Serengeti General Management Plan

Serengeti National Park General Management Plan
power. To coordinate this, the first step will be the recruitment of an Education Community
Conservation Advisor to lead the expanded education activities.
Additional SENAPA staff establishment priorities to enable GMP implementation will be
agreed upon during the development of Annual Operations Plans and budgets.
Target 2.4: Administrative integration between Fort Ikoma and
Seronera improved
The Park Headquarters was moved to Fort Ikoma in 1997 in order to reduce the human impact
of having a large (around 2,000) park staff working and living in the centre of the Park at
Seronera. In addition, it was felt at the time that having such a large administrative infrastructure
in the Seronera Valley detracts from the parks wilderness character and tourism experience;
especially considering Seronera is a tourism hub, with the highest density of predators.
The physical impact on Seronera has now been much reduced as only the Tourism Department,
some accounts staff and a small support staff together with the Chief Park Warden
(CPW) continue to be based at Seronera. In addition, while at Seronera, power supply depends
on the use of diesel generators, Fort Ikoma has an opportunity of being serviced by
the national gridline from Mugumu and upgraded roads to market centres in the near future.
However, a number of disadvantages of basing operations out of Fort Ikoma have become
apparent, especially because Seronera still continues to function as an operation centre at
SENAPA. In particular, there are problems in supervision and communication both between
and within SENAPA departments, long travel times between Seronera and Fort Ikoma leading
to lost working hours and inconvenience, and security and management issues concerning
the transportation of cash from revenue collection.
During the implementation of the GMP, SENAPA management will effectively integrate the
various functions at Fort Ikoma and Seronera. The management actions to achieve this target
are described below.
Action 2.4.1: Carry out a review to determine strategies for enhancing efficiency of
administrative functions between Fort Ikoma and Seronera, with special attention
to staff working conditions and travel
Even after the Fort Ikoma Headquarters is fully established, SENAPA management will continue
to have its presence at Seronera. Therefore solutions need to be found to solving the
administrative problems created by having two centres. The starting point for deciding the
most appropriate strategies to adopt will be the completion of a comprehensive review of the
options available.
Action 2.4.2: Identify and implement ways of improving communications between
Fort Ikoma and Seronera
One of the central problems created by the two centres is the difficulty in effective communication
between staff and departments. This action will investigate technologies for improving
the verbal and written communication systems, as well as reducing the need for costly and
time consuming commuting between the centres.
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