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Tanzania to allow settlers into protected areas
The conservation world was alarmed by a recent directive from the president of Tanzania opening up protected natural areas to settlement. The affects many smaller forest and wildlife reserves spread around the country.
The Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism had planned to evict illegal settlers from several protected areas. But the president overruled him, ordering “leaders in the ministries concerned to identify conservancies and forest reserves that have no wildlife so that the same are given to landless pastoralists and farmers.” In addition, he lifted the ban on farming within 200 feet of waterways, a restriction that gave protection from runoff and human-wildlife conflict.
This illustrates the ongoing dynamic – A tsunami of population growth is relentlessly increasing demand for farm and grazing land. If settlers can move into protected areas with no consequence, they will continue until all protected areas are gone. Read more on this.
By contrast, the U.S. Congress just passed a massive public lands bill adding 1.3 million acres of new wilderness and withdrawing lands from mining. Included is a big victory for Yellowstone National Park, the banning of gold mining.
This bipartisan bill was the result of widespread grassroots opposition against policies that would destroy jobs and spoil natural areas. This is the reason we’re working in communities around the Serengeti, so some day there will be a human buffer zone against exploitation and destruction as well.
Giraffes threatened
According to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, "The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species is once again drawing attention to the plight of giraffe. The IUCN Red List reveals that they are in serious trouble, with some now being considered as ‘Critically Endangered’."
Environmental groups in the U.S. have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for failing to respond to a petition to add giraffes to the U.S. endangered species list. More
This comes just as a report that twenty-five giraffe were killed in the past two years by poachers in Loliondo District next to the Serengeti.
Some good news
The Tanzanian president said that he would protect current national parks by hardening their boundaries and preventing incursions by settlers and grazers. In addition, the government has voted to transform five game reserves into national parks. These are Biharamuro, Burigi, Kimisi, Ibanda and Rumanyika Game Reserves. They are located on the western side of Lake Victoria, near the Rwanda-Uganda borders. Learn more. Thank you, and welcome to the new parks! |
