ENVIRONMENT: Elite tourism to bulldoze the rights of indigenous people, Tanzania
When big foreign business is helped by an African government to maximize the revenues
In Tanzania, I visited Arusha and Ngorongoro to speak with the protesters opposing the ruling party’s prioritization of elite tourism over the rights of its own people.
The government seeks to evict the Maasai from the conservation area despite lacking evidence that they pose any threat to the wildlife.
People feel they are not allowed to get their voices heard that is why it was very important for me to get in touch with them.
As a result of my March reporting trip, several pieces were produced.
Find out how exactly the Maasai activists try to defend their homeland in a country where protests and activism remain very low due to decades-long suppression of freedom of speech, and what severe restrictions the government has imposed on them to make them leave the area.
Importantly, some experts conclude that Tanzania - a tour package country - should reconsider its policies toward conservation, tourism, and development, and even abandon the colonial laws that still govern it, and are used against its fellow Africans.
See also my video in English and in Swahili (Tanzania’s main language).
Asante!