Overview

• On August 12, Maasai activist Meitamei Olol Dapash filed a lawsuit in the Narok Environment and Land Court seeking to suspend the opening of the 20-suite Ritz-Carlton Masai Mara lodge.
• His lawsuit contends that the developer failed to publish a required environmental impact assessment in the official gazette, violating Kenyan law and Narok County’s 2023 tourism development plan.
• The filing alleges the camp’s location on the Sand River obstructs a critical migration corridor between Kenya’s Maasai Mara reserve and Tanzania’s Serengeti.
• Marriott International and local partner Lazizi Mara state they secured all necessary approvals and that authorities determined the site is not a wildlife crossing point.
• Conservationists and researchers warn the lodge could inflict long-term ecological harm on the Great Migration and intensify conflicts over luxury tourism and Maasai land rights.