Dar es Salaam. An investigation by the Inspection Panel of the World Bank has confirmed the international lender’s non-compliance with its safeguards and operating procedures in the planning and supervision of a conservation project that is reported to have resulted in “serious harm” to communities.
Approved in 2018, the Tanzania Resilient Natural Resource Management for Tourism and Growth (REGROW), which the government canceled in November 2024, was a US$150 million project whose objective was to “improve management of natural resources and tourism assets in priority areas of southern Tanzania and to increase access to alternative livelihood activities for targeted communities.”
The Bretton Woods institution launched the investigation into the project in November 2023 following claims that the lender violated its policies in implementing the project, including allowing the involuntary resettlement of indigenous peoples.
On July 20, 2023, two individuals residing in the project area submitted a Request for Inspection to the Bank’s Inspection Panel, an independent mechanism for people and communities who believe they have been, or are likely to be, adversely affected by a World Bank-funded project.
The complaint alleged that Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA) had threatened to evict residents from villages within the Ruaha National Park (RUNAPA), used excessive force, and seized cattle.
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While the Panel investigation was ongoing, the same individuals submitted a second request with additional information on May 3, 2024, indicating the imminent planned eviction of households within the park and escalating cattle and farm equipment seizure.
On April 18, 2024, the World Bank suspended disbursements under the project due to the government of Tanzania’s non-compliance with resettlement-related obligations, leading authorities in the East African nation to suspend the project altogether.
The investigation that ensued found non-compliance in adequately identifying and addressing risks related to the potential resettlement of communities remaining inside the project area; park access restrictions and conflicts resulting from the enforcement of park access restrictions had not been fully identified or mitigated. As a result, the relevant safeguards instruments were not applied on time.
“We regret that the REGROW project preparation and supervision did not sufficiently account for project risks, resulting in inadequate mitigation measures to address adverse impacts,” a statement quoted Anna Bjerde, World Bank Managing Director of Operations, as saying.
Ibrahim Pam, Inspection Panel Chair, said that the investigation yields critical lessons for the World Bank’s approach to supporting conservation and other projects that require physical resettlement and restrict access to legally designated parks, especially where unauthorized physical and economic presence is prohibited, and the project is implemented through a law enforcement agency.
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“Management has acknowledged its compliance failures and has undertaken to implement actions approved by the Executive Directors of the Bank to redress the harms caused, which the Panel’s investigation found,” he added. “The Inspection Panel pays tribute to the courage of the requesters in approaching the Panel with the harms that they suffered.”
The actions, approved Wednesday, include the preparation of two new community-driven operations which aim to provide “dedicated support to poor and vulnerable communities through livelihood development, climate resilience efforts, and social service provision.”
Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director of the Oakland Institute, a U.S.-based think tank that supported the Tanzanian nationals in their requests, said the investigation’s findings have “vindicated” pastoralists and farmers who refused to be silenced amidst “widespread government repression.”
“The World Bank failed to act after it was informed of the harms it was financing,” Mittal said in a statement. “It continued disbursements for a full year, allowing cattle seizures and farm closures to drain family savings, kept children out of school, and let TANAPA rangers murder more innocent villagers with impunity. No institution is above the law and can be allowed to get away with crimes like this.”
She criticised the approved actions to cure the damage, saying that they fall short of addressing the real problem and describes it as an attempt by the World Bank to “refuse to acknowledge its responsibility in allowing the park expansion.”
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“Suggesting that tens of thousands of people forced out of their land can survive with ‘alternative livelihoods’ such as clean cooking and microfinance is a slap on the face of the victims,” Mittal said.
“It demonstrates the World Bank’s continued lack of remorse for harms financed by tax dollars and makes a mockery of its own accountability mechanism.”
