On April 10, 2000, 13 Maasai elders traveled from Loliondo to the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam to protest OBC’s practices and to demand government action against the company to stop the "wanton killing of wildlife that was responsible for the serious decline in lion, leopard and cheetah populations in northern Tanzania since OBC arrived." BBC reported that prior to the elders’ journey, some 20,000 Maasai gathered at a site where OBC was constructing a mansion to protest the environmental degradation and land alienation caused by the company. Dozens of Maasai were arrested. In response to the elders’ demands, the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism said that government experts would conduct an environmental audit to determine the impact of OBC’s hunting exploits. More than one and a half years later, Loliondo residents are still waiting for the results of the audit. To date, the Maasai have not seen any government officials conducting investigations.

In light of the grave human rights and environmental injustice committed by OBC in Loliondo, MERC makes the following recommendations.

The complaints of the Maasai people and environmentalists in the country and around the world concerning the negative impacts of OBC’s operations in Loliondo deserve every possible consideration in the interest of the Maasai, the environment, and wildlife. Authorities cannot ignore claims concerning OBC’s violation of national hunting laws and international agreements to which Tanzania, as a signatory, is bound. Failure to address these concerns raises questions about the Tanzanian government’s commitment to international agreements to which it is a signatory. Complaints concerning killings, captures, and airlifting of vulnerable species such as the cheetah and the hunting dog also deserve attention. There is also urgent need to investigate the possibility that OBC might have violated CITES regulations by killing or capturing animals on the CITES Appendix I listing of endangered species.

MERC urges the government of Tanzania to:

• Make public the results of the environmental audit conducted by the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism. If the audit has not been completed, ensure expeditious completion.

• Sanction an independent investigation team to thoroughly examine the numerous complaints about OBC’s practices in the field and their impacts on human rights, wildlife, and the environment. This should include an examination of the role of Tanzanian security forces and government officials. The team should be composed of international and Tanzanian experts, but should not include members of the Tanzanian government due to allegations of widespread corruption.

• Suspend OBC’s hunting privileges pending the results of the independent investigation.

• Justly resolve questions of land alienation and grazing rights in Loliondo caused by the presence of OBC as reported by Maasai communities.

• In addition to the independent team investigating OBC’s practices, set up a government taskforce to investigate alleged decimation of wildlife and environmental degradation caused by consumptive tourism throughout northern Tanzania. The taskforce should gauge the health of wildlife populations and the accuracy and enforcement of the government quota system. Be prepared to implement an action plan in response to the taskforce’s findings.

• Implement a moratorium on hunting in northern Tanzania pending the findings of the government taskforce, especially in light of reported abuse of laws regulating the tourist hunting industry and lack of government oversight.

• Enforce hunting regulations and substantially increase efforts to stop corruption from the field level up.

• Expedite the official adoption of the WMA guidelines into law. Resolution of these legislative quandaries could potentially go a long way in ensuring that impoverished communities do indeed benefit from their own resources.

• Increase overall transparency of government actions–from the national level down.

• Ensure that the Tanzanian government has the necessary technical and financial resources to carry out an independent investigation of OBC in Loliondo, as well as the government investigation of the health of wildlife populations throughout northern Tanzania. Guarantee that the government has the ability to act upon the recommendations of these investigatory teams.

• The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights should (a) consider sending a special reporter to investigate and report on the human rights and environmental crisis in Loliondo; and (b) address land alienation of indigenous peoples in Tanzania.

• Work, as partners, with the Maasai of Loliondo and other indigenous peoples to ensure the protection of environmental, land, and human rights in Tanzania. Among the main purposes of this report is to get international NGOs involved in the crisis of environmental and human rights violations in Loliondo and in other locales in Tanzania. MERC remains committed to these concerns, but a concerted international effort will be more effective in bringing to this issue the action and it deserves. MERC therefore urges the NGO community to take this issue up with sustained energy and dedication.

• Support the formation of the aforementioned independent investigation team and the government taskforce to examine complaints about OBC’s practices in the field and their impacts on human rights, wildlife, and the environment.

• Assist local NGOs in properly recording and documenting abuses committed by OBC and other hunting companies, as well as by the Tanzanian security forces and government officials. Further assist local NGOs in the appropriate utilization of these records and documentation to effect change in Loliondo and other areas of indigenous communities in Tanzania.

• Help indigenous NGOs build local capacity.

Let us pool our resources and unite to non-violently fight for our rights and the rights of those creatures who have walked this land with us for centuries. As a Maasai elder once said: