By Special Correspondent, New York, USA
Tanzania has participated in the 78th United Nations General Assembly, which commenced on September 25, 2023, at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, USA. The country utilized this platform to elucidate the steps taken by the Government to preserve conservation and the welfare of the citizens in the Ngorongoro District.
Tanzania's delegation at the assembly was led by Ambassador Hussein Kattanga, Permanent Representative of Tanzania to the United Nations, Prof. Hamisi Malebo, the Executive Secretary of the Tanzanian UNESCO Commission, and Ms. Zuleikha Tambwe, Senior Officer at the Permanent Mission of Tanzania to the United Nations.
Tanzania's participation in the assembly was aimed at responding to the concerns raised by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Mr. Francisco Calì Tzay, regarding litigants who filed a land case in 2013, registered as case number 26, at the High Court of Tanzania in Arusha, seeking the restoration of land known as Sukenya Farm or Enavisha Environmental Reserve, measuring approximately 12,167 acres within the Ngorongoro District.
Presenting the topic at the assembly, Prof. Hamis Malebo, the Executive Secretary of the Tanzanian UNESCO Commission, informed the delegates that it was not appropriate for the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania to be discussed under the agenda item of Indigenous Peoples. He emphasized the Government of Tanzania's stance that there are no indigenous people, indigenous land, or ancestral land.
He elaborated that the international community and human rights activists should understand Tanzania's land ownership system before making any claims, as Tanzania's land ownership system does not recognize indigenous land, ancestral land, or traditional land. "All land is public property and is entrusted to the President as a trustee, and individuals are granted the right to reside temporarily on the land. ... Therefore, it is incorrect to claim that the Maasai or any other tribe in Tanzania owns land or has tribal land. The clear fact is that human beings living within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area are affected by conflicts between humans and wildlife, diseases transmitted from wildlife, environmental changes, and weather conditions in the area," emphasized Prof. Malebo.
He further pointed out that conservation biology demonstrates that human activities within forests are catalysts that accelerate biodiversity loss, undermining heritage conservation and efforts to mitigate global warming.
Addressing conservation challenges in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Prof. Malebo noted that the Maasai pastoralists in Tanzania were traditionally nomadic, living in traditional homesteads and migrating from one place to another in search of water and grazing land for their livestock. However, in recent times, they have transitioned from their traditional way of life, adopting a mix of different beliefs such as indigenous, Christian, and Islamic, constructing permanent and modern settlements in the wilderness, engaging in various businesses, and using vehicles, some of which conflict with conservation activities.
In 1959, there were approximately 8,000 pastoralists residing within a settlement area of 6.4 square kilometers. Presently, the settlement area within Ngorongoro is no less than 3,700 square kilometers compared to the entire conservation area, which is 8,292 square kilometers, equivalent to 44.6%.
He further highlighted that the ongoing significant population and livestock increase in the area pose a danger to the ecological system, potentially leading to the complete eradication of the remaining biodiversity, transforming the entire area into human settlements in the future.
This situation is inconsistent with the United Nations 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The world may lose the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and the great wildebeest migration may cease to be witnessed
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