How Covid -19 funds open up Saadani National Park

ARE you planning to visit Saadani National Park anytime soon?

Here’s what you need to know.

You can now easily access the 1,100 square kilometres park even using a sedan, at the expense of a four wheeler safari vehicle, thanks to Covid-19 funds.

Briefing reporters here recently, the Assistant Conservation Commissioner with the park, Ephraim Mwangomo said the protected area had rehabilitated 31-kilometre tourism circuit, through the Tanzania Covid-19 Social-Economic Response and Recovery Plan (TCRP), making it easier for local and international tourists to sample the park’s flora and fauna.

“We received over 1bn/- worth of Covid-19 funds and we’ve put it to good use by fixing key infrastructure, mindful of the paramount role it plays in sustaining tourism in the area,” explained Mr Mwangomo.

Apart from the facelifts of Kinyonga – Mbuga ya Meli and Marumbi – Porokanya stretches, Saadani National Park has also repaired its airstrip through the Covid- 19 funds, according to the Assistant Conservation Commissioner.

“The objective is to make Saadani accessible through all means, including air,” he insisted.

The new look airstrip currently measures one kilometer, but plans are underway to extend it by further 300 metres to accommodate a 14-seater caravan aircraft.

Coupled by modern toilets and a waiting lounge, the Covid-19 funds are slowly but surely spurring tourism activities in Saadani National Park.

As he put it, the park hosted around 28,355 tourists in financial year 2021/2022, the highest figure ever recorded in the park.

The visitors would bring in 1.5bn/- worth of revenues as of April this this year, according to the conservation commissioner.

“We had set ourselves a target of 1.1bn/- by June this year, but it is indeed encouraging and rewarding to have surpassed the target ahead of time,” he asserted.

In the same vein, Mr Mwangomo disclosed plans of liaising with Tanzania Railway Cooperation (TRC) in using the Mvave station as a bait of attracting more tourists to the area.

“Anyone coming from Dar es Salaam or upcountry can use the station in accessing the park,” he added.

In 2021, the government secured 1.291tri/- through a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) window disbursement.

The funds focused on health, education, water, tourism, social protection, energy, economic empowerment, and coordination and administration sectors for both Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar, whereby 1tri/- was meant for the former and some 230.1bn/-for the latter.

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), Tourism is one of the sectors most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, impacting economies, livelihoods, public services and opportunities on all continents.