Dar es Salaam – Academics, researchers, and environmental practitioners convened at the University of Dar es Salaam on March 26, 2026, for a landmark conference aimed at reshaping the future of environmental protection in Africa.
The two-day event, titled the International Symposium on African Voices on Conservation in Africa, focuses on reclaiming narratives, agency, and resources in environmental stewardship.
Hosted by the university’s College of Social Sciences, the symposium has attracted delegates from across the globe, including participants from South Africa and Europe.
It provides a critical platform to evaluate the current trajectory of conservation efforts and address the historical marginalisation of African perspectives in global environmental governance.
Prof Nelson Boniphace, the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research at the university, highlighted the urgent need for comprehensive environmental protection, noting that modern global challenges, including climate change and the resource-intensive demands of artificial intelligence, require robust conservation strategies.
“We are in the era of artificial intelligence, where we use a lot of energy for the systems that manage data, which requires mining and consequently damages the environment,” he told journalists when briefing them about the symposium.
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He emphasised that data centres consume massive amounts of electricity and water, making environmental preservation more critical than ever.
The symposium aligns closely with the nation’s Development Vision 2050, which prioritises environmental integrity and climate-change resilience.
It also supports the broader African Union Agenda 2063 and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
Prof Boniphace proudly pointed out the university’s long-standing commitment to ecological preservation since its establishment.
The campus serves as a living example of conservation, protecting natural vegetation and local wildlife, including populations of vervet monkeys that are monitored using night-vision cameras.
Beyond academic discourse, the conference serves as an evaluation of past conservation resolutions to measure actual progress on the ground.
Professor Boniphace also noted that ongoing research at the university is stimulating investment in the lucrative carbon trading market, allowing the nation to participate actively in the global conservation economy.
The conference features a keynote address by Professor Maano Ramutsindela, a distinguished geography scholar from the University of Pretoria and the University of Cape Town.
His participation underscores the collaborative, cross-border effort to decolonise conservation practices across the continent.
Dr Christene Noe, Principal of the College of Social Sciences, stressed that conservation directly impacts human lives and must be scrutinised through a social science lens.
She questioned the origins of current conservation knowledge, warning that relying solely on external sources inherently flaws local preservation efforts.
“We must look back and ask where modern conservation came from, and where we as Africans allowed our voices to be overtaken by others,” Dr Noe stated.
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She pointed out that external funding for conservation and research often dilutes local priorities, replacing them with the agendas of foreign donors.
This loss of agency extends beyond academia, as Dr Noe warned that even government voices can be overshadowed by the influence of international funding.
The symposium aims to translate these academic discussions into tangible policy changes that improve the relationship between environmental protection and community livelihoods.
Dr Noe revealed that the gathering is expected to culminate in joint academic publications and policy briefs to guide future research and government action.
These outputs will help researchers secure funding on their own terms and advocate for policies that genuinely reflect African priorities.
Dr Neema Laizer, a literature lecturer at the university, brought attention to the often-ignored voices of indigenous communities in conservation discourse.
Drawing from her research on Maasai communities, she highlighted how their historical narratives and traditional knowledge have been systematically erased since the colonial era.
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“Conservation is something that does not even require formal schooling; it requires experience and interaction with the environment,” Dr Laizer argued.
She challenged the prevailing model of participatory projects, which typically introduce foreign ideas and merely ask local communities to implement them.
Dr Laizer also criticised how the media portrays these initiatives, noting that reports rarely acknowledge when conservation ideas originate from the communities themselves.
Instead, she advocated for conservation initiatives that are entirely conceptualised and driven by the communities seeking to solve their own environmental challenges.
The symposium represents a growing movement among African scholars to ensure that the continent’s environmental policies are dictated by its own people.
