Decolonizing Conservation: Evictions of Indigenous Maasai in Tanzania

Photo: Orin Langelle / Global Justice Ecology Project

UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. 

 It is tasked with the promotion of global peace and security through international cooperation in education, science, culture, and information.

Yet recent reporting by Survival International focuses on how UNESCO has used its influence to support the forced relocation of the Indigenous Maasai People from their ancestral land in Tanzania.

We talk with Survival International researcher Paul Renaut about the model of “fortress conservation,” that is driving forced evictions of Maasai people in Tanzania and how the UNESCO World Heritage status is amplifying that pressure. 

We trace what these forced relocations look like on the ground, who profits, and why Indigenous land rights are central to real biodiversity protection.

In the episode we discuss:
• Survival International’s campaign to decolonize conservation and expose human rights abuses committed in the name of nature protection
• How the “empty nature” myth frames Indigenous people as threats despite long-term stewardship
• Violence linked to protected areas including beatings, torture, rape, and armed repression by ranger forces funded by major conservation groups
• Maasai displacement history from Serengeti and the ongoing threat across Maasai land tied to tourism and trophy hunting
• UNESCO’s role through World Heritage designations, “population pressure” language, and legitimizing forced relocation narratives
• What “voluntary relocation” can mean in practice including cattle confiscation, arrests, and suspension of vital services
• Scientific and cultural arguments for pastoralism as a biodiversity-positive land management system
• How carbon credits and offset thinking can shift environmental burdens onto Indigenous communities
• Maasai-led resistance through legal work, organizing, mass protests, and direct engagement with international institutions

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link to the Maasai International Solidarity Alliance’s website : https://www.misasolidarity.org/ 

Transcript

Why UNESCO Is Under Fire

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Breaking Green, a podcast by Global Justice Ecology Project. UNESCO is the United Nations educational, scientific, and cultural organization. It is tasked with the promotion of global peace and security through international cooperation in education, science, culture, and information. Yet, recent reporting by Survival International has highlighted how UNESCO has used its influence to support the forced relocation of the Maasai from their land to Tanzania. The Maasai, who are an indigenous people of the Serengeti, are again being brutally repressed and their herding culture intentionally dismantled in favor of a fortress conservation model that promotes trophy hunting and tourism over the rights of the Maasai who have lived on the land from time immemorial. On this episode of Breaking Green, we will speak with Paul Renault. Paul Renault is a researcher with Survival International, where he has worked extensively since 2019 on the campaign to decolonize conservation in Africa. Paul's efforts have included working extensively in the field with the Maasai. He currently joins us from Paris. Paul Renault, welcome to Breaking Green. Thank you. So,

What “Colonial Conservation” Means

SPEAKER_00 1:20

Paul, um, tell us a little bit about Survival International. It's been a while since we've done an interview with your organization.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

Yes, of course. So Survival is a human rights uh NGO campaigning on the rights of indigenous peoples. Um we do various campaigns on various topics around the world. Um, and today I will speak um more precisely on our campaign to decolonize conservation, um, which is fighting against human rights violations that are committed in the name of nature protection, but most um most accurately um that are um um following um a colonial uh system that leads to the systemic eviction of um of indigenous peoples from their lands and um of um a lot of of of violence.

SPEAKER_00 2:12

Aaron Powell Yes, uh colonial conservation. So I think uh having interviewed Fior Longo before, uh a lot of that has to do with the idea that uh uh what a lot of people would associate with uh the conservation movement. Uh that there's this this idea that there's these pristine lands that exist or should exist without people. Uh but people have always been part of the land. So what we see with conservation uh is moving uh rightful uh landowners, caretakers, uh indigenous people off that land with the idea that we're gonna have a natural state. So could you address, you know, what's wrong with that picture?

SPEAKER_01 2:58

Yeah, as you were saying, the whole premise is to say that indigenous peoples or local communities are destroying the land um that they live on, and that in order to protect nature, but this abstract idea of nature that would be empty of people, um, we would have to evict them. But the truth is that these spaces that we consider or that the West uh considers um as the most um uh wild places on earth, uh, or even the most biodiverse, um, are actually the lands of indigenous peoples. And if they are in such a good shape, it's because they have um not only lived in them but also protected them and shaped them. Um so that's what that's why, from a conservation point of view, it makes no sense to evict uh the best uh guardians of these spaces. It's just um a model that um is based on again colonial um colonial history, um and uh increasingly um the goal is to include these spaces in the capitalist system and try to make profit from them. So once um the original inhabitants are evicted, then um there is room for all kinds of uh exploitation,

Violence Funded In Nature’s Name

SPEAKER_01 4:10

whether it be extractive industries or tourism or that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_00 4:16

Aaron Powell The treatment of the indigenous people is quite brutal. And I think people would be surprised to learn that some of these wildlife or conservation organizations that uh everyone thinks of as, or many people think of as preserving nature, uh working for good, actually can support uh or even be part of a brutal um repression.

SPEAKER_01 4:44

Aaron Ross Powell Yeah, it's actually very concrete when we say that um these people are evicted or framed uh as a threat to the environment. Actually, what it means for the people who live in these spaces and who face this is um brutality. So the rangers um that are supposed to guard these these spaces, these wild spaces, um, are not only evicting them but also um doing so very violently, and we have documented um over years um countless acts of torture, of beatings, uh, of rape uh of indigenous peoples um when they try to go back to their lands or during the creation or management of these protected areas. And these protected areas um are um often supported or managed or co-managed by um Western conservation organizations, including some of them uh very famous, like WWF, WCS, African parks, and these organizations not only adhere and have promoted this model of um empty nature and the fact that um yeah, that um local communities and indigenous peoples are a threat to their environment, and they have been doing so again uh for decades and since colonial times. Um, but very concretely they are um supporting and funding the very rangers that um commit the violence.

Maasai History And Land Dispossession

SPEAKER_00 6:15

The reason why we have you on the program today is uh we saw several press releases regarding the Maasai people in Tanzania and UNESCO and evictions. So let's start uh with the Maasai people. What can you tell us about the Maasai people?

SPEAKER_01 6:35

So I think the situation that the Maasai um have faced is very emblematic of what we have been saying so far about um conservation, its colonial roots, and its concrete um impact today. So the Maasai are pastoralist indigenous people that live in Tanzania and Kenya. And um since colonial times they have been facing eviction from their lands um to make way for um protected areas. So in the case of Tanzania, um the Massai were evicted uh to make way for the Serengeti National Park uh by the British colonial administration in 1959, and from then on, um everywhere they went and all over Maasai land, um they have faced and are still facing um evictions to make way for conservation, um, but that um also goes with uh hand in hand with tourism and uh trophy hunting, for example. So yeah, basically all the all of the all Maasai land is now under threat, so or has already been um um grabbed for for conservation-related uh purposes, but again, um not with a very accurate uh sense of uh protecting nature. It all goes to to back to that um to that model that evicts people, but to better profit from the from the land.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

So the Maasai are the indigenous people uh of the Serengeti.

SPEAKER_01 8:07

Yes, that's correct. Um so it's the Serengeti is their is their um own um land, but uh they have been evicted from it, um and uh so they now live um in other parts um of their territory. Um and um and even there are still facing evictions.

SPEAKER_00 8:29

So what does UNESCO have to do with the current status of the Messiah?

SPEAKER_01 8:34

So UNESCO itself has uh since its creation um been instrumental in promoting um that model of um fortress conservation um that is um negatively affecting so many um indigenous peoples. Um and more specifically um linked to world heritage sites. Um so in the case of the Maasai, um for example, the Gorunguro Conservation Area is a World Heritage Site, um and there is a direct link between that status and um the current um threats um that they face. So basically, UNESCO um has been complicit in the Tanzanian government's long-standing prosecution um of the Maasai um in the area.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

Uh we've seen uh the survival international press releases regarding the Maasai protest in Tanzania, the protesting UNESCO's complicity in their eviction for so-called conservation. And they're also uh talking about how a commission has recently uh released a report saying that they do need to be removed because their activity in in in the protected, the so-called protected areas are degrading, are somehow negatively impacting the land. So the Maasai are historically herders. Uh they they are sheep herders. Well, what does the eviction of the Maasai look like? I I've read reports of cattle being taken, actually very brutal things. So could you tell us a little bit what the eviction actually looks like on the ground?

SPEAKER_01 10:22

Yes. So it takes various forms um in the various areas of Maasai land. Um some of you may remember uh shocking images from 2022 where the Maasai were um violently evicted from a neighboring area

World Heritage Status As A Weapon

SPEAKER_01 10:40

to the Serengeti um called Lo Liondo. Um and they were protesting this eviction, and that was met with extreme violence from um security forces and government forces who shot live bullets at them. So you can actually see um videos that the Maasai have taken uh documenting this eviction of them fleeing um this um yeah, just these bullets uh flying by them. Um and this land has now been turned into a game reserve uh mostly for the benefit of the Dubai royal family um and for for trophy hunting, basically. Uh so that's one um one example, and another one um that is um in the area um um that is inscribed on the World Heritage List, the NCA, Goron Goro Conservation Area. In that area, it's um the evictions are a bit more subtle, um, and actually they are framed by the Tanzanian government as voluntary relocation. But as you will see, this has nothing um voluntary, because in this area, basically, the the government is trying to suffocate the Maasai to force them to leave. So it's characterized by arbitrary arrests, um, some cases of torture and beatings, um, as you said, unlawful confiscation of their cattle. Um, and um a key aspect is also the deliberate suspension of social services that are vital for the Maasai to be able to continue to live there. So that includes healthcare, um access to medicine, for example, um, funding from hospitals, access to drinking water, and also um access to education. Um and there is a whole narrative pushed by the Tanzanian government around NCA that really frames uh Maasai pastoralism as an environmental threat. Um and um and what's interesting is that the Tanzanian government has also been using UNESCO as a justification for this and using UNESCO's recommendations. Um, because the World Heritage Committee, when it assesses all the sites that are inscribed on its list, uh also makes recommendations. And in that in the case of the NCA, uh UNESCO recommended to Tanzania um to be careful of the population pressure in the area to make sure that the um that the population remained within, and I quote, the capacity of the reserve. Um, and it said that um not doing so would jeopardize the um the area's status um as a UNESCO World Heritage. So basically, um UNESCO has been providing the legitimacy and the arguments to the Tanzanian government um to justify the evictions and including uh in its most recent um recommendations. So the Tanzanian government continues to again frame the Maasai as um destroying the environment and to frame their evictions as voluntary relocation. Um and it's a vocabulary that has been um taken also um or reused by by UNESCO. So so it really all goes um hand in hand, and that's what we what uh survival has been trying to point to and what the Maasai also have protested against.

SPEAKER_00 14:05

That's interesting. UNESCO, I believe, stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. They're ignoring the uh culture of the Maasai, it sounds like, in favor of trophy hunting. How long have the Maasai historically been in that region?

SPEAKER_01 14:24

Yeah, so the Maasai have been here for for generations, since uh time immemorial, basically. And it's true what you say, that um it's counterintuitive to see UNESCO um pushing that narrative of um yeah, again, uh nature that is threatened by by its by its people, um, but it's very characteristic of the of the concept of natural world heritage, um this idea that um these areas um have a natural um outstanding value for all humanity. So basically, once um this value is um put under the the care or the trusteeship of all humanity, then the people who actually live there and who under international law have land rights over these areas um are disregarded. So yes, it's counterintuitive, uh but very yeah, very characteristic, and it's something that um we have also documented in many other protected areas all across Africa and Asia of uh UNESCO World Heritage Sites that um where the status has been um has been given to areas with shocking levels of violence um and evictions of of indigenous peoples in the name of conservation.

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SPEAKER_00 15:45

This is your host, Steve Taylor, and we will be back right after this.

SPEAKER_02 15:51

If you're enjoying this episode of Breaking Green, please subscribe or follow wherever you get your podcasts. The interviews heard here are often ignored by mainstream media, and without your support, these stories would not be covered. Consider leaving a review and sharing it with friends and colleagues. You can find the full catalog of previous episodes and sign up to have future episodes delivered straight to your inbox at breakinggreen.org.

SPEAKER_00 16:19

Welcome back to Breaking Green. Are the Maasai themselves uh

Pastoralism Science And Carbon Offsets

SPEAKER_00 16:25

concerned about the level of hurting? Are they doing anything about this? I think I read that that that the Maasai who are indigenous, and and and it's really uh they claim and and and you know they're the indigenous people, they have the the the the the right to be there. Are they are they concerned with herding pressures? Are they doing anything to mitigate any herding pressures at all?

SPEAKER_01 16:51

Yeah, I think that's very um ingrained in in the Maasai way of life, to just care for the environment, make sure that it's also sustainable for the future generations. Um and that's the case for all indigenous peoples basically, because they depend um so closely um on the land um and that they it's in their interest and in the interest of future generations to take care of it as best as possible. And there are a lot of rules and practices that are meant to make sure that um the land remains in good conditions for future generations and for themselves, um, and framing um their practices as um destroying the environment or being uncontrolled or being a pressure actually also disregards this level of knowledge and expertise that the massa have in managing their own land. So and all scientific evidence points towards um the value of pastoralism in again, not only protecting but also shaping these areas. They would look completely different without um pastoralism and wouldn't be as um um biodiverse or or in as good um shape. Um and again, as you was as you were saying, they also have the right to be there regardless.

SPEAKER_00 18:10

So it's not as if their rights were conditioned on them being good environmentalists, but the f the fact is and the scientific truth is that they are we've reported before that uh studies have shown that a vast uh a vast majority, a vast, vast proportion of biodiversity is on indigenous lands. And it seems like there's this tendency for industrialized nations which are less biodiverse and causing the global warming problems to sort of dictate uh that uh these indigenous cultures now need to do this or that to be better stewards when they're doing a much better job than in industrialized nations.

SPEAKER_01 19:00

Yes, that's true. I mean, industrialized nations are trying to um yeah, compensate the fact that they destroy or their activities are destroying the environment and trying to compensate that uh on the other side of the world by by yeah forcing other people to change, uh again without really scientific evidence. And we also see that um in um in a more yeah in a even more disconnected way with carbon credits, for example. So now it's the case with biodiversity, but in the case of um of carbon, um donations that are most um that have the highest uh level of uh greenhouse gases emissions uh are hoping or trying or pretending to compensate compensate them by um by again funding projects or or buying credits from projects that also destroy um indigenous peoples' lands and most often in the in the global south. So yeah, it's a dynamic that we really see um in the whole um environment um sector.

SPEAKER_00 20:07

So the Maasai are struggling uh for their land rights, their culture, their way of life. Were there not guarantees given to the Maasai to be able to live in certain regions when they gave up portions of the Serengeti in the 50s?

Broken Promises And Maasai Resistance

SPEAKER_00 20:25

So aren't weren't there guarantees given that are now being uh ignored or not honored? Aaron Ross Powell, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 20:33

Yeah, that's exactly right. So for example, the Ngorongoro conservation area that we that we just mentioned um was when it was designed, was designed as a place for uh what they call the multiple land use. So both for biodiversity protection and um with the the Maasai having the right uh to live there. Um and when they were forced out of the serengeti, they were promised that in the NCA and other areas they would never be bothered again. So actually, we talked a lot with uh Maasai elders um in the area um who remember when they were a kid being evicted from the serengeti and promised that they would never be bothered again in the NCA and elsewhere. And now these same people that are now, again, elders are facing what their parents and themselves when they were kids faced. So that's quite a broken promise and also heartbreaking for the people that live there.

SPEAKER_00 21:32

So what does the struggle look like? What have the Maasai been able to accomplish? What are they trying to accomplish? Uh are they finding allies other than Survival International?

SPEAKER_01 21:43

Yeah, I think the Maasai are really developing a very strong uh resistance movement. Um they have um lawyers and and their own um organizations um supporting the fight. Um They also are doing a lot of community organizing. So there have been massive protests against these evictions. For example, they um a few years ago over 30,000 Maasai blocked the road between the NCA and the Serengeti. That is the most used by tourists who go from one protected area to another. So that's really here putting pressure on the government and the whole industry where it hurts basically with the revenue from tourism. So they have been using really all the tools available locally and nationally and internationally to make their voices heard and to resist these evictions. Some leaders also travel to Europe and to the US to speak with the very institutions that are funding projects that evict them, that are designing the policies that are used as arguments for the Tanzanian government. So yes, they are actively resisting and um yeah, it's not the end.

SPEAKER_00 23:12

What kind of abuses are the Maasai uh suffering with this?

SPEAKER_01 23:15

Yes, it's the for example, um the protest I mentioned um in 2022 in L'O Leonondo has led to um uh an extremely violent um repression by security forces um firing live bullets um at the Maasai. And now this um land that they were trying to yeah to keep um has been turned into a game reserve and and the people have lost most of their grazing land, so a lot of their cattle as well. Um and that has uh basically had a devastating impact for the whole community. People have had to flee, uh, some are still injured, um, and that really um destroyed the balance uh within the community of um yeah food security um and um yeah similar issues.

SPEAKER_00 24:09

If their land rights ultimately are not recognized, what what happens to the Maasai? What does that look like uh for them culturally? Uh where where where are they to live? What what's what is there thought given to where the Maasai live? Are they to lose their culture completely?

SPEAKER_01 24:28

Well, as we said, the Maasai are pastoralists, so they depend on their land and on being able to graze their cattle on their land um to be able to live. It's the whole basis of their way of life. So not only of their livelihood, uh um, so being able to to eat um meat or or to drink milk, it also touches to the um to the very core of

Culture At Risk Without Land

SPEAKER_01 24:55

their identity because it's also um cows are really central to their identity for all aspects of life. Um so losing the land means losing the cattle and losing that existential um link um with their cattle. Uh so in a way, yes, you're right, their identity as a as an indigenous people. Um and that also has um yeah, some spiritual and cultural um impacts that can't be fixed once they lose the land. So, for example, uh, in the case of um of Loliono, we talked a lot with the communities who um are now unable to go into the protected area that was created, um and they say that they lost access to spiritual spiritual sites, and the fact that they um aren't able to graze their cattle and lost a lot of cattle also means that some um important um cultural rituals can be performed. So, for example, um when a woman gives birth, um she is supposed to um eat or or or drink blood um or or yeah, basically uh rituals that are based on slaughtering um the cattle. Um and now being unable to do that is really weakening uh the women who just give birth and yeah, just detrimental to the whole um to the whole community. So, yes, it's not only a matter of livelihood and food security, even though that's a very core um issue as well, but it really impacts the the core of their of their identity and and their whole way of life.

SPEAKER_00 26:41

Aaron Ross Powell So again, this speaks to culture, and you would think that UNESCO, which is a cultural organization, would would give more more heed, uh more attention uh to the Maasai's uh cultural rights and needs, but uh here we are. Um We've mentioned the Tanzanian government, uh we've uh mentioned we've mentioned UNESCO. Uh are there any other players uh in this uh organizationally that uh are behind uh removing the Maasai?

SPEAKER_01 27:16

Um I think it can also be interesting to mention the role of uh conservation organizations, um especially in the case of the Maasai, the Frankfurt Zoological Society, who's based in Germany, and um has for decades uh again pushed um that narrative of the Maasai being um a threat to the environment. And it started with um its um one of its first directors, uh Bernard Gimek, um, who was a member of the Nazi party um and really um was instrumental in um create the creation of the Serengeti National Park and has always framed the Maasai as um yeah as destroying uh the land. Um and it's been described um Frankfurt Zoologic, the Frankfurt Zoological Society has been described by the Maasai as their enemy number one, um, providing the narrative and support um to the to the government um for these evictions. Um and yeah, an aspect of UNESCO that maybe we didn't um mention too much is this um um the international prestige and support and publicity that it brings, and in turn um that's very key for for tourism and the revenues from from tourism. Um and and again that um that prestige is quite precious for the for the Tanzanian government. Um and the fact that UNESCO is um yeah, instead of using this um this uh weight to to

Conservation Power Players And Closing

SPEAKER_01 28:57

oppose evictions and and and change the narrative that for so long it has uh pushed, uh, is continuing to refer to the evictions as voluntary relocations and um and keeps going with the same um with the same narrative. So yes, a lot of Western um actors um still involved.

SPEAKER_00 29:17

Is there anything I haven't asked you uh about that you would like to discuss?

SPEAKER_01 29:23

No, I think we said quite a lot.

SPEAKER_00 29:28

Well, Paul Renault, thank you for joining us on Breaking Green. Thank you so much. You have been listening to Breaking Green, the Global Justice Equality Project, the global justice economy project, justice equality, breaking green activity, quality, full quality, quality, free quality, full,