Summary of case study presented at the CAURWA/FPP conference:

Indigenous Peoples and Protected Areas in Africa:
From Principles to Practice
held in Kigali, Rwanda, September 2001

By Margareth Kaisoe and William Ole Seki

This case study reviews the impact of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority on the lives of the Maasai. In 1955 this pastoral group gave up their claims to the Serengeti, where they had been living, in exchange for rights to the Ngorongoro Crater and the Northern Highlands Forest Reserve, assurances that they would be able to continue with their way of life in Ngorongoro, and promises of water, grazing lands, veterinary services, security, health services, rights to subsistence cultivation and infrastructure. These promises have never been fulfilled, due to the imposition, in 1975, of the new Conservation Area Rules, which placed new restrictions upon the resource-based activities of Maasai in Ngorongoro. This move was contrary to the original intent of the 1964 conservation regulatory framework, which contained within it a promise to the Maasai that they would be allowed to continue with their way of life. The new rules have been associated with the loss of lands, the declining welfare of the Maasai people, and the persecution of them by local authorities.

This paper reviews the institutional and legal background to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and the approach to conservation now being taken in the zone. It catalogues a number of problems that have been faced by the Maasai community, especially in relation to the conventional approach to conservation that has been taken, and the lack of participation by Maasai in decisions about their lands. The lack of informed participation by Maasai in the development of the most recent 10 year general management plan in 1994, approved in 1996, was serious, resulting from the lack of translation, the short time period allocated for public review of the document, and the general lack of inclusionary practices which, by contrast, are increasingly characterising consultations about management plans for protected areas in other parts of Africa. In addition, there is a lack of administrative clarity and accountability over management decisions affecting natural resources in the area. To date no representatives from the pastoralists sit on the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority, which has greater authority than the Ngorongoro District Council, where Maasai are represented. The Maasai from Ngorongoro seek more involvement in consultations, and higher levels of local participation in the NCAA. They also seek reform of the Pastoralists Council, which is now established, but remains very weak.