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Land Rights & Natural Resource Management
Pastoralists and Hunter Gatherers
What’s the Issue?
The Pastoralists
Pastoralists are losing access to land and the natural resources they traditionally own to powerful interests such as commercial farmers, conservation programmes and the tourism industry. For them these problems are sometimes made worse by drought. Yet pastoralists are able to manage land and natural resources in some inhospitable areas and in many cases make an important contribution to the national economy and eco system.
Access to communally owned and shared land is crucial to the Maasai livelihood and cattle are the dominant measure of social status. However the economic value of livestock rearing has been undermined by poor infrastructure and the higher financial returns from other land uses, such as tourism, conservation and hunting. While these economic activities grow on the abundance of wildlife and natural beauty sustained by pastoralists, pastoralists themselves have been excluded from sharing the generated revenue. In fact, in cases like the world-famous Serengeti National Park in northern Tanzania, Maasai have even been evicted from and denied any rights to their traditional lands. This often results in the break-up of Maasai communities, the eradication of their culture and the destruction of their environment and ultimately, poverty.
Hunter gatherers in Crisis
The Dorobo face severel external threats to their way of life, culture and environment. Some fear that they may have lost so much of their natural resource base that as an ethnic group, they will be scattered without the social cohesion and access to resources necessary for survival. The scattered and isolated existence of these communities means that there is a lack of basic information about them and their low profile has prevented them from becoming the beneficiaries of community projects or advocacy work by existing indigenous people organisations.
Their crisis is caused by a systematic loss of traditional lands utilized for hunting and gathering activities. The dominant view is that hunter-gatherers' mode of production is illegitimate, resulting in political, social, and economic discrimination. They are consistently denied their rights over marriage, labour, land, education, and representation. They are seriously stigmatized as impoverished and “backwards” and have no representation at local or national level, in part due to no strong definition of leadership within their social structures.
Land- Education- Land
It comes down to land. Development policies attempt to force hunter-gatherers to settle in one place and give up a semi-nomadic existence. Agriculturalists and Pastoralists have encroached on their lands and now they are losing them to commercial interests, primarily agricultural. And ironically they are denied access to important resources by conservation agencies, often in the name of conserving biodiversity! Communities who have traditionally lived by hunting and gathering are also losing their lands . . . to commercial hunters.
Loss of lands also denies future options for diversification. Dorobo communities regularly face starvation and are often unable to even harvest honey. A meagre income is sometimes available as exploited labour for in-migration, cultivator communities - or the sadly rare ethical tour operator.
However there are some opportunities. Few would dispute hunter-gatherers their status as original inhabitants and some organizations are asserting their rights. But ultimately it is the hunter-gatherers themselves who must have the strength, confidence and resources to advocate their rights. And the first two are land and education.
Diversity
If hunter-gathers are going to understand and claim their place in the world they need skills to defend and diversify their economy. And they need other skills like teaching, financial management, food security and rights awareness. Hunter-gatherers represent the diversity of humanity so threatened by global uniformity, anonymity, and our relationship with the environment.
In a world that often professes utopian ideals of egalitarianism and environmentalism, it is a sad irony that those communities which come nearest to attaining that dream are in danger of being wiped out. Hunter-gatherer's have the least environmental impact, the smallest ecological footprint, than any community on this planet. Yet they face extinction. If they were animals they would be accorded endangered species status; documentaries would be made; thousands of dollars raised. The tragic irony of this injustice is that the conservation lobby is one of their major threats.
What’s African Initiatives doing?
Together with our partners, the CRT we have based our work on the existing Tanzanian law & constitution which recognises the legitimacy of traditional land tenures. The CRT has been utilising traditional democratic structures (such as the village council) to successfully resolve conflicts and secure access to land and community natural resources. So far the CRT team has facilitated land use planning in 4 villages; supported and advised 3 Village Councils in opposing hunting blocks; increased participation at General Assemblies; attended a Frankfurt Zoological Society workshop conservation to put across the community perspective, and hosted a meeting on NGOs in Loliondo!
Land Use Plans involves the geographical mapping of areas used by pastoralists and hunter gatherers by highlighting the different uses the land is put to (e.g. grazing, water resources, tourism etc). The aim of the Land Use Plans is to increase participation and strengthen land rights awareness in these communities. They have now been agreed and implemented in forty-two villages, helping communities which are often led by women to resist illegal land grabbing. These conflicts are caused by national parks and conservation organisations, outside investors, commercial farmers or inward migration from other communities.
African Initiatives is working in partnership with the CRT and the communities to design and implement activities for the hunter gatherers which are based on the success of our similar work with Maasai and pastoralists. One of the most important is community natural resource management, working to secure access to traditional lands and natural resources and address conflicts between the Dorobo communities and their neighbours (especially the pastoralists). We also plan to implement an education and economic literacy programme that addresses Dorobo educational needs and delivers human rights awareness training. Finally, it is important to facilitiate meetings between the Dorobo communities to establish a community centre that can work with and represent the interest of the Dorobo communities.
Participating in decision making and democracy is very important for all marginalised groups. Community awareness activities in Tanzania have increased understanding of democratic processes, relevant election issues and responsibilities. CRT has initiated community led Land Campaigns in 5 districts culminating in a regional forum and national gathering. Local government accountability has been improved and corruption reduced while African Initiatives has identified an increase in democratic participation in 38 Villages.
Achievements so Far - the Facts
Together with eco-tourism, Land Use Plans are benefiting over 120,000 Pastoralists and Hunter Gatherers in a number of ways:
- Improvements and additions to schools and village council offices
- Payment of children’s school fees;
- The development of 10 health dispensaries and 2 health insurance schemes
- 20 water projects
- 10 women’s income projects.
- LUPs have also led to the improved management of 23 water sources and rivers, forests and charcoal production in 13 villages.
For our briefing paper on the Cost of Conservation please see our Campaigns and Resources Page