The Kenya Wildlife Service has dismissed fears that the World Rally Championship will have negative environmental effects on Hellsgate National Park in Naivasha.
The wildlife agency said mitigation measures had been put in place to protect the wild animals including some endangered species of vultures during the weekend event.
Environmental groups have in the past raised concern over the move to host the rally in the world renowned park, warning that it would have adverse effects on the animals.
But KWS assistant director Joseph Dadacha said robust measures had been put in place in the national park, where the final ceremony will be held on Sunday.
Dadacha downplayed fears that dumping of solid waste would affect the park, adding that this had been addressed.
“We have enough portable toilets and garbage bins placed strategically along the spectators’ zone, with enough staff manning them and collecting any waste,” he said.
Dadacha said that they had put in place measures to address the issues of pollution and littering in a bid to protect the habitat of the park that is home to a variety of wild animals.
“We have designated parking points for those coming to watch the rally and we are calling on the spectators to avoid dumping waste in the park,” he said.
Dadacha called on revellers to keep within the designated spectators’ zone and not to stray to other parts of the park as part of the set safety measures.
“We have enough security officers for this event and we are asking the spectators to stay within the marked zones as some areas in the park have wild animals like buffaloes,” he said.
The new data is in a new report by the Tourism Research Institute published Thursday. The tourism report projects that the sector's earnings will grow to Sh430 billion in 2024 and further reach Sh1.024 trillion by 2028. It further projects that visitor numbers will increase to 2.4 million tourists in 2024, and up to 5.7 million visitors by 2028.
The per capita spend per tourist dropped, which the report attributed to a weak shilling.
“Despite the increase in the number of visitors in 2023, the average per capita expenditure in US dollars decreased significantly. The report suggests that although more people visited in 2023 compared to 2022, they spent less on average during their visits, as a result of the weak shilling,” said the report.
