Impacts of urbanization on the sustainable conservation of Nairobi national park
Abstract
Nairobi National Park established in 1946 with an area of 117km2 to protect wildlife from
human activities and threats has grown to be a tourist destination earning an average of
Kshs.45 million per year for the country. It also plays other roles such as educational,
scientific research, posterity and employment to many people. Sustainability of the park
is however threatened by the rapid urbanization, increasing peri-urban land use changes
and population growth. These threats are more pronounced within the wildlife migratory
corridor. Despite the prevailing realization of land use changes, urban population increase
together with associated activities and human – wildlife conflicts within the corridor, no
empirical examination has been carried out to determine the extent and trends of these
challenges. Similarly, there has been no documented attempt to study any relationships
between these challenges and the population dynamics of the park’s migratory wildlife.
This study was carried out to: identify land use changes and their spatial trends within the
wildlife corridor; investigate the current human – wildlife interactions; and examine the
correlation between human population in Isinya and the population of migratory wildlife
in the national park. Temporally varied Landsat TM images of 1995 and 2002 were
processed and analyzed using ERDAS Imagine 9.3 to map spatial trends of land use
changes within Isinya division, Kajiado which constitutes a part of the wildlife migratory
corridor. Pearson’s product- moment correlation was used to correlate human population
in Isinya and the population of wildebeests and zebras in the national park. A household
and institutional survey was also carried out to examine the current human - wildlife
interactions in the area.
Citation
Master of Arts in PlanningSponsorhip
University of NairobiPublisher
Department of Urban and Regional planning