AFRICA
Una strada "taglia" Serengeti
rischia l'ecosistema parco
Il governo della Tanzania ha in programma la realizzazione di un'arteria commerciale che dividerà in due il santuario naturale. Che con il vicino Masai Mara è fondamentale per la sopravvivenza di zebre, gnu, elefanti. A rischio uno degli ambienti più ricchi del pianeta. Ma un'alternativa esiste di LUIGI BIGNAMI
Una strada "taglia" Serengeti rischia l'ecosistema parco La migrazione degli gnu
IL PARCO del Serengeti, in Tanzania, è senza dubbio uno dei luoghi più conosciuti d'Africa. Anche per chi non è stato mai da quelle parti. Perché i documentari ci hanno più volte presentato la spettacolare migrazione di oltre un milione di gnu e di zebre che avviene annualmente in quella "pianura boundless "- this is the meaning of the word" Serengeti "in Masai language - from the grasslands of the South and the Masai Mara. It is in that park that there are, among other things, the" big five ", the 5 large animals Africa, elephant, lion, leopard, rhinoceros and buffalo. Now, according to a statement from the National Park of Tanzania, the country's government has planned to build a commercial street that literally cut in two 's entire park.
"There is no doubt - said Christof Schenck, director of the Frankfurt Zoological Society - that the country is developing an infrastructure that could greatly market between farmers and breeders, allowing a quick transfer of crops and domestic animals from one place to another in Tanzania. "The route of the road link as quickly as possible because many centers around the Serengeti, including the major cities of East Africa as Mombasa, Dar es Salaam and Tanga with Countries of Central Africa. But Schenck explains, "will also have disastrous effects on the ecosystem of the area".
The area north of the Serengeti and the adjacent Masai Mara in fact are essential to the survival of zebra and wildebeest, to which they migrate during the dry season, as they provide water throughout the year. According to data from the Frankfurt Zoological Society that if these animals were removed from these areas number of specimens would increase from 300 000 million today to about 200,000, a collapse. Still according to the German society there are many ways of the world that, for purely commercial purposes, split into two specific ecosystems causing catastrophic consequences in certain cases. In Canada, for example, the migration of elk in Banff National Park has been deeply affected on account of a road that crossed the Park.
"If the African road will become important, as it is intended to be, will be hundreds of heavy trucks that cross the Serengeti procure every day and this incident with the wildlife of the area. And the death of even one adult female leopard, to example, can have important effects - continues Schenck - given that this animal suffers from a mortality of 90% of their children, which is already causing a sharp decrease in the population. "The risk is that the animals are increasingly drifting away from the areas of north, zebras and wildebeest, until the elephants no longer be able to reach the unique wetlands of the area during the dry season and this will mean their end.
But there is also the risk that the implementation of the road brings with it diseases and weeds. Just a few seeds fell by the means of transport to spread pollen, which compete with native species, to determine their disappearance. And, last but not least, roads to fast walking can be a draw for poachers.
alternative exists. Explains Markus Borner, Director of FZC Africa Programme: "It 'a road that would pass south of the park, and would bring together a population seven times higher than the projected path of the North". The economic importance, therefore, would be similar. But still respect a natural sanctuary - nearly - intact and unique place to host biodiversity.
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