BY JENNIFER WANJIRU
NAIROBI — Environmentalists in Kenya have threatened court action to stop the filming of the US television show Survivor Series III, that formally begins on July 1 and runs to September 30. They accuse the filmmakers of damaging the fragile ecosystem of Shaba National Reserve in the semi-arid eastern province of Kenya.
They are also demanding to see the contract signed between the filmmakers and the local Isiolo County Council which runs Shaba National Reserve.
Officials of a local non-governmental organisation, the Waso Trust Land Project, say that the filmmakers have cleared 20 square kilometres of vegetation to pave the way for the filming and have scared away animals from the park.
They also say that the filmmakers duped the county council into entering an agreement that does not compensate the local council for environmental damage.
"We cannot accept this kind of destruction on our land", said Hassan Guyo Shano, the coordinator of the non-government organisation which sensitises local pastoralists to their land rights. "We will move to the High Court to block the shooting of the TV series unless they agree to fully compensate for the Shaba ecosystem which they have completely wrecked."
Located some 70 kilometres north of Mount Kenya, Shaba National Reserve takes its name from a massive cone of volcanic rock which dominates the region. It is made famous by the movie and book Born Free, based on conservationist Joy Adamson's escapades in Shaba Reserve and her taming of a lioness.
Last year, another movie, To Walk with the Lions, was filmed at the park, and it too left a trail of destruction.
Shano's NGO says that the 18 million Kenya shillings paid to the Isiolo County Council for the use of Shaba National Reserve is "inadequate considering the environmental damage the filming will have done to Shaba which has been emerging as [a] number one tourist destination".
On June 23, officials of Waso Trust Land Project were allowed into the park to verify the claims of environmental destruction. But the tour ran into trouble when three journalists who accompanied the Waso Trust representative were detained for four hours by Isiolo County Council game rangers.
One ranger told the journalists that he had "strict instructions from the movie company to exclude journalists from touring the park."
Known for its acacia woodlands, bushlands, and grasslands, the Shaba Reserve is inhabited by gazelles, oryx, zebras, giraffes, cheetahs, leopards, and lions.
Environmentalists expressed concern that these animals' habitats have been interfered with and will take time to recover.
"The presence of more than 200 workers and the heavy commercial trucks busy supplying provisions and other operations in the reserve have scared away all the animals", said the environmentalists in a press statement.
[From Environmental News Service, <http://www.ens.lycos.com>.]