Conservationists concerned over road project in Kenyan national park

Local people have mixed opinions about the planned road. Rahab Mwangi said she supported the project as it would provide connectivity, while another local resident Catherine Wangui said it would only help the tourism sector.

ABERDARE NATIONAL PARK, Kenya, March 6 (Reuters) - C onservationists have raised concerns over a proposed road project that is expected to run through the Aberdare National Park in Kenya, a popular tourist destination where the late Queen Elizabeth II was relayed the news of her father's death. The construction of the Mau Mau Road project would disrupt the Aberdares ecosystem and communities that rely on it for water and hydroelectric power generation, said Christine Mwangi, a World Wide Fund Kenya representative.

"What happens in the Aberdares does not stay in the Aberdares," Mwangi said. Local people have mixed opinions about the planned road.

Rahab Mwangi said she supported the project as it would provide connectivity, while another local resident Catherine Wangui said it would only help the tourism sector. "The road passing through the park is not beneficial to us and our farm produce," Wangui said.