More of the same? The “will” to balance growth while protecting flora and fauna rests with democratic structures and mediating structures. Everything is a delicate balance between self-interest and social justice, or so it seems to me. Oligarchies and powerful people rule unless others, the people who have less power, organize for the common good. Who speaks for the animals in Nairobi National Park? Who complains about executive excess?
Governments have to act, to prioritize habitat and conservation. Elephants have taken a real beating.
The newest threat in Kenya is a planned railway intended to cut through the middle of Nairobi National Park, the only park in the world that shares a boundary with an urban center, a center as large as the biggest city in East Africa. Political leadership will announce the intent to proceed with the railway across the Park’s boundary, which would literally cut it in two. The announcement is set for September 26, 2016. If the a railway is constructed on the proposed site it will
change Nairobi National Park forever. Opposition to the proposed railway is growing.
Land grabs and money deals continue, but observers in the United States ought to be careful not to throw stones. There are examples of unfettered self-interest in the U.S. too. We learn that Bill Clinton as honorary chancellor of Laureate International Universities earned $17.6 million over a period of five years until 2015 (Washington Post Sept 5, 2016, by Rosalind S. Helderman and Michelle Ye Hee Lee, in the Politics section). These earnings seem a tad bit excessive, even for a private school. The West is critical of excessive use of power and influence yet there are examples of excesses everywhere.
For a country like Kenya, where raw earth materials and transportation to the coast is a priority, special protections for places like Nairobi National Park are cast aside. Kenya’s new constitutional processes established six years ago are ignored. A broader solution building the railway around the Park would save habitat and the animals living in the Park promoting future tourism. It isn’t a done deal yet. Let’s hope there is a change of heart and Nairobi National Park will be saved for future generations of animals and people. Here is speaking for the animals first and for the people second.
David's Blog 