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Home > About
Us > Press
Room > Press Release
For Immediate Release
$10,000 DONATION TO HELP REFORM AFRICAN TOURISM
July 22, 2004
Seattle, WA > Wildland Adventures, a Seattle-based
adventure travel company organizing safaris in Africa and
ecotourism vacations worldwide, announces it is making
a $10,000 donation to the Maasai Environmental Resource
Coalition (MERC), a grassroots network of Maasai organizations
advocating for the protection of traditional land rights
of the Maasai people, and for conservation, management,
and sustainable use of the great ecosystems of East Africa.
“The tourism industry frequently portrays the Maasai
as a tourist attraction rather than a unique people who
should be understood and treated with respect,” notes
Metamei Dapash, a native Maasai and the Executive Director
of the Washington D.C. based USA headquarters of MERC.
The organization has conducted a survey of tourism impacts
across Maasailand. They concluded that many tour operators
within the industry market culturally or environmentally
sensitive tours that in reality often do more harm than
good. “While the tour operators profit from their
practices, the Maasai and the wildlife that they protect
-- the very essence of the tourists’ African experience
-- rarely gain financially and are oftentimes harmed by
contact with the tourists,” says Mr. Dapash.
A pastoral
people who live in harmony within the rich natural world
of Kenya and Tanzania, the Maasai culture preserves
a unique and treasured way of life in East Africa. For
centuries, they have acted as stewards of endangered
African wildlife and the vast ecosystems upon which this
world
heritage of life depends. The wildlife of East Africa
and its native cultures, particularly the Maasai, have
attracted
widespread international attention for decades.
While this attention is well-deserved and leads to some
benefits, MERC found that the rapid expansion of worldwide
tourism over the past fifty years now poses major threats
to both the fragile balance of life on the African continent
and its indigenous cultures, particularly the Maasai. Because
of their proximity to the internationally renowned parks
of East Africa, the Maasai face increasing competition
for water, land to graze their livestock, and other natural
resources. Often this competition comes from the collective,
unsustainable activities of tour operators and lodges that
degrade natural ecosystems in and around protected areas.
Maasai communities living next to tourist destinations
completely lack basic educational facilities, healthcare,
adequate water supplies, employment opportunities, and
job training. “Walking safaris, game drives and visits
to native villages throughout Maasailand form the backbone
of a large portion of the East African tourism experience
including many of Africa’s most popular game parks
such as Samburu, Maasai Mara and the Serengeti,” states
Kurt Kutay, President of Wildland Adventures and a founding
board member of MERC USA and The International Ecotourism
Society. “Although there are a few select, community-based
collaborative ecotourism programs with Maasai communities,
the time is long overdue for reform of the East African
tourism industry, including sharing some of the wealth
with native people that tourism brings to the region.”
In conjunction with Wildland Adventures’ donation,
the company has introduced the Maasailand Safari, a new
community-based, sustainable tourism program that protects
wildlife and helps the indigenous Maasai. The new tour
program formed by MERC and Wildland Adventures is designed
according to an established set Ecotourism Principles and
Code of Conduct ratified by Maasai as a basis for safari
tourism reform. These guidelines are aimed at increasing
awareness of issues affecting the Maasai and developing
a dialogue among public and private sectors of tourism,
conservation, economic development and social services.
“Tourist awareness of environmental and cultural
issues at any destination is a fundamental component of
an effective ecotourism program,” states Kutay. “Our
new Maasailand Safaris offer a way for tourists to combine
wildlife viewing with opportunities to learn about conservation
issues, and to experience Maasai culture in an atmosphere
of mutual respect and enrichment for guests and hosts.
By directly working at the grass-roots village level, our
trips support community-based, income-generating ecotourism
enterprises.”
Groups are invited to visit Maasai schools and learn about
Maasai culture and village concerns by meeting with teachers
and community elders. Traditional dance and music is presented.
Guests have opportunities to purchase native bead work
directly from the artist and to go on walks in the bush
with Maasai warriors. Special arrangements are made to
visit Jane Goodall Institute’s Sweetwaters Chimpanzee
Sanctuary, and to go out in the field with a staff biologist
of the Amboseli Elephant Research Project to learn about
the ongoing 30-year study of the elephants by scientist
Cynthia Moss.
Beading enthusiasts organized through Beads and Beyond,
a local beadwork retail store in Bellevue, WA carry a large
cache of beads to re-supply a Maasai women's beading group
they started in 2003 near Amboseli National Park. In turn,
these tourists are invited to Maasai communities who have
had little contact with tourism. The Maasai are noted for
their elaborate bead work, and tour participants who are
also experts in the art of beading, share techniques and
produce art together with native women using tools, beads
and magnifying glasses donated by the tour groups. The
Maasailand Safari includes game drives in the national
parks and reserves of Amboseli, Samburu, Buffalo Springs,
Shaba, Lake Nakuru, the Maasai Mara and at the base of
Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Unlike other companies advocating environmentally and
socially responsible tourism in Africa, by working in collaboration
with local Maasai at the village level through MERC’s
grassroots network, Wildland Adventures is offering a uniquely
Maasai perspective. Trip participants are fully briefed
on what to expect when visiting Maasai Enkang (home/village),
proper etiquette in remote villages unfamiliar with western
culture, and how to be a respectful guest. Every year,
Wildland Adventures and MERC six small group departures
of this trip as a model for environmentally and culturally
sustainable tourism in East Africa. By working in partnership
with local communities, a variety of
social and environmental non-governmental organizations,
the tourism industry and the governments of Kenya and Tanzania,
these safaris will enhance the transfer of wealth to communities
in remote areas through just compensation for Maasai participation,
purchase of handicrafts, and a share of revenues collected
from trip fees.
“By involving local communities in ecotours like
this, and offering our travellers the opportunity to give
something back, indigenous people can share in the economic
benefits of tourism such as better health, education and
overall living conditions. In this manner, they are in
better control to minimize destructive social and environmental
impacts of conventional safari tourism on their lands,” adds
Mr. Kutay. “There’s also a huge payoff for
our guests as well. Taking sufficient time between game
drives in national parks for intimate and authentic cross-cultural
interactions in local communities often creates the most
memorable and meaningful experiences of their African safari.”
Wildland Adventures offers scheduled small group departures
of the Maasailand
Safari and on request for private groups.
A portion of the price
includes financial contributions to local communities along
the route and trip proceeds help support MERC’s work
to protect land rights and traditional culture in East
Africa.
###
Since its inception in 1986, ecotourism has been the cornerstone
of Wildland Adventures, offering cultural and natural history
explorations as a means to protect natural environments,
preserve cultural heritage and enhance the well-being of
local communities through initiatives by the company’s
non-profit Travelers Conservation Trust. Kurt Kutay is
a founding member of the Board of Directors of The International
Ecotourism Society and a recognized leader in the travel
industry as a proponent of responsible tourism. Other destinations
offered by Wildland Adventures include Costa Rica, Belize,
the Andes and the Amazon, Patagonia, Alaska, the Galapagos,
New Zealand and more. For reservations or more information
about Wildland Adventures, call 1-800-345-4453, email
,
write to 3516 NE 155th Street, Seattle, WA 98155 or visit
www.wildland.com. To learn more about the Maasai Environmental
Resource Coalition visit www.maasaierc.org.
Media Contact:
info@wildland.com
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