At Gondwana Ecotours, we believe travel should protect what makes each destination extraordinary. Since 2021, every one of our tours has been certifiably carbon-neutral, and we continually look for new ways to reduce our footprint. We also partner with local programs dedicated to preservation, sustainability, and community well-being, so your travel dollars have a positive impact.

We see travel as a privilege and an opportunity to give back. When you join one of our adventures—whether it’s watching the Northern Lights in Alaska, trekking to see endangered gorillas in Rwanda, or savoring a traditional asado in Patagonia — you’re not just experiencing something unforgettable. You’re helping ensure these places and cultures thrive for generations to come.

The Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem

The Serengeti is the largest national park in Tanzania and also the name of an administrative district. Often, when the term Serengeti is used, people are referring to the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem, which encompasses the Serengeti National Park in northern Tanzania and the Maasai Mara National Reserve in southwestern Kenya.

The Serengeti is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its global importance for biodiversity. 40,000 square kilometers of savannas, woodlands, grasslands, thickets, and river systems make up the ecosystem. Together, these habitats support one of the world’s most famous and fascinating movements of wildlife: the Great Migration.

The Serengeti-Mara ecosystem is home to wildlife and human communities who have deep-rooted connections to the land. The ecosystem is the major driver of tourism in this region, which can bring many benefits. However, there is an ongoing effort to manage the balance between wildlife conservation, tourism, and the local communities that rely on the land.

Why is the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem important?

The Serengeti-Mara ecosystem is home to a diverse array of quintessential African species, with one of the highest concentrations of large mammal species in Africa. These include the Big Five (elephants, rhinos, lions, leopards, and Cape buffaloes) as well as hyenas, giraffes, cheetahs, and other icons of the savanna.

However, the region is best known for the Great Migration: the annual movement of millions of wildebeests, zebras, and gazelles in search of water and grazing land. Each year, a million wildebeests, half a million gazelles, and 200,000 zebras journey from the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania to the Maasai Mara Nature Reserve in Kenya, in a circular, seasonal movement. They are following seasonal rains, which revive lush grasslands and replenish water sources.

For these reasons, the Serengeti National Park and the Maasai Mara Nature Reserve were established to protect this precious wilderness. The Serengeti-Mara ecosystem is one of the most protected ecosystems on Earth – but that does not mean that it is immune to threats.

What issues is the Serengeti facing?

Despite being both well-established and well-protected, the Serengeti faces growing pressures from human activity, including tourism, agriculture, pollution, industry, and poaching. These threats impact both wildlife and local communities, as expanding developments put strain on natural resources, and climate change makes water scarcer.

The Serengeti-Mara ecosystem is being compressed from the outside, particularly by livestock grazing and human settlements. Increased human activity around the buffer zones of the reserves is “squeezing” the wildlife inside by damaging habitats. This can disrupt the migration routes of the herds, thereby changing where the animals graze, and has knock-on effects on the frequency of natural fires, the vegetation structure, and the opportunities for other wildlife to graze.

How does tourism in the Serengeti impact the ecosystem?

Thousands of visitors are drawn to the Serengeti each year – and who can blame them? The chance to witness the Great Migration and awe-inspiring landscapes is a bucket-list experience. Tourism offers numerous benefits, including job creation, cultural exchange, and funding for conservation. However, if practiced unsustainably and irresponsibly, it is not without its drawbacks.

Research has revealed that the way wildlife herds move through the ecosystem is changing. Counterintuitively, the herds are avoiding some of the most nutrient-rich areas in the parks. This is explained by the fact that these areas have high tourism development, no doubt because the wildlife used to be so numerous here that companies wanted their accommodation as close as possible to the action.