Yellowstone National Park recently hosted a World Heritage Fellow, Godson Kimaro, Senior Park Warden of Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.
As a recognized World Heritage Site, Yellowstone participates in a fellowship program which allows professionals from other heritage sites the unique opportunity to temporarily reside in the U.S. and work alongside National Park Service staff to learn from their experiences and exchange ideas.
Godson has participated in a six-week exchange in Yellowstone and also Grand Teton National Park, according to a statement released by Yellowstone’s public affairs office.
Park officials said he has taken an active role in almost every facet of daily park operations including resource and visitor protection, visitor services, maintenance, concessions operations and structural and wildland fire.
There are nearly 1,000 designated World Heritage Sites including natural areas such as Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, as well as cultural sites such as the Pyramids of Egypt and the Taj Mahal. Elected officials throughout the international community have recognized the need to preserve these unique sites based on their universal value. While all selected site managers pledge to protect sites for future generations, each participating nation maintains independent authority over site management.
Godson will visit Washington, D.C., to share his experiences with NPS headquarters managers before returning to Tanzania. The travel expenses for the fellowship program are supported by the National Park Foundation.
For more information about World Heritages Sites and the National Park Service, visit http://www.nps.gov/oia/topics/worldheritage/worldheritage.htm.
Contact Yellowstone Gate at 307-213-9818 or [email protected].