Wildlife Conservation in Tanzania

In the West, it is in vogue to advocate for wild animals in Africa. But there is more than meets the eye to this issue.

In Tanzania, national parks and game reserves have been used as a weapon of colonialism. The Meru in northern Tanzania rely on the land to subsist. In fact, their ethnicity is not based on heredity, but is based on a connection with Mount Meru. But much of Mount Meru was taken over, first by the colonial government, and then kept by the independent Tanzanian government.

The lack of land has rendered the Meru into a state of poverty. Ironically, the Meru have traditional shied away from hunting bigger game that conservation organizations hope to protect.

In addition, whites have a long history of hunting wild game in Africa. At the same time, African hunting has been targeted. When whites hunted, it was considered a sport. When Africans hunted for food, it was considered barbaric.

The point is not to condemn wildlife conservation in anyway. Instead, the point is to bring the difficult consequences of wildlife conservation into the discourse.
(The HQT-IE)