Speaking at a public meeting recently, three members from the Hadzabe community of Yaeda China valley, said that poachers have been invading their land “with modern firearms” and killing animals for sport.
The members formally asked the Tanzania government for help in stopping the poachers, saying that their only hope is if they step in and intervene.
The government turned them down. As reported in the Arusha Times, Allan Shani, the Mbulu District Natural Resources Officer, told the members that “the government alone cannot stop poaching” and that “what is needed… is the local people’s support and cooperation.”
Shani went on to say that the government has decided to give investors access to Hadzabe lands, under the auspices of subsidizing ongoing “sustainable conservation” efforts.
This will include an industry ploy the Hadzabe are all too familiar with: “Sustainable Hunting Tourism.”
In 2007, Royals from the United Arab Emirates, along with UAE Safari, attempted to establish a fishing and sport hunting enterprise on Hadzabe lands.
Thankfully, mounting international pressure jolted the company enough to walk away from the plan.
They are now hoping that individuals and non-governmental organizations around the world will once again come forward and help them achieve food security as well as land rights—and, for the long run—a tangible future where they can live their own way of life.
Photos: radicalanthropologygroup.org
What You Can Do
If you would like to support the Hadzabe, also known as the Hadza, send an email to President Jakaya Kikwete, urging him to protect the Hazabe’s rights as guaranteed by Article 13 of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania.
- President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, United Republic of Tanzania – State House Luthuli Road, Box 9120, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 00 255 22 2 116 898 / 22 2 116 899 00 255 22 2 113 425 info@ikulu.go.tz
You may also want to contact:
- Private Secretary to Mizengo Pinda, Prime Minister of Tanzania, Email: pm@pmo.go.tz; privatesec@pmo.go.tz
- Mr. Yacoub El Hillo, UNHCR Representative to Tanzania, elhillo@unhcr.org
- Tanzanian Embassy in your country: http://www.embassiesabroad.com/embassies-of/Tanzania
And, finally: UN Special Rapporteur S. James Anaya, who has previously investigated the situation (see: August 2008 Report, page 87-90)
- S. James Anaya, UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous Peoples, UN Human Rights Council Email:indigenous@ohchr.org