EP 8: Protecting nature along the Mombasa-Nairobi Short Guage Railway

Tsavo National Park is Kenya’s biggest wildlife reserve and the world’s biggest elephant habitat. When it was established in 1948, the British-built meter gauge railway already ran through the area. During the planning of the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), China proposed circumventing the park, but the high cost removed this option from the table. In order to protect the wildlife, the railway is fenced in or built on tall bridges. 

Working with the Kenya Wildlife Service, scientists and environmental protection organizations to map wildlife migration routes, Chinese builders also designed passages that allow elephants and other big animals to safely pass under the railway. Chinese railway constructors are committed to keeping a balance between environmental conservation and infrastructure development.