Rosemary's Sharebook 

Campaign to stop the Serengeti highway Dear Serengeti Supporter, Thanks for being patient. We appreciate your support! We've been pushing hard, both behind the scenes and publicly. Here's an update... The word is that no further decision will be made until after Tanzanian elections on October 31. At the moment, there is little publicity or dissent in Tanzania. People are afraid to speak out in an election year. But our petitions, Facebook supporters, and web site are having an impact. The government has definitely heard us! We're circulating the economic impact statement in Tanzania, showing the devastating effect the highway will have on the tourist industry and economy. This has already reached several decision makers. Tanzanian tourism associations will use it to make their case at an upcoming hearing. We're accelerating our media campaign now, recently sending out hundreds of press releases to news organizations and journalists. We're making some progress, but are surprised that major news organizations have been slow to cover this story. If you have contacts or are a journalist, let us know. We have plans for the next phase of our campaign - we're pushing hard for an alternate southern route. See our website for more on this. Wisconsin residents: Contact your Senator, Russ Feingold, Chairman of the Sub-committee on Africa in the Foreign Relations Committee. Let him know about this issue, urge him to ask the government of Tanzania to choose an alternate route, and ask him to help find funding for it. Contact him here. Please let us know what you hear from him. Next steps: We'll be contacting international scientists to solicit their support. And we will be petitioning lending institutions like the World Bank and USAID to help as well. We're also joining forces with another nonprofit that will allow us to take donations for this cause. And also have a more public face. We'll win this fight if we work together. But be sure that it won't end with this highway. There are more threats on the horizon. In the meantime, please continue to spread the word. Again, thanks for your support! And stay tuned. Save the Serengeti Team info@savetheserengeti.org http://www.savetheserengeti.org/news/highway-news/a-case-for-the-southern-route-around-the-serengeti/#axzz0wMccsqkz