39 years ago in 1974, the Government
of Tanzania, through its Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism and through Government
Notice No. 269 and in line with its now world-renowned and acclaimed
Conservation Policy and in accordance with the historical Policy position that
all Land is a National Resource, declared through Government Gazette that 4,000
square kilometers in the Loliondo Area in Arusha Region would be re-classified
as Loliondo Game Controlled Area for purely wildlife protection.
Effectively, this made Loliondo Game
Controlled Area part of the Tanzania’s Protected Area (PA) Network which covers
24 percent of the country’s total land surface. This is one of the highest commitments
to wildlife protection anywhere in the world and as mentioned above was made
consciously for protection of wildlife and for the benefit of all human kind.
Tanzania’s
Protected Area Network includes all the 15 National Parks (NP) and Ngorongoro
Conservation Area (NCA), both of which are set aside specifically for non-consumptive
use of wildlife resources, 28 Game Reserves (GRs) and 44 Game Controlled Areas
(GCAs) of which Loliondo GCA is one of them.
Game Reserves
and Game Controlled Areas are for consumptive utilization of wildlife such as
sport hunting. However, Section 17 of the Wildlife Conservation Act No. 5 of
2009 restricts human activities such as settlements and livestock grazing in these
areas.
However, as
population has increased and pressures on land have grown greater in recent
years in the surrounding areas, the Government has felt it necessary and
recognized its primary responsibility of providing land for people in this
area, most of whom are landless and whose lives are therefore highly
vulnerable.
It was in
recognition of this situation and in meeting its primary responsibilities that
the Government of Tanzania recently made a decision to de-gazette 2,500 square kilometers
of land, out of the gazetted 4,000 square kilometers, to allow local
inhabitants of Loliondo area to freely utilize that land for their own community
development.
It was also decided
that the remaining 1,500 square kilometers of land be retained as Game
Controlled Area for continued protection of the wildlife and the environment
for the benefit of the present and future generations of humankind.
The Government
took this decision with the understanding that environment conservation is as important
for eco-system protection as it is for community livelihood and community
development.
On 26th
of March, this year, therefore, Hon. Khamis Sued Kagasheki, Minister for
Natural Resources and Tourism, using powers invested into him under Wildlife
Conservation Act No. 5 of 2009, Section 16 (4) announced this Government
position partly also as effort by Government to resolve a land use conflict that
has existed in Loliondo Game Controlled Area for the past 20 years.
In his
announcement, the Minister made it clear that the Government took that decision
to provide land to the growing landless population in the area.
In announcing
the Government decision, Minister Kagasheki emphasized powers given to him by
law to review Game Controlled Areas for the purpose of ascertaining
continuation of control of such areas bearing in mind that the1,500 square
kilometres retained by Government are significantly important to the entire
Serengeti and Ngorongoro ecosystem.
Among other
reasons, these 1,500 square kilometers are a crucial breeding area for
wildlife, a corridor for iconic great migration of wildlife in particular for
millions of wildebeest and a critical water catchment area.
It is
therefore a gross and indeed a malicious misrepresentation of facts for a section
of people both in and outside of Loliondo Game Controlled Area to claim that
the Government of Tanzania was grabbing land from the Loliondo local
communities. Who is grabbing land from whom?
First, these
people have been living in the area illegally for many years because this land
was never allocated to them under any Government arrangement. However, for very
compassionate reasons the Government has allowed them to continue living there
for all these years. Second, this land has always remained Government land
throughout all those years.
The
conceivable logic here is that the Government of Tanzania has made unique
history of land-grabbing from itself to provide for its citizens in this case.
This is a very laudable action and not something for which the Government of
Tanzania should take all the bashing which has gone viral on social networks.
What the
Government of Tanzania has now done is in fact to provide 62.7 percent of this
land of the Loliondo Game Controlled Area to local communities for present and
future use and out of Government realization of its responsibilities to provide
for its citizens. Surely, no Government in world can be blamed for meeting its
responsibilities to such high levels.
Issued
by:
Ministry
of Natural Resources and Tourism
DAR ES SALAAM
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