This Human Rights Day, Stand With the Maasai to End Fortress Conservation

The colonization of Indigenous lands in the name of conservation has devastated far too many lives and must immediately end.

Themes: CBD, Conservation, FPIC, Human rights, Hunting, Indigenous people, Livlihoods, NGOs, Parks, Pastoralists, Poverty

An Opinion piece by Andy Currier, Research Associate at the Oakland Institute and co-author of Driving Dispossession: The Global Push to “Unlock the Economic Potential of Land”.

The steady decline of Ladakh’s nomadic herders

Themes: Pastoralists, Parks, Livlihoods, Indigenous people, Tourism

Military tensions, ecological concerns and a tourism boom, all threaten to wipe out the Changpa tribe’s traditional occupation.

Regional court dismisses Maasai eviction case against Tanzania

Rights groups said Friday’s ruling sends a dangerous message that Indigenous peoples can be evicted from their land in the name of conservation.

Themes: Conservation, FPIC, Human rights, Indigenous people, Livlihoods, Parks, Pastoralists

Photo - Maasai rights activists from the Maa Unity Agenda group march to protest outside the Tanzanian high commission in Nairobi, Kenya [File: Ben Curtis/AP]

Bedouin community fear Galilee conservation plan is part of a bid to ‘uproot’ them.

Nature and Parks Authority faces opposition to planned wildlife corridor near Haifa, which environmentalists say is an important part of efforts to protect endangered animals

Themes: Indigenous people, Livlihoods, Pastoralists, Parks, Poverty

Dubai royal family driving out thousands of Maasai to oblige rich foreign hunters

Themes: Conservation, Human rights, Hunting, Indigenous people, Livlihoods, NGOs, Parks, Pastoralists, Poverty

Maasai are being evicted from a Tanzanian wildlife paradise to make way for neocolonial land grabs by the Dubai royal family. The reason? The right to hunt unhindered for the next 30 years.

In Tanzania, the Maasai may lose their land – Again.

In Tanzania, a way of life hangs in the balance

Themes: Conservation, Human rights, Hunting, Indigenous people, Livlihoods, NGOs, Parks, Pastoralists, Poverty

East Africa must reject its colonial model of conserving wildlife

‘Fortress’ game reserves displaced the Maasai but ignore the pastoralists’ role in maintaining wildlife and biodiversity

Themes: Conservation, Human rights, Indigenous people, Livlihoods, NGOs, Parks, Poverty, Tourism

The recent violent evictions of Maasai in Loliondo, Tanzania, to make way for a luxury game reserve is the latest in a long list of examples of community owners of land suffering under a “fortress conservation” model adopted in the heyday of colonialism. And what for? So that others, be they wealthy tourists or royalty, can use swathes of land as their playgrounds.

Loliondo - Tanzania charges 20 Maasai with murder after police officer dies during protests

Lawyers say government is attempting to intimidate pastoralists as thousands flee to Kenya amid escalating row over evictions

Themes: Conservation, Human rights, Indigenous people, Livlihoods, NGOs, Parks, Pastoralists, Poverty