Tanzania: Maasai Protest UNESCO's Complicity in their Eviction for 'Conservation'

UN experts condemn human rights violations as Maasai communities face eviction from ancestral lands under UNESCO-backed conservation plans. | Contesto: cronaca

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• Tanzania: Maasai Protest UNESCO's Complicity in their Eviction for 'Conservation'

Contesto

In a significant escalation of a long-running land conflict, Maasai communities in northern Tanzania are protesting what they term UNESCO's complicity in their forced eviction from the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Loliondo, areas designated for conservation and tourism. The protests, ongoing for weeks, have drawn sharp condemnation from eight independent United Nations human rights experts, who issued a joint statement declaring that "conservation efforts must not come at the expense of human rights." The experts specifically criticized the Tanzanian government's plans, which they argue are being legitimized by UNESCO's World Heritage status for the region, leading to the displacement of indigenous pastoralists without their free, prior, and informed consent. The core of the dispute lies in the Tanzanian government's policy to expand protected areas and promote high-end tourism and trophy hunting. Authorities have framed the relocation of an estimated 150,000 Maasai from the Ngorongoro Conservation Area as a necessary measure to alleviate human pressure on the ecosystem and wildlife. Similarly, a 1,500-square-kilometer area of Loliondo has been earmarked as a game reserve, land the Maasai have used for grazing for generations. The government maintains these actions are for conservation and development, but affected communities and rights groups see them as a land grab for commercial interests, violating ancestral land rights and a way of life intrinsically linked to the environment. The involvement of UNESCO has become a focal point of international criticism. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, designated for its outstanding universal value encompassing both natural wonders and a long history of human coexistence with wildlife. The UN experts argue that UNESCO's silence and failure to intervene meaningfully has effectively provided cover for the evictions. They assert that by not insisting Tanzania adhere to international human rights standards, the UN body is complicit in a process that could constitute forced displacement and a severe breach of the Maasai's economic, social, and cultural rights. Survival International, the...

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Categoria: cronaca