The African Travel and Tourism Association (ATTA) is supporting its members in Tanzania and fellow organisation, The Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (TATO), in their quest to put a stop to the proposal to erect a permanent cable car on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro.
“ATTA promotes and encourages sustainable tourism that is in harmony with nature and the landscape as well as with the culture of the local people. This project achieves quite the reverse and we believe will have an irreparable impact on this iconic World Heritage Site,” said a spokesperson for ATTA.
The Tanzanian government first proposed this in 2019 and recently got the green light for the ambitious project, noting at the time that the cable car would give those unable to make the week-long trek to the summit the opportunity to experience the mountain’s awe-inspiring beauty.
Tourism is Tanzania’s main source of income and the government believes the cable car could increase tourism numbers by as much as 50%.
But opposition is strong, with a recent IUCN World Heritage Conservation Outlook assessment classing it as a “very high threat” and that it would add considerably more pressure on the environment as a result of an estimated 50% increase in visitor numbers.
“The infrastructure will dramatically modify and intrude on the visual aesthetics of the property for which it was inscribed on the World Heritage List. A new climbing route on the southern slope will increase the fragmentation of the fragile forest and heathland ecosystems, which are already highly impacted by tourism,” reads the assessment.
Tourism sector opposition
A number of guides, tour operators and porters have also been vocal in their opposition.
Owner of Zara Tours, Zainab Ansell, said the cable car would rob porters and guides of their livelihood. “The cable car will turn a six-day incredible lifetime adventure of hiking the roof of Africa, with substantial multiplier economic effects to local folks, into a mere outing for day-trippers.”
Ansell founded Zara Tours in 1986, building it up to one of the biggest tour operators in Tanzania and giving employment and opportunities to thousands of people.
Tanzania Tour Guides Association, Tanzania Porters’ Organisation, Tanzania Local Tour Operators, and the Mount Kilimanjaro Porters Society have also made their opposition known.
Furthermore, a change.org petition has been launched which has garnered over 9 000 signatures to date.
Consultation still ‘ongoing’
Consultation is still ongoing, according Tanzania National Parks Authority (Tanapa) Senior Assistant Conservation Commissioner – Corporate Communications, Pascal Shelutete.
He said Tanapa, the National Environmental Management Council and Unesco were working together on the matter, adding that, so far, no organisation had issued any form of approval for the planned cable car project.
