A Maasai conservationist has filed a lawsuit to block Friday’s planned opening of the Ritz-Carlton’s first safari lodge in Kenya’s Maasai Mara reserve, alleging the luxury project obstructs a key wildlife migration route.
Meitamei Olol Dapash, director of the Institute for Maasai Education, Research and Conservation (MERC), is seeking an urgent court order against Marriott, local developer Lazizi Mara Limited, and Kenyan authorities. The suit claims the 20-suite camp, which charges $3,500 per person per night, sits on a wildebeest crossing point between the Maasai Mara and Tanzania’s Serengeti and lacks proof of a required environmental impact assessment.
Marriott said Lazizi obtained all necessary approvals and was committed to environmental stewardship. Lazizi managing director Shivan Patel said an assessment confirmed the site was not a migration route. He added that the county government proposed the location and questioned why objections were raised only recently.
The Narok County government and the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) did not respond to requests for comment. Reuters was unable to find a public notice of the assessment in the official gazette.
The dispute highlights long-running tensions between high-end tourism and Maasai communities who say unregulated development is damaging habitats and livelihoods. Dapash said over-tourism has degraded the reserve and accused officials of approving projects “at the expense of local wildlife and people.”
Researchers Joseph Ogutu of the University of Hohenheim and Grant Hopcraft of the University of Glasgow warned the lodge could have “large and long-term ecological implications,” noting government data shows some Maasai Mara species populations have fallen by more than 80% since the 1970s.
The lawsuit also cites a Narok County plan adopted in 2023 calling for no new tourist accommodation before 2032. Patel said the camp was built on an existing site but did not specify its prior use.
“The preservation of wildlife migration for us is a treasure we cannot afford to lose,” Dapash said.