Proposed Road in Serengeti Threatens Park Ecosystem, Scientists Warn

Scientists say a planned two-lane road that would bisect Serengeti National Park in Tanzania will interrupt the annual migration of wildebeest, a disruption that could trigger a domino effect leading to the collapse of the region’s diverse ecosystem. The proposed 30-mile road — designed to link Tanzania to Uganda, Lake Victoria, and beyond — would interrupt the migration of 1.3 million wildebeest, a cornerstone species in the ecosystem that is the main source of food for larger predator species, according to an editorial in the journal Nature authored by more than 25 scientists and conservationists. About 500,000 wildebeest calves are born annually on the Serengeti plains, where they consume about half of the rapidly growing grasses, removing fuel for forest fires that would otherwise destroy trees in the park. Also, the herd produces about 500 truckloads of dung and 125 road tankers of urine, recycling the ecosystem’s nutrients. “Disrupting their annual migration cycle would dramatically alter this ecosystem,” according to the editorial. The authors say moving the road south of the Ngorognoro Conservation Area would minimize environmental and economic damage and meet development needs.