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30-636: The Mara River basin covers a surface of 13,504 km, of which approximately 65% is located in Kenya and 35% in Tanzania. From its sources in the Kenyan highlands, the river flows for about 395 km and originates from the Mau Escarpment and drains into Lake Victoria . The basin can be roughly divided into four land use and/or administrative units. The Mau Escarpment: The Mara River originates from

60-473: A Jewish homeland. Leopold Greenberg acted as Herzl's main representative in the negotiations, and together they hoped to gain de facto diplomatic recognition from Great Britain, making the proposal's political value immense. Despite East Africa's lack of moral and historical significance to Jews, the East Africa plan held the most promise compared to the other plans. Greenberg successfully obtained

90-738: A fierce debate ensued. The African land was described as an "ante-chamber to the Holy Land", but other groups felt that accepting the offer would make it more difficult to establish a Jewish state in Palestine in Ottoman Syria, particularly the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem. Before the vote on the matter, the Russian delegation stormed out in opposition. In the end, the motion to consider the plan passed by 295 to 177 votes. The next year,

120-617: A heated debate that challenged fundamental beliefs and sparked passionate reactions. Some delegates viewed it as a betrayal of the Basel Program and a conflict between Palestine and Uganda. The discord threatened to divide the organization, with some Eastern European delegates dramatically walking out of the meeting and others expressing their loss of trust in Herzl and the steering committee. The emotional tension remained high, with some delegates falling on each other's necks, weeping, and

150-766: A letter from the Foreign Office expressing the British government's willingness to establish a Jewish colony with considerable land, local autonomy, and religious and domestic freedom under its general control. In the Sixth Zionist Congress, which took place in 1903 in Basel, Herzl presented the proposal and the Congress voted in favor of sending a fact-finding group to East Africa with 295 delegates in favor and 178 against. Herzl's announcement sparked

180-455: A mean annual rainfall between 1,000 and 1,750 mm. The transboundary middle savannah grasslands receive an average between 900 and 1,000 mm, and the Kenyan lower Loita hills and the area around Lake Victoria only about 700 and 850 mm rain per year. On top of this rainfall variability in space, the region is also known for its rainfall variability in time, which means that the different areas all receive variable amounts of rainfall over

210-652: A range of British interests, such as commercial superiority, the crusade against the East African Slave trade , apprehension over the control of territory that served as a route to India, and rivalry with the German and French governments. They opted to exercise indirect control over East Africa by establishing the Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEA) led by William Mackinnon in 1888. Despite significant investments,

240-505: A significant number of hardworking settlers to the area, hindering the profitability of the railway. Additionally, during a journey on the Uganda Railway through what was described as "the white man country" in East Africa (modern Kenya), Chamberlain's opinion on the suitability of the tropical climate for Europeans changed. While on the trip, Chamberlain thought that this "would be just the country for Dr. Herzl" and even proposed

270-445: A three-man delegation was sent to inspect the plateau. Its high elevation gave it a temperate climate, making it suitable for European settlement. However, observers found a dangerous land filled with lions and other creatures. Moreover, it was populated by a large number of Maasai people, who did not seem at all amenable to an influx of people coming from Europe. After receiving this report, Congress decided in 1905 to politely decline

300-461: A young student fainting. However, Herzl reassured delegates that Palestine would remain Zion and threatened to resign, preventing the organization's division. Though he believed the attachment to Palestine was remarkable, he thought the reaction was unreasonable.  "These people have a rope around their necks, but they still refuse," Herzl commented. Despite concerns about the East Africa scheme,

330-662: Is the main land use. The Mara River basin is one of the ten drainage basins that feed into Lake Victoria , and is therefore functionally and ecologically related to the socio-economic activities in Lake Victoria and along the River Nile . The altitudes in the basin range from 2,932 m around the sources in the Mau Escarpment to 1,134 m around Lake Victoria. The amount of precipitation varies according to these altitudes. The Mau Escarpment receives most rainfall with

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360-657: The Doukhobors , and doubts about Jews' ability to engage in profitable farming. The British media also joined in the objection, amplifying these concerns. The response of the native population to the offer is unknown, and the Indians who came to build the Uganda Railway did not entirely reject the proposal. In December 1904, the Zionist Organization dispatched a special commission to Uasin Gishu to assess if

390-585: The Uganda Railway , which ended up costing taxpayers a total of £5,244,000. Unfortunately, the return on investment from the railway was not as substantial as anticipated. This shortfall, combined with the Anglo-Boer War in South Africa , sparked growing unease within the Foreign Office. Immigration to the protectorate was viewed as a potential solution to the mounting debt. In summary,

420-790: The British had the following motive in offering the protectorate to the Zionists: Joseph Chamberlain and Theodor Herzl were acquainted through the Rothschild brothers. Initially, Herzl proposed a plan to the Colonial Secretary for Jewish settlement in Cyprus , the Sinai peninsula , or El Arish . However, Chamberlain deemed Herzl's proposal impractical since these territories were either inhabited or not under British control. Nevertheless, he agreed to discuss

450-523: The British offer. Some Jews, who viewed this as a mistake, formed the Jewish Territorial Organization with the aim of establishing a Jewish state anywhere. This Kenya location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Uganda Scheme The Uganda Scheme was a proposal by British Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain to create a Jewish homeland in a portion of British East Africa . It

480-647: The El Arish plan with Lord Lansdowne , the Foreign Secretary, believing it could gain the support of world Jewry for Britain. Chamberlain left London in December 1902 to tour South Africa and stopped in Mombasa before continuing to South Africa. After a warm welcome, White British settlers in the region presented their grievances to the Colonial Secretary about the Foreign Office's failure to attract

510-561: The Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEA) began to fail by mid-1895. Poor infrastructure, financial instability, huge debts, and inadequate management led to this downfall. As a result, the British government proclaimed the protectorate, and its administration was transferred to the Foreign Office . With the aim of exploiting the commercial potential of the interior regions, the British built

540-564: The Jewish World was willing to take the risk, particularly in light of the Kishinev incident. However, some members, such as Reverend Dr. Moses Gaster and Lucien Wolf , strongly opposed the plan, believing it went against the principles of Zionism and was an unwise experiment with Jewish self-government. The Zionists' proposal was met with equal controversy in the British colony. The white British settlers were openly hostile toward

570-703: The Jewish people as a homeland. The offer was first made by British Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain first offered 13,000 km of the Mau Escarpment to Theodore Herzl's Zionist group in 1903. The offer was a response to pogroms in the Russian Empire , and it was hoped the area could be a refuge from persecution for the Jewish people. The idea was brought to the World Zionist Organization's Sixth Zionist Congress in 1903 in Basel . There,

600-526: The Jewish settlement, the main reason for the rejection of the Plan in 1905 was partly due to the opposition by the former high commissioner of East Africa and the white settlers in the area. This led the British to withdraw the offer. The East Africa plan was a significant turning point in Zionist history. Despite its rejection in 1905, the plan paved the way for the emergence of the territorialist ideology and

630-799: The Loita Hills. The Protected areas: Eventually the river flows into the world-famous Masai Mara National Reserve , where it merges with three of the four mentioned tributaries. On the Kenyan-Tanzanian border, the river flows into the Serengeti National Park and is joined by the fourth major tributary: the Sand (or Longaianiet ) River. In these wildlife parks human activity is restricted to wildlife viewing. Downstream in Mara Region Tanzania: Just after

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660-529: The Mara River flows out of Ikorongo Game Reserve (which borders Serengeti National Park) it meanders sharply northwards. At the location where the river meanders into the southwestern direction again the main channel is lost in different streams, which feed the downstream Mara Wetlands . These streams and wetlands continue for about 70 kilometres downstream. In this part of the basin human and livestock densities are high and small-scale subsistence agriculture

690-510: The Mara River. The river then meanders further through open savannah grasslands that is mostly governed by Maasai group ranches and used as pasture for livestock and for both small — and large-scale agriculture (more than 40 acres). The basins of four important tributaries to the Mara (the Talek, Engare, Sand and Engito rivers) are also located in this area, together with some upland areas like

720-595: The Napuiyapi swamp (2932 m), with the main perennial tributaries being the Amala and the Nyangores, which drain from the western Mau Escarpment. This part of the basin supports besides forests, both small-scale agriculture (less than 10 acres) and medium-size farms (often tea farms up to 40 acres). The Kenyan Rangelands: In this area, the Amala and Nyangores rivers flow out of the Mau Escarpment and converge to form

750-538: The conditions were suitable for Jewish settlement. The commission was composed of Major Alfred St Hill Gibbons, a British veteran of the Boer War and a well-known explorer; Alfred Kaiser, a Swiss orientalist and advisor for the Northwest Cameroon Company ; and Nachum Wilbush, a Zionist engineer. Although there were disparities in their final reports, with the climate used to argue for and against

780-475: The idea of a Jewish homeland in East Africa to Dr. Herzl but did not pursue it further, assuming Herzl's interest would lie only in Palestine or nearby. Initially, Herzl was not interested in the offer of a Jewish homeland in East Africa, as his focus was primarily on Palestine and its surrounding area. However, everything changed after the Kishnev Pogrom after which he redoubled his efforts to secure

810-580: The offer and formed the "Anti-Zionist Immigration Committee," which rejected the proposal through the African Standard . They believed that British poor people deserved the land more than the Jews and expressed concerns about how the black natives would react to the Jewish immigrants. Furthermore, there were worries about granting a special territory to an alien community after the troubles in Canada with

840-669: The river to hunt. [1] [2] Mau Escarpment The Mau Escarpment is a fault scarp running along the western edge of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya . The top of the escarpment reaches approximately 3,000 m (10,000 ft) above sea level, and is over 1,000 m higher than the floor of the Rift Valley. The Uganda Scheme was a plan to give a portion of the East Africa Protectorate to

870-527: The year. The rainfall seasons are bi-modal, with the long rains starting in mid-March to June with a peak in April, while the short rains occur between September and December. The river is a vital source to grazing animals within the reserve. Although during the dry season it may often appear shallow, it may swell to up to twice its normal size after heavy rainfall. This can create rapids in the river, which may lead to shortage of food for predators that cannot cross

900-660: Was presented at the Sixth World Zionist Congress in Basel in 1903 by Theodor Herzl , the founder of the modern Zionist movement. He presented it as a temporary refuge for Jews to escape rising antisemitism in Europe . The proposal faced opposition from both within the Zionist movement and from the British Colony . The British were involved in the scramble for (East) Africa to safeguard

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