsuit also said the project violated a management plan for Maasai Mara adopted by the Narok County government in February 2023 which calls for 'no new tourism accommodation developments' before 2032.
Patel disputed this, saying the project was built at an 'existing' site that had been in use for many years. He did not say how it had been used. Narok County did not respond to requests for comment.
Dapash said the public needed answers.
'The preservation of wildlife migration for us is a treasure that we cannot afford to lose. We need to see due diligence was done.'
Reuters
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Kenyan activist tries to block new Ritz-Carlton safari lodge opening
Hotel staff declined to let Reuters reporters enter the property. Dapash, who is a PhD candidate in sustainability education at Prescott College in the US and has run unsuccessfully for parliament several times, said the lodge sits on a wildebeest crossing point well-known to locals. Joseph Ogutu, a Kenyan researcher at the University of Hohenheim in Germany who has studied wildlife migration in Maasai Mara, said the new construction would deal a further blow to fauna in the reserve. Many species' populations in the reserve have shrunk by more than 80% since the 1970s, according to Kenyan government data. 'It is highly ill-advised to build a lodge on one of the most critical paths of the great migration,' he said. Grant Hopcraft, an ecologist at the University of Glasgow, said the project would 'likely have large and long-term ecological implications for the migration'. Hopcraft and Ogutu are not party to the lawsuit. Lazizi's Patel said it was the county government that proposed the site to him. He questioned why Dapash had only started raising objections to the project in recent weeks. 'The project has been ongoing for a year,' he told Reuters. 'We pushed it so hard to avoid any disruption and damage to the environment.' Dapash said he only learnt of the project in May because it is far from the main population centre. The lawsuit questions whether a required environmental impact assessment was conducted. Under Kenyan law, the national environment management authority must publish a summary of the assessment in the official gazette indicating where it may be inspected. Reuters could not find any such notice in the official gazette. Patel said he could not share the assessment for confidentiality reasons and referred Reuters to the national environment management authority. The authority did not respond to requests for comment. The lawsuit also said the project violated a management plan for Maasai Mara adopted by the Narok County government in February 2023 which calls for 'no new tourism accommodation developments' before 2032. Patel disputed this, saying the project was built at an 'existing' site that had been in use for many years. He did not say how it had been used. Narok County did not respond to requests for comment. Dapash said the public needed answers. 'The preservation of wildlife migration for us is a treasure that we cannot afford to lose. We need to see due diligence was done.' Reuters
