Activists Point Out Weaknesses of Wildlife Bill

Arusha Times (Arusha)
8 November 2008
Posted to the web 11 November 2008

The Director of Pastoralists Indigenous Non Governmental Organizations Forum (PINGO's Forum), Edward Porokwa has said the proposed wildlife legislation (Wildlife Bill 2008) had serious weaknesses.

Addressing wildlife conservation activists in Dar es Salaam last week, Porokwa said that the new bill wants the enlargement of the protected areas, a proposal that takes away the rights of the communities living in the respective areas.

 
"Currently 38 per cent of all Tanzanian land is protected. Enlarging such areas means establishing new categories of protected areas and in the categories communities are restricted to graze in their areas something that was not there in the 1974 policy," said Porokwa.

Porokwa said the protected areas are Game reserve control areas, Buffer zone, Dispersal areas, Wildlife conservation, Wetland areas and Wetland reserves, noting that restricting villagers to graze in these areas, is to fuel conflicts between farmers and pastoralists.

Porokwa said section 20, subsection 1 and 2 of the new bill should be removed because if left it would mark the end of pastoralism in the country.

The section states that any person shall not, save with the written permission of the director previously sought and obtained, graze any livestock in the game reserve area. Porokwa said the section does not do any good to pastoralists and that it interfered with occupants' customary rights.

Porokwa also mentioned another weakness of the new bill as that of leaving out the land owners and giving authority to the director of wildlife and the minister to approve people to enter into private and village land without owner's permission.

Dr. George Jambiya, geographer and senior lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) said the 2007 policy was a policy for certain people and as stakeholders they cannot let the act go without major changes to be done.

Rugemeleza Nshala of Lawyers' Environmental Action Team (LEAT) writing on the website of the Forum, said that the Bill seeks to legitimize, the otherwise illegal powers that have, hitherto, purportedly been exercised by the Wildlife Division.

Article at:  http://allafrica.com/stories/200811110700.html