Op-ed

A Parable of Sacrifice for Conservation

It is not the legitimacy of the Oakland Institute that needs to be questioned, but the abdication of responsibility by the Tanzanian government to ensure democratic and human rights of all its citizens.

Anuradha Mittal And Andy Currier

July 31, 2024

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The governing council of a village planned a grandiose ceremony to attract more visitors to the area. The land surrounding the village abounds with wildlife that the communities had lived alongside and protected. It could be a source of revenue as tourists would come in droves, thought the council.

But the village priest, a much loved and respected village elder, had some serious concerns. Might plans to attract tourists adversely impact the lives of villagers and their relationship with nature? Will the villagers have a say in how the tourist income is used to benefit the community? Who will run the tourist tours?

The questions, however, remained unanswered. Instead, on the day of the ceremony, the priest was sent to collect flowers and herbs from the forest. Late evening, the news came: the priest had been eaten by a lion.

The news of the priest’s brutal death jolted the community. Distress compounded as news spread that the council now planned to offer the wealthy tourists a “serene savannah teeming with wildlife” experience. The villagers had become a hindrance and were to be moved elsewhere.

After a few months, the council again embarked on plans for the ceremony to boost tourism. The new priest was sent to the forest for the ceremony, painted as necessary for the larger common good. This priest, too, was eaten up by a lion.

Despair grew among the villagers, who questioned the ceremony to attract outsiders for revenue, while their own lives and livelihoods were being devastated as they faced pressure to move. They questioned the killing of the priest by the lion.

To quell discontent, the village council called for a meeting. After hours of deliberation, they decided to make the eating of the priest a part of the sacrifice ceremony itself.

This parable speaks very concretely to the villagers facing evictions and abuses by the World Bank-financed Resilient Natural Resource Management for Tourism and Growth (REGROW) project in Tanzania. The sacrifice of their lives and livelihoods has become a part of the Tanzanian government’s “conservation” exercise.

True lies

On April 18, 2024, the World Bank suspended financing to the REGROW project in Tanzania, citing deep concern about the allegations of abuse and injustice related to the project.

This rare and drastic step came amidst an ongoing investigation by the Bank’s Inspection Panel, triggered by courageous villagers in Mbarali District who testified how the expansion of the Ruaha National Park as a “tourism asset” was eviscerating their rights to land and life.

In response, the Tanzanian government has resorted to a desperate media campaign denying human rights abuses and forced displacement. Instead of forging a new path forward, based on respect and adherence to international norms and standards, Tanzania denies the evidence it violates its own Constitution, as well as several United Nations human rights conventions and treaties it is party to.

Not surprisingly, the likes of the Tanzanian Association of Tour Operators (TATO) – whose lifeline is safari tourism and hunting – have joined in the chorus of the government’s lies.

It is important to tackle some of the government’s false claims so it can be made to get to the task on hand – end all evictions across the country and do away with the neo-colonial model of fortress conservation promoted by so-called conservation organisations and international “development” institutions.

False claim #1: According to the Tanzanian government, despite the October 2023 Government Notice (GN 754) that expanded Ruaha National Park’s boundaries, villagers are allowed to continue living inside the park.

In its latest bout of amnesia, the Tanzanian government is forgetting that the National Parks Act prohibits human settlement in all National Parks. Government Notice 754 of 2023, thereby renders villages occupied by tens of thousands of people to be illegally located within a National Park.

If the government is indeed sincere, it would put out an official government notice declaring that the villagers can stay in their lands; change the boundaries of the RUNAPA; or amend the National Parks Act; to ensure that the farmers and pastoralists are not evicted from their homes and lands.

False claim #2: The government says that only a few villages, who have consented to the decision, are now considered inside RUNAPA.

In making this claim, the Tanzanian government fails to explain why 855 residents from 23 villages facing evictions in Mbarali District have filed a case in the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) against the Attorney General of Tanzania to nullify GN 754.

During the Bank management’s visit to impacted villages in June 2024, communities confirmed that they did not provide their Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) to changes in the park’s boundaries.

False claim #3: The government denies that the pastoralists and local farmers are adversely impacted by the expansion of the park.

This response from the Tanzanian government makes a mockery of the World Bank’s Inspection Panel, which heard testimonies directly from pastoralists who were brutally attacked during cattle seizures by TANAPA rangers, while grazing cattle within the land of their legally registered villages. Or that farmers in villages are prevented from planting their fields by the rangers, who confiscated farming equipment at the start of the rains in January.

The enormous financial strain induced by TANAPA’s cattle and farm equipment seizures is destroying livelihoods of the villagers, as stated in their complaint to the Inspection Panel of the World Bank. Furthermore, basic social services – including electricity and school repairs – have been halted in some areas. These restrictions have put tens of thousands of lives on hold.

False claim #4: Stunningly, the government alleges that the findings of the World Bank contradict the Oakland Institute’s reports of abuses and forced displacement.

Yet, the Inspection Panel actually decided to launch an official investigation after confirming the findings of the Institute. The Tanzanian government also hides the fact that the Bank has not yet published findings from their latest visit in June 2024 by a high-level delegation, nor has it publicly contradicted the Oakland Institute’s findings. These spurious claims do not just embarrass the government, but the Bank’s management as well.

False claim #5: The government pretending that “All relocations in Tanzania are conducted voluntarily, with considerable incentives and care given to those affected,” would be a comical if not for the facts available here.

Legitimacy

Afraid that its web of lies and poor washing might fail, the Tanzanian government and the TATO have resorted to questioning the legitimacy of the Oakland Institute, an independent US-based organization, for interfering in government plans. Let us be clear: Our work on land rights around the globe – from Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka to Kenya, Tanzania and Nicaragua – starts at the request of impacted communities.

Impacted villagers from the Mbarali District, who learnt of our work challenging the violence of “fortress conservation” in Northern Tanzania and Kenya, asked for support for their struggle against a government with a long history of abuse and disrespect of their most basic rights.

It is also time to end the lack of accountability by the World Bank, which allowed over a hundred million dollars in financing for a project that devastates lives and livelihoods of farmers and pastoralists. Or else, like the parable, the eating of the villagers will become the defining part of the government and World Bank’s revenue boosting “conservation” schemes.

Anuradha Mittal is the Executive Director, and Andy Currier is the Policy Analyst at the Oakland Institute. The opinions expressed here are the writers’ own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Chanzo. If you are interested in publishing in this space, please get in touch with our editors at editor@thechanzo.com.