Maasai herders driven off land to make way for luxury safaris (Global issue)

[Equinox Moon]

Tanzanian government accused of putting indigenous people at risk in order to grant foreign tourists access to Serengeti wildlife.

The Tanzanian government is putting foreign safari companies ahead of Maasai herding communities as environmental tensions grow on the fringes of the Serengeti national park, according to a new investigation.

Hundreds of homes have been burned and tens of thousands of people driven from ancestral land in Loliondo in the Ngorongoro district in recent years to benefit high-end tourists and a Middle Eastern royal family, says the report by the California-based thinktank the Oakland Institute.

Although carried out in the name of conservation, these measures enable wealthy foreigners to watch or hunt lions, zebra, wildebeest, giraffes and other wildlife, while the authorities exclude local people and their cattle from watering holes and arable land, the institute says.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/10/maasai-herders-driven-off-land-to-make-way-for-luxury-safaris-report-says

The sickness of greed and overpowering indigenous. Global issue.

[Neema]

1. That makes me sick. The luxury safaris are so stupid.

We were in mobile tented camps that moved periodically to avoid having too much negative impact in any one location, and they were LOVELY and comfortable. They also employed Maasai as hiking guides and they were wonderful. The luxury camps were just a stupid waste of space and resources, and were more removed from the wildlife. It's clear they didn't care about protecting the land and habitats, so it's no surprise they have no regard for the indigenous people either.

I had a great bit of schadenfreude when were out on a game drive. One of the luxury camp trucks kept following us, because our guide was awesome and their guide didn't seem to be able to spot any wildlife on his own. Then out of nowhere a blinding rainstorm hit. We were fine, we just had to close up the roof and windows of our vehicle and we were dry and comfortable. But their fancy luxury vehicle needed to look like it was out of some old movie and was wide open on the sides and had fancy throw pillows. They got SOAKED while they waited for their guide to roll down the window covers individually (and of course none of them even attempted to help).

Later, we all got trapped for a bit on the other side of the river and had to wait for awhile for the waters to recede before we could cross a bridge. The people in that truck looked miserable sitting with their soggy throw pillows.