From 5 to 10 February 2024, we were organising a theme week on social media on the evictions of the Maasai in northern Tanzania. What is this conflict about? What is the background and what role does Germany play in it?
On 10 June 2022, Tanzanian security forces used live ammunition and tear gas to suppress protests by Maasai in Loliondo. The Maasai had gathered to protest against the demarcation of an area they use in the name of nature conservation. Around 70,000 members of their community were affected by these state-forced evictions - their living space and human rights were massively curtailed as a result. Since the middle of the 20th century, the Maasai have been evicted from areas in northern Tanzania for the establishment and expansion of conservation areas. Human rights organisations have documented numerous cases of resettlement, forced evictions, violence and oppression under the guise of ‘nature conservation’. The confiscation of cattle in particular leads to additional impoverishment and existential threats. Despite successful lawsuits and court judgements, the Tanzanian authorities continue to confiscate cattle. Among other things, the focus is on an area of 1,500 km2 in the Loliondo area of the Ngorongoro District. According to Tanzanian authorities, the growing Maasai population is threatening the habitats of the wild animals - they speak of a voluntary resettlement of the Maasai. Ironically, the Maasai themselves are one reason why the Ngorongoro Conservation Area near the Serengeti ecosystem has UNESCO World Heritage status. The establishment of conservation zones in areas used by the Maasai as grazing land was carried out without consulting or involving the Maasai.
Germany also plays a role, and not only because of its colonial past and people like the naturalist Dr Bernhard Grzimek. The Federal Republic of Germany is still active in the Serengeti ecosystem today, among other things by financing several projects in the nature reserve. Its partners also include Tanzanian authorities such as the Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA), which play a central role in the eviction of the Maasai.
A history of evictions in Ngorongoro Conservation Area & Loliondo
NGORONGORO: The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a wildlife management area covering 8,000 km2 in northern Tanzania, east of the Serengeti National Park. The area has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979. The Maasai, who were resettled from the Serengeti National Park to Ngorongoro in the middle of the 20th century, graze there with their cattle. The administration of the area was transferred to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) in 1959, which has the right of access and authorisations for activities (e.g. cultivation, grazing of cattle herds or establishment of settlements). The key objectives of the NCAA are the protection and development of natural resources, the promotion of tourism and the protection of the interests of the Maasai. The conflict of interests between human rights, tourism and nature conservation is already apparent here, and has been utilised by the government for some time to force the expulsion and resettlement of the Maasai. In the mid-1970s, serious changes were made to the regulations: Livestock and agriculture were banned in the Ngorongoro Crater and the Maasai were expelled from the area. Mass confiscations of cattle and expulsions by the police were already taking place here. Although the ‘Ngorongoro Conservation and Development Project’, newly created in 1985, included long-term goals for nature conservation in the area and the needs of the pastoralists (including the Maasai), Maasai were repeatedly restricted in their practices and evicted, and the amendment of the Wildlife Conservation Act (WCA) in 2009 led to a ban on farming and cattle grazing in large parts of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. As it denied the Maasai the right to participate and violated their right to housing, this amendment was criticised as contrary to human rights.
LOLIONDO: Loliondo is an area of approximately 4,000 km2 in the Ngorongoro District. Due to its biodiversity and its importance for the animal migration of the Serengeti National Park, Loliondo has repeatedly been the focus of conservation area expansion. Those Maasai communities that were affected by resettlement for the establishment of the Serengeti National Park in 1959 under British colonial rule joined local Maasai communities in Loliondo. The reclassification of Loliondo as a ‘game-controlled area’ in 1974 initially had little impact on the Maasai - under the Wildlife Conservation Act of the time, they were still able to practise pastoralism. Later, conflicts arose due to changes in utilisation rights. In 1992, for example, a hunting licence was issued to the Otterloo Business Corporation (OCB) for a 1,500 km area within Loliondo, allowing tourists to trophy hunt on the land used by the Maasai for grazing, which repeatedly led to conflicts. The reform of the Wildlife Conservation Act (WCA) in 2009 fundamentally changed the situation: ‘game-controlled areas’ were designated specifically for the protection of wildlife and all human activities were banned with the exception of tourism. In June 2022, the newly created ‘Poleti area’ in the west of Loliondo was marked with boundary stones as a nature reserve. A peaceful protest by the Maasai, who had to make way due to the redesignation, was violently suppressed by Tanzanian authorities. Ten days later, Poleti was declared a ‘game controlled area’ without consulting local authorities and in October 2022, President Samir Suluhu Hassan declared it a game reserve. This made the presence of the Maasai, their grazing and their bomas in Poleti illegal. According to the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP), the life of the Maasai ‘was suddenly impossible.’
Nature conservation, human rights and the lucrative business of hunting tourism
The ‘Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’ forms the basis for many recent resettlements. This programme aims to designate 30% of the world's land and water areas as protected areas by 2030. Opponents of this programme have repeatedly criticised the lack of human rights protection. For example, international nature conservation organisations often push for the resettlement of people. The Arusha Manifesto (1961) plays a specific role in providing technical expertise in the planning and management of protected areas in Africa. These groups later lobbied to restrict Maasai rights to cultivation, grazing and movement within the NCA. As in the case of the Maasai, according to a UN report, indigenous communities are particularly vulnerable to the expansion of conservation areas and their human rights are often violated. For indigenous groups, evictions are on the one hand a deprivation of socio-economic foundations, as they are pushed to the margins of their homelands and fall into state dependency and poverty. However, they also mean a cultural loss, as cultural and spiritual identity is often linked to the area and the resources there. According to human rights organisations, violations of human rights in nature conservation are particularly frequent when nature conservation areas are established or expanded for the first time. Violence and intimidation are often used to enforce access and utilisation restrictions. According to the Tanzanian government, it is not evicting the Maasai, but offering voluntary resettlement to alternative areas - which, however, are up to 400 kilometres away from Ngorongoro. The government argues that UNESCO's aim is to relieve pressure on the area. It emphasises that the Maasai have to make way because their population growth, their herds and their land use are endangering the national park. Measures such as access barriers are necessary to protect the ‘ecological integrity of the entire Great Serengeti’. It announced that it would invest in improved grazing grounds, livestock markets and investment products as well as in the provision of drinking water for people and livestock. In June 2022, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism denied allegations of human rights violations and stated that there were ‘no settlements’ in the area and that ‘there is therefore no eviction.’ The African Commission on Human Rights condemned the Tanzanian government's actions back in 2018.
But is it really about nature conservation? According to critics, the Tanzanian government is only superficially concerned with nature conservation. The evictions are based on a different motive: the hunting tourism of wealthy tourists is pouring a lot of money into the state's coffers. The Otterlo Business Corporation, a hunting company from the United Arab Emirates that has leased the area since 1992, plays an important role in Liliondo. It is also criticised that the expansion of the tourism infrastructure also means that not only tourists but also more and more staff are staying in the area, while on the other hand the Maasai are being driven out due to a supposed overpopulation.
State-sanctioned violence by Tanzanian authorities
In the case of Tanzania, the tension between human rights and environmental protection is also characterised by state-sanctioned violence. Organisations such as Human Rights Watch have emphasised that the forced eviction of Maasai communities by the government violates the Maasai's right to land, livelihood and culture. Since the relocation of the Maasai from the Serengeti to Loliondo and Ngorongoro (1959), conservation projects, tourism and foreign investment have led to the forced relocation of the Maasai, a continuous reduction of their living space and restrictions on their permitted activities (e.g. grazing). Between 2009 and 2022, security forces attempted four times to evict the Maasai population from their land in Loliondo.
In 2009, more than 200 Maasai houses were burnt down in a series of evictions. According to a report by the UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples, the affected people were not only left homeless after these evictions, but also without food, clothing, land, water, medical and other basic social services from the government. Evictions occurred again in 2013 and 2017. In August 2017, Maasai houses were burnt down and livestock confiscated. Following the events, the International Working Group on Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) published a report on the evictions in which it called for a halt to the evictions and compensation for those displaced. As a result, Hamisi Kigwangalla, the then Minister of Natural Resources, halted the evictions at the end of October 2017 and ordered all cattle confiscated during the evictions to be returned to their owners. However, the government is now pursuing a different course. Instead of eviction, it has increasingly spoken of ‘resettlement on a voluntary basis’. Nevertheless, authorities often use abusive and unlawful means such as beatings, shootings, sexual violence and arbitrary arrests to evict residents from their land. In June 2022, for example, security forces injured more than 30 demonstrators during a Maasai protest, arrested 10 community leaders and destroyed the property of many local residents. According to the government, a police officer was fatally injured by a spear during the clash. 25 people were arrested and later charged with conspiracy to murder the policeman.
Withdrawal of state social support in Ngorongoro
The human rights violations against the Maasai are not limited to the physical violence of the authorities, but take place on several levels. For example, social services have been cut back in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) since 2019. Not only has emergency medical care from the air been made more difficult and hospital staff withdrawn, but school facilities have also been discontinued and the water supply has been gradually cut back. Furthermore, COVID-19 relief funds intended for the Ngorongoro area were transferred to the Handenyi district, almost 600 kilometres away, which was designated by the Tanzanian government as a ‘resettlement area’ for the Maasai. In interviews with Amnesty International, several Maasai described how game rangers under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism confiscated Maasai livestock that had wandered into the demarcated game reserve. The game rangers extorted high fees for the return and later illegally auctioned off some of the cattle. In Loliondo, presidential and ministerial decrees are intended to make life and livestock farming impossible for the Maasai. The confiscation of cattle in particular further impoverishes the Maasai and jeopardises their existence. Despite successful lawsuits and court judgements, the Tanzanian authorities continue to confiscate cattle. These measures are intended to drive the Maasai communities out of the area.
Interview with Joseph Oleshangay - YouTube: Human rights lawyer Joseph Oleshangay, himself a Maasai from Ngorongoro and recipient of the Weimar Human Rights Award 2023, has emphasised that there is neither a functioning water nor health system in the disputed region for the approximately 90,000 Maasai living there. Now the government has also ordered the destruction of six health centres and nine state secondary schools. The state is ‘even destroying state infrastructure to achieve its goal’, says Oleshangay. These measures contrast sharply with the government's declaration of voluntary resettlement: ‘The result of such a measure has nothing to do with a voluntary decision.’ The Tanzanian government's actions violate international law in several ways. According to the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, no decision should be made without their free, prior and informed consent. Furthermore, the Tanzanian government is disregarding the provisions of the Kampala Convention of the African Union (AU), which Tanzania has also signed. These prohibit the arbitrary expulsion of people from their territories. According to the International Labour Organisation Convention (ILO 169), indigenous people must be involved in decisions affecting their territories at an early stage. However, Tanzania has not yet signed this convention.
Further Information:
Abulu, Latoya & Laurel Sutherland (2022). “Maasai protestors shot, beaten as Tanzania moves forward with wildlife game reserve,” Mongaby, 14. Juni 2022. Online: https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/maasai-protesters-shot-beaten-as-tanzania-moves-forward-with-wildlife-game-reserve/
Al Jazeera (2022). “In Tanzania, the Maasai fight eviction over state conservation plot,” Al Jazeera, 16. Juni 2022. Online: https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/6/16/in-tanzania-the-maasai-fight-eviction-over-statconservation-plot
Amnesty International (2023). “‘We have lost everything’: Forced evictions of the Maasai in Loliondo, Tanzania.” London: Amnesty International. Online: https://www.amnesty.org/fr/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/AFR5668412023ENGLISH.pdf
DW News (2023). “Why is Tanzania forcing the Maasai off their ancestral lands? | DW News,” YouTube, 27 May 2023. Online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNZjbH_0qIo
FIAN (2023). “Debunking government claims: The truth about Maasai rights in Ngorongoro and Loliondo, Tanzania.” Online: https://www.fian.de/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Debunking-Government-Claims-The-Truth-About-Maasai-Rights-in-Ngorongoro-and-Loliondo-Tanzania-May-2023.pdf
Fraser, Elizabeth (2018). “Displacement and Dispossession in Tanzania: How ‘Conservation is Destroying the Maasai,” Oakland Institute, 2018
Human Rights Watch (2020). World Report 2020. New York, 2020
Human Rights Watch (2023). “Tanzania: Maasai forcibly displaced for game reserve,” Human Rights Watch, 27. April 2023. Online: https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/04/27/tanzania-maasai-forcibly-displaced-game-reserve
International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (2023). “Tanzania,” in: The Indigenous World 2023 Report. Copenhagen, 2023 (pp. 122-131)
Minority Rights (2023). “Beyond just conservation: A History of Maasai dispossession,” Minority Rights, 23. February 2023. Online: https://minorityrights.org/2023/02/23/beyond-just-conservation-a-history-of-maasai-dispossession/#:~:text=When%20British%20colonialists%20established%20the,now%20been%20living%20for%20generations
Nyeko, Oryem & Juliana Nnoko-Mewanu (2023). “Tanzania’s eviction of Maasai pastoralists continues,” Human Rights Watch, 2. February 2023. Online: https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/02/02/tanzanias-eviction-maasai-pastoralists-continues
Oakland Institute (2018). Losing the Serengeti: The Maasai land that was to run forever. Oakland, California (CA). Online: https://www.oaklandinstitute.org/tanzania-safari-businesses-maasai-losing-serengeti
Oakland Institute (2021). The Looming Threat of Eviction: The Continued Displacement of the Maasai under the Guise of Conservation in Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Oakland, California (CA). Online: https://www.oaklandinstitute.org/sites/oaklandinstitute.org/files/tanzania-looming-threat-eviction.pdf
Oakland Institute (2022). Flawed Plans for Relocation of the Maasai from Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Oakland, California (CA). Online: https://www.oaklandinstitute.org/sites/oaklandinstitute.org/files/flawed-plans-maasai-ngorongoro.pdf
Patel, Reina (2022). “Maasai evictions highlight conflict between ‘preservation’ and citizenship,” Council on Foreign Relations, 13. Oktober 2022. Online: https://www.cfr.org/blog/maasai-evictions-highlight-conflict-between-preservation-and-citizenship
Survival International (2023). “Maasai delegation to meet European leader in a bid to end forced evictions and human rights abuses they are facing in Tanzania,” Survival International, 25. Mai 2023. Online: https://www.survivalinternational.org/news/13689
UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples Rights (2010). “United Republic of Tanzania: Alleged forced removal of pastoralists,” 15 September 2010. Online: https://unsr.jamesanaya.org/?p=321
UNESCO (2022). “Ngorongoro: UNESCO has never at any time asked for the displacement of the Maasai people,” UNESCO, 21 March 2022. Online: https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2419
United Nations (2019). Special Report on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Genf, Oktober 2019. Online: https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=24872