The Maasai Indigenous People have faced several violent forced evictions from Loliondo, Tanzania in the name of “conservation”. The Government of Tanzania claims that these evictions were necessary for wildlife conservation, even though the land would subsequently be used for tourism activities. Loliondo is a beautiful wildlife sanctuary prized for its biodiversity which include animals such as lions, leopards, and cheetahs, buffalo, antelopes, giraffes, elephants, rhinos, elands, zebras, and among other. The Maasai have protected this rare biodiversity for many years using their indigenous knowledge. Help us protect more than 70,000 Maasai from losing their ancestral lands and their source of livelihood. Sign the petition now.
What’s the problem?
In 2009, the Tanzanian authorities decided, without the free, prior, and informed consent of the Maasai, to restrict human activities such as settlements and livestock grazing in an area now known as the Pololeti Game Reserve which serves to protect wildlife.
The area covers 1,500km2 of Maasai village land. Village land that the Maasai call home and their ancestral territory. The Maasai also use the land to graze their livestock, to access resources like food, medicinal plants, and water sources for themselves and their cattle. The Maasai strive to use their traditional land in a sustainable way by grazing their livestock in different areas therefore allowing it to regenerate. They do not eat game or birds and do not hunt wildlife for food or any other reason.
The Maasai have faced forced evictions by multi-agency security forces in 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2022, who used force, including the use of live ammunition and tear gas, against Maasai protesters. The Maasai also claim representatives of a private company licensed to operate tourism activities and hunting in Loliondo were present in all the forced evictions and that security forces set up camp in the property of the private company.
The Government of Tanzania needs to suspend all conservation projects in Loliondo and investigate corporate complicity in the forced evictions so that the Maasai can access their ancestral lands, on which their livelihoods and cultural identity depend.
What can you do to help?
Sign this petition and urge the President of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan, to act now.