The Zonation

The Zonation

The primary function of the MMNR’s zonation scheme is to manage and regulate visitor use and impacts in the different MMNR zones. Specifically, the zonation scheme establishes four categories of zone:  High Use Zone  Low Use Zone  Mara River Ecological Zone  MMNR Buffer Zone In designing the scheme, the zones have been kept as simple as possible and, wherever possible, zone boundaries have been aligned with roads or rivers to aid interpretation on the ground. While separate zone areas have been defined for both the Central Mara (Narok) and Mara Triangle sections of the Reserve, all prescriptions for each zone type are standard throughout the entire Reserve (as set out in more detail in the following sections). The High-Use Zone covers those areas that are presently used by the majority of Reserve visitors. This zone will be the focus of management efforts to enhance the Reserve’s tourism product and will aim to provide a high quality, proactively managed, wildlife viewing experience for visitors.

The Low Use Zone covers those areas that have in the past been characterised by low visitation, and in these areas the emphasis will be on environmental protection, with lower visitor densities and providing a sense of exploration and wilderness. The M a ra River Ecological Zone is established primarily to provide the necessary degree of protection to this zone’s sensitive riverine forests, rhino breeding areas, wildebeest crossing x points, and the Mara River itself, and is the only zone with a primary ecological protection function. Because of the high tourism pressures in this zone, special management prescriptions and actions are needed to protect the zone’s environment while facilitating sustainable tourism practices. The M M NR Buffer Zone is a two-kilometre strip surrounding the entire MMNR except for its southern boundary with Serengeti National Park across the international border with Tanzania.

As detailed in the Visitor Carrying Capacity chapter, the Buffer Zone is where the majority of the Reserve’s visitors originate from, yet because it is not part of the Reserve it is subject to the least controls on development. Influencing future developments in the MMNR Buffer Zone is an important priority for this management plan. The scheme includes detailed prescriptions on the visitor accommodation and activities that are permitted in each zone, as well as for the entire Reserve. Overall, the plan prescribes that, in view of the current very high bed capacity and visitor densities in the Reserve and in order to work towards the visitor carrying capacity limits specified above, there will be no new tourism accommodation developments and no expansion of existing bed capacity permitted in all MMNR zones during the lifespan of this plan. In addition, Appendix 1 details the different types of visitor accommodation that are permitted in the MMNR and sets out detailed prescriptions applying to all accommodation facilities that fall under each category.

MMNR accommodation is categorised as: lodges, ecolodges, ecocamps and special campsites. Visitor activities in all three zone types will be primarily restricted to game viewing and sightseeing balloon flights. Other activities found in other Kenyan protected areas, such as walking safaris, night drives and horseback safaris, will not be permitted in the MMNR. This is to enable the surrounding community areas of the Greater Mara Ecosystem to capitalise on these niche markets, giving the community areas a potential tourism boost. With regard sightseeing ballooning in the Reserve, the zonation scheme demonstrates that existing densities of balloons operating in the Reserve are already extremely high, and that to avoid a negative impact on the Reserve’s environment and tourism product, no new ballooning concessions or expansion of existing concessions will be permitted in the MMNR during the lifespan of this plan, including balloons taking off from outside the Reserve. The zonation scheme also sets out detailed prescriptions for balloon operation in the MMNR designed to minimise the environmental impacts of these activities and to ensure the safety of visitors.