The not-so-Great Ruaha and hidden histories of an environmental panic in Tanzania

Abstract

Water is one of the world's most contested resources, and Africa's river basins are no exception. In December 1993 the Great Ruaha River upstream of Tanzania's Mtera Dam stopped flowing for the first time in living memory. This became a matter of national concern in 1995 when electricity shortages and rationing in Dar es Salaam were blamed by the national power supply company (TANESCO) on the continuing drying-up of the Great Ruaha. Since then different institutions and interest groups have sought to explain the river's increasing seasonality, focusing on resource use in and around its immediate source, the Usangu wetland, and laying the blame on different groups of resource users. In 1998 the core of the wetland (Ihefu) was gazetted as part of a new game reserve, and fishermen and livestock keepers were forcibly removed. Increasing government concern over power shortages culminated in the mass expulsion in 2006–07 of livestock keepers and their cattle from Usangu and Mbarali District, large parts of which were to be incorporated in an expanded Ruaha National Park. This was the largest eviction of its kind in recent Tanzanian history, widely condemned by NGOs and in the national and international media. This article examines in detail the development of the environmental panic and events which led to this eviction, highlighting the behind-the-scenes role played by actors and interests in the public and private sectors in fostering the panic and its controversial outcome.

Keywords:

• conflict
• conservation
• pastoralism
• Tanzania
• Usangu
• water

Notes

1. URT (United Republic of Tanzania), “Speech by the President,” 23–4.

2. This paper draws on my “Pangolins, Science and Scapegoats”; “The Production of Knowledge”; “Conservation Myths”; and “Pastoralism and Policy Processes.” I am grateful to everyone who has taken part in or assisted me in this research, and would especially like to thank Michael Sheridan and Dan Brockington for the invitation to write this paper. It is a personal reflection and does not represent the official position of any of the organisations I have worked for or been associated with.

3. I use the phrase “environmental panic” to suggest parallels with the “moral panics” studied by sociologists: the classic account is Cohen, Folk Devils and Moral Panics.

4. Walsh, Olivier, and Baur, “Sustainable Management,” 85–6.

5. Lankford et al., “Entrenched Views”; Thomas, King, and Kayetta, “People, Perspectives and Reality.” The term “environmental orthodoxies” is from Forsyth, Critical Political Ecology.

6. For well-documented Tanzanian case studies: Brockington, Fortress Conservation, and Walley, Rough Waters; also Brockington “Communal Property and Degradation Narratives,” and “Politics and Ethnography of Environmentalisms.” For the proliferation of protected areas: West, Igoe, and Brockington, “Parks and Peoples.”

7. For the anthropological critique of this neo-Foucauldian style of explanation: Grillo, “Discourses of Development”; Englund and Leach, “Ethnography and the Meta-Narratives of Modernity.”

8. I first conducted anthropological research in Usangu in the early 1980s. In 1997 I led the team that drafted the design of the SMUWC Project, “Sustainable Management of the Usangu Wetland and its Catchment,” later (1998–2002) serving on its Steering Committee. I have visited Mbarali District on a number of occasions since then, most recently in August 2007 as part of a review of government policies and practice towards pastoralists undertaken for the Tanzania Natural Resource Forum.

9. For an introduction to these issues: Shore and Wright, “Policy: A New Field of Anthropology”; Mosse, “Anti-social Anthropology?”

10. For a comprehensive overview of the hydrology and physical features of Usangu and the Great Ruaha above Mtera: SMUWC Project, “Baseline 2001.”

11. Walsh, Olivier, and Baur, “Sustainable Management,” 27; Froehlich, “Application of the TALSIM 2.0 Model,” 3–4.

12. Froehlich, “Application of the TALSIM 2.0 Model,” 4.

13. “Power Supply,” Bulletin of Tanzanian Affairs 44 (January 1993), 9; “Natural Gas Go Ahead,” Bulletin of Tanzanian Affairs 49 (September 1994), 9; review of “Hydropower in Tanzania,” by K. Dodman in International Power Generation, January 1994, Bulletin of Tanzanian Affairs 49 (September 1994), 36; “Donors Promise $1 Billion – but with Conditions,” Tanzanian Affairs 51 (May 1995): 9–12; “Business News,” Tanzanian Affairs 51 (May 1995): 25.

14. Faraji and Masenza, “Hydrological Study.”

15. Walsh, “Misinterpretation of Chiefly Power,” 58–65.

16. FAO, The Rufiji Basin.

17. Hazlewood and Livingstone, Development Potential, I: 2.4–2.21, 4.1–4.13.

18. Hazlewood and Livingstone, Development Potential, I: 6.81. See also the largely theoretical section on “Down-stream Users of Water” in Hazlewood and Livingstone, Irrigation Economics, 122–3.

19. SMUWC Project, “Kamati ya Mipango ya Bonde la Usangu”; SMUWC Project, “Kukauka kwa Mto Ruaha.” Because of a lack of reliable records, the literature contains contradictory statements about the cessation of flows in the Great Ruaha in the years immediately preceding 1994. Some of these contradictions were discussed in this meeting.

20. Patterson, “Proposed Usangu Game Reserve.” Although cautious about the causes and consequences of low flows in the Great Ruaha, the author did remark that “The conservation value of the Ruaha ecosystem and national water security (including hydroelectricity production at Mtera Dam) are potentially seriously compromised” (p. 2).

21. “Ruaha Planning Workshop,” The Friends of Ruaha Society Newsletter 4, no. 1 (April–June 1995); L. Moirana and C.L. Nahonyo, “Usangu Plains,” The Friends of Ruaha Society Newsletter 4, no. 3 (July–September 1995).

22. Sue Stolberger, “The Great Ruaha River Runs Dry for the Third Season in Succession,” The Friends of Ruaha Society Newsletter 4, no. 4 (October–December 1995).

23. “Donors Promise $1 Billion – but with Conditions,” Tanzanian Affairs 51 (May 1995), 9–12; Luteganya, “Importance of the Kidatu/Mtera Power Reservoirs”; Anonymous, “Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited”; Lankford et al., “Entrenched Views,” 143.

24. SMUWC was funded by the UK government's Department for International Development (DFID) and RIPARWIN by both DFID and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), funded by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

25. SMUWC Project, “Baseline 2001,” iii–vi; Lankford et al., “Entrenched Views,” 142–4; Peter Baur, “Why Does the Great Ruaha River Dry Up in the Dry Season?” FORS News (The Friends of Ruaha Society) 14, no. 1 (2005), 7.

26. For resistance to project findings: Lankford et al., “Entrenched Views”; Thomas, King, and Kayetta, “People, Perspectives and Reality.”

27. Interview with Willie Mwaruvanda, Rufiji Basin Water Officer, Iringa, August 27, 2007.

28. Mwaruvanda, “Pragmatic View on the Mtera Dam.” I have not seen this, but the debate about it was described to me by the author.

29. President Ally Hassan Mwinyi appointed Kikwete Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Energy and Minerals in 1988 and full Minister of an enlarged Ministry of Water, Minerals and Energy in 1990, a post he held until 1994.

30. Kikula, Charnley, and Yanda, “Ecological Changes,” 2.

31. Walsh, Olivier, and Baur, “Sustainable Management.”

32. Sustainable Management of the Usangu Wetland. Ministry of Water, Government of Tanzania, and DFID, Eastern Africa, February 1998. Part of the economic justification was borrowed from the River Basin Management and Smallholder Irrigation Improvement Project (RBMSIIP), which covered both the Rufiji and Pangani River Basins. SMUWC had its origins in a commitment by the ODA to undertake research that would contribute to this World Bank-funded initiative.

33. Luteganya, “Importance of the Kidatu/Mtera Power Reservoirs,” 4–5.

34. Froehlich, “Application of the TALSIM 2.0 Model”; Yawson et al., “Modelling the Mtera-Kidatu Reservoir System”; Yawson, Kachroo and Kashaigili, “Failure of the Mtera-Kidatu Reservoir System”; also Teleki and Cech, “Evaluation of Success and Failure.”

35. Yawson, “Development of a Decision Support System”.

36. Cooksey, “The Power and the Vainglory.”

37. Source: Charnley, “Cattle, Commons, and Culture,” Tables 6 and 7 (unpaginated copy).

38. Charnley, “Environmentally-displaced Peoples,” 608.

39. Researchers and other “opinion makers” also made the connection. Susan Charnley's discussion of these environmental degradation narratives helped to promote the view that Sukuma immigrants were prominent among those to blame for degrading the ecology and hydrology of Usangu: Charnley, “Cattle, Commons, and Culture”; World Bank, “Pastoral Issues in the Usangu Plain”; Kikula, Charnley and Yanda, “Ecological Changes”; Charnley, “Environmentally-displaced Peoples,” 606–614; Walsh, Olivier, and Baur, “Sustainable Management,” 100–4; SMUWC Project, “Baseline 2001,” 102–10.

40. Walsh, Olivier, and Baur, “Sustainable Management,” 62–2, also 123–4. The Utengule Swamps Game Controlled Area (GCA) was proposed in 1957 to protect a population of topi (Damaliscus korrigum) and gazetted in 1963: Charnley, “Cattle, Commons, and Culture,” 30–1. Different kinds of utilisation and hunting can be authorised in GCAs, which are gazetted on village lands. Open areas are village lands which have no conservation status, but have been designated for tourist or resident hunting. Hunting in both kinds of area is administered by the Wildlife Division in collaboration with the local district council(s). Resident hunting is available only to Tanzanian residents on purchase of the appropriate licenses and fees; prices are much lower than those for tourist hunting, but a limited range of game species is offered on quota.

41. Under normal circumstances only tourist hunting is permitted within game reserves, which are also administered by the Wildlife Division. National parks are reserved exclusively for non-consumptive tourism and are managed by TANAPA. For an overview of protected area categories in Tanzania: Severre, “Conservation of Wildlife” and “Community Tourism.”

42. In 1985 according to the Wildlife Division's Usangu Game Reserve General Management Plan, 13; 1987 according to L. Ole Moirana, Chief Park Warden, Ruaha National Park, interviewed at Msembe, October 18, 1995.

43. Charnley, “Cattle, Commons, and Culture,” 31, 230.

44. Interview with Stanley Munisi, Mbeya Regional Game Officer, Mbeya, February 12, 1997.

45. For a recent assessment: Baldus and Cauldwell, Tourist Hunting, 4–5, 33–6.

46. “Ruaha Planning Workshop,” The Friends of Ruaha Society Newsletter 4, no. 1 (April–June 1995); L. Moirana and C.L. Nahonyo, “Usangu Plains,” The Friends of Ruaha Society Newsletter 4, no. 3 (July–September 1995).

47. Munisi, “Why Should Usangu Plain,” 1.

48. Munisi, “Why Should Usangu Plain,” , 5. When interviewed in February 1997 the Mbeya RGO described the illegal methods used by resident hunters in Usangu. Other informants alleged similar bad practice by the hunting company and its professional hunters.

49. Moirana and Nahonyo, “Why the Usangu Plains Should,” 6, 11.

50. Moirana and Nahonyo, “Why the Usangu Plains Should,”, 13, 34–5; Sue Stolberger, “The Great Ruaha River Runs Dry for the Third Season in Succession,” The Friends of Ruaha Society Newsletter 4, no. 4 (October–December 1995).

51. Kikula, Charnley, and Yanda, “Ecological Changes.” Susan Charnley was the second author of this paper, which drew some of its arguments from her doctoral research, “Cattle, Commons, and Culture.”

52. Interview with Basil Mramba, Mbeya Regional Commissioner, Mbeya, February 13, 1997, who also provided two documents prepared by his office: Mapendekezo ya Matumizi Bora ya Bonde la Usangu – Wilaya ya Mbarali Mkoani Mbeya and Mpango wa Kuinua Ufugaji wa Hifadhi ya Mazingira katika Mkoa wa Mbeya, translated in Walsh, Olivier and Baur, “Sustainable Management,” 90–9.

53. The inhabitants of one village, Mawale, were subsequently resettled in Sololwambu, outside of the reserve boundary: URT, “Usangu Game Reserve General Management Plan,” 13.

54. “Chifu” Kipareni Kifutu, Upagama Village Chairman and former Chairman of the Usangu Basin Livestock Society Ltd, interviewed in Rujewa, February, 14 1997.

55. Walsh, “Development of Community Wildlife Management,” 12–14; URT, “Taarifa ya Kitalaam.”

56. For an early example: “Twenty One Herders Held for Grazing Cattle in Mbarali Reserve,” The Guardian (Dar es Salaam), November 10, 1998. For later episodes: Zephania Ubwani, “Govt Bars Pastoralists from Grazing in Usangu Wetland,” The Guardian, March 18, 2004; Jonas Mwasumbi, “Pastoralists Told to Vacate Ihefu Swamp,” Sunday News (Dar es Salaam), October 24, 2004.

57. Thomas, King, and Kayetta, “People, Perspectives and Reality,” 212.

58. SMUWC Project, “Incidents in the Game Reserve on Eastern Wetland,” handwritten notes in SMUWC Project files, Rujewa, 2000.

59. Roman Massawe, Project Manager, Usangu Game Reserve, interviewed in Rujewa, May 8, 2003.

60. The following is a selection of English language articles that appeared before 2005: Lucas Lukumbo, “Tanzania: Grazing or Farming – Land Conflict is Escalating,” Global News, October 1, 1998; James Mpinga, “Usangu: Where the Gods are Not Just Crazy, But Angry, Too,” The East African (Nairobi), July 7–13, 1999; Deodatus Mfugale, “Human Activities Threaten Tanzania's Biodiversity,” MISAnet/Panafrican News Agency, November 20, 2000; “Save Usangu Valley, says JET Member,” The Guardian, March 5, 2001; Lawi Joel, “Water of Great Ruaha is Explosive Capital in Usangu,” The Guardian, June 11, 2002; Collins Ochieng, “When Pastoralists eat Cultivators,” The Guardian, February 5, 2003; Mwondoshah Mfanga. “Usangu Wetland becomes a Desert,” Sunday Observer (Dar es Salaam), October 4, 2004.

61. For one episode: Charles Kizigha, “Power Crisis Looms as Mtera Level Plunges,” Daily News (Dar es Salaam), October 20, 2004; Tuma Abdallah, “Ten Days to go at Mtera Dam,” Daily News, October 28, 2004; Tuma Abdallah, “Yona: No Plan to Close Mtera,” Daily News, November 1, 2004; Tuma Abdallah, “No Plan to Close down Mtera Dam,” Sunday News, November 7, 2004.

62. SMUWC made a special effort to woo the media following a particularly negative experience in 1999, when the project was accused in a workshop of disseminating “voodoo science” and subsequently ridiculed in the national press: SMUWC Project, “Managing Water Resources”; Thomas, King, and Kayetta, “People, Perspectives and Reality,” 212. SMUWC was later an important influence on the government's commitment to restoring year-round flows in the Great Ruaha River by 2010. This pledge was first made by the Prime Minister, Frederick Sumaye, at the Rio + 10 Preparatory Meeting in London on March 6, 2001, and was repeated in later meetings. The project made the most of this opportunity to gain a favourable press for its work, and paid for its own announcement: “Maji Mto Ruaha Kuanza Kutiririka Tena – Changamoto Kubwa kwa Taifa,” Majira (Dar es Salaam), November 8, 2001; also Nelson Goima, “Govt to Restore Ruaha Water Flow – PM,” The Guardian, May 22, 2002; Pudenciana Temba, “Efforts to Restore Great Ruaha Waterflow Under Way,” Sunday News, May 26, 2002. These events had also involved the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the Prime Minister's pledge provided WWF-Tanzania with a clear objective for its Ruaha Water Programme, which has been evolving (along with its title) since 2001: WWF-Tanzania, “Stakeholders and Planning Workshop”; URT, “Proposal for the Funding of the Great Ruaha River Catchment Programme.”

63. SMUWC Project, “Baseline 2001,” iv, 95–7; SMUWC Project, “Livestock,” 1, 4–11; Lankford et al., “Entrenched Views,” 142–4; Thomas, King, and Kayetta, “People, Perspectives and Reality,” 208–14.

64. Lawi Joel, “They Disfigured the Great Ruaha,” The Guardian, March 7, 2002; Deodatus Mfugale, “The ‘Resurrection’ of Usangu Game Reserve,” The Guardian, March 13, 2002. Both correspondents were members of JET, the Journalists Environmental Association of Tanzania.

65. Deodatus Mfugale, “The ‘Resurrection’ of Usangu Game Reserve,” The Guardian, March 13, 2002.

66. Gerald Kitabu, “Premier Okays Use of Mtera Dam Water to Generate Power,” The Guardian, January 12, 2006; Patrick Kisembo, “Power Rationing Starts Today,” The Guardian, February 2, 2006; BBC News, “Tanzania Cuts Power after Drought,” BBC News, February 2, 2006; Michael Haonga, “Tanesco Eases Power Rationing,” The Guardian, March 31, 2006; Editorial, “Power Cuts Bad News Indeed,” Daily News, May 18, 2006; Charles Kizigha, Editorial, “Power Cuts Critical against Total Blackout – Tanesco,” Daily News on Saturday (Dar es Salaam), September 16, 2006; TANESCO, “Tanesco Ends Power Rationing in December 2006,” TANESCO online news highlights, undated; Daniel Mshana, “Great Ruaha Power Project Crucial,” The Guardian, March 2, 2007.

67. “Kikwete's Remarkable First 100 Days,” Tanzanian Affairs 84 (May–August 2006), 1–11; also “President Kikwete – No Let Up,” Tanzanian Affairs 85 (September–December 2006), 1–5.

68. Deogratius Kiduduye, “Invasion of Mbarali Valley Irks Minister,” The Guardian, March 2, 2006; also Gerald Kitabu, “Pastoralists ‘Invade Usangu Game Reserve,’” The Guardian, March 2, 2006.

69. Bilal Abdul-Aziz, “Our Environment Fragile, JK Warns,” The Guardian, March 10, 2006.

70. Editorial, “Eviction of Usangu Herdsmen is OK, But?” The Guardian, March 14, 2006.

71. Nico Mwaibale, “Livestock Keepers Heed Kikwete's Directive,” The Guardian, March 22, 2006.

72. URT, A Strategy for Urgent Actions, 2.

73. “Government Statement On Urgent Measures Aimed at Environmental Conservation And Preservation Of Water Sources In The Country Issued By Vice-President Dr Ali Mohamed Shein,” The Citizen (Dar es Salaam), April 6, 2006; see also Editorial, “Political Will Key to Turn Around the Environment,” The Guardian, April 4, 2006.

74. Kasembeli Albert, “Usangu Game Reserve Cleared of Cattle Herders,” The Guardian, June 26, 2006. See also Cover story/Editorial, “Ihefu Must Never Go Dry,” Kakakuona/Tanzania Wildlife 41 (April–June 2006), 4–5; John Waluye, “Moves to Save Ihefu Wetlands in Usangu Plains Underway,” Kakakuona/Tanzania Wildlife 41 (April–June 2006), 13–17.

75. According to the article this is the number of evictees reported by the District Commissioner. Compare this with the 1990 population estimates shown in Table 1.

76. Kasembeli Albert, “Usangu Game Reserve Cleared of Cattle Herders,” The Guardian, June 26, 2006.

77. Roman Massawe, Project Manager, Usangu Game Reserve, interviewed at reserve headquarters, August 24, 2007.

78. I interviewed the following WWF staff in 2007: Stephen Mariki, Conservation Director, WWF Tanzania Programme Office, Dar es Salaam, August 13, 2007; Dr Hermann Mwageni, Country Representative, WWF Tanzania Programme Office, Dar es Salaam, August 13, 2007; Petro Masolwa, Programme Coordinator, Ruaha Water Programme, WWF Tanzania Programme Office, Iringa, August 27, 2007; Dr Hussein Sosovele, Programme Coordinator, Policy Implementation Programme, WWF Tanzania Programme Office, Dar es Salaam, September 3, 2007. I also talked to a former employee of the Ruaha Water Programme in Rujewa: Dorothy Bikurakule, Dar es Salaam, August 8, 2007.

79. Usangu Game Reserve General Management Plan; “Mbarali District Council Medium Term Strategic Plan for the Livestock Sector,” draft, August 2005.

80. Walley, Rough Waters.

81. Walley does not claim this either: see Rough Waters, 37–8, 44–52, 59–66, 201–4, 250–1.

82. Peter Fox, Sue Stolberger and Geoff Fox, “The Not So Great Ruaha River,” document comprising cover sheets and three letters addressed to Jon Salmon, British High Commission, Dar es Salaam, November 21, 2000.

83. FoxTreks and member of this family firm ran Ruaha River Lodge, Mufindi Highland Lodge (Fox Farm), Fox Camp – Mikumi, and Lazy Lagoon Island north of Dar es Salaam. Another family member independently owned and managed Mwagusi Safari Camp in Ruaha National Park. The lodge and camp were the first and for many years only facilities of this kind in the park.

84. FORS was begun in 1984.

85. This was first proposed in the FAO report on The Rufiji Basin: see Hazlewood and Livingstone, Development Potential, 2.10–2.12, 4.2–4.6; also Hazlewood and Livingstone, Irrigation Economics, 40–65, 112–13; URT, “Madibira Rice Scheme,” 15; Ssemugenze, “Optimal Timing.”

86. I first used it myself in a WWF meeting: Walsh, “‘The Not-So-Great Ruaha’.”

87. URT, “Speech by the President,” 23. The original Swahili record has simply “Mto Ruaha Mkuu Umeanza Kukauka katika Baadhi ya Maeneo,” literally “The Great Ruaha River has begun to dry up in some sections”: URT, Bunge la Tanzania, Majadaliano 1/3, 30/12/05, 25.

88. Fox, “Overview of the Usangu Catchment.”

89. For details see footnote 63 above.

90. Fox, “Overview of the Usangu Catchment,” 13–14.

91. Fox, “Overview of the Usangu Catchment,”, 1.

92. In 2000 there was only one tourist lodge and one tented camp inside the park, both run by members of the Fox family. By 2005 three more tented camps had been added (one just outside of the park) and the number of regular flights into the park increased: see Tanzania National Parks, Ruaha National Park, 58; Mercer and Jafferji, Ruaha National Park, 130–5.

93. One of these, also a national issue, was the problem of the deforestation caused by widespread charcoal production.

94. This paragraph summarises a detailed account of events given to me in confidence by one of the participants in them. It was elicited through correspondence and an interview in August 2007, during which I was shown relevant documentary material. Another informant provided a more general account of the lobbying and its significance.

95. My key informant, whose name I have kept confidential (it does not appear in this paper).

96. As well as Bruce Fox's letter to the then Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism (dated March 24, 2004), letters by him to the Director General of TANAPA (March 31, 2004) and the Chief Executive Officer of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) (April 22, 2004) were also attached. The last of these letters was one of a number of communications about the possibility of damming the Ndembera River.

97. URT, “Wildlife Management Area/Pilot Wildlife Management Areas,” 40.

98. URT, The Wildlife Policy of Tanzania.

99. For published references to this visit and its consequences: URT, Ratiba ya Kazi Mei, 2006; John Waluye, “Moves to Save Ihefu Wetlands in Usangu Plains Underway,” Kakakuona/Tanzania Wildlife 41 (April–June 2006), 13–17; Kasembeli Albert, “Usangu Game Reserve Annexed to Ruaha National Park,” The Guardian, August 8, 2006.

100. This is the shorter name that the company was now using (instead of the original Usangu Hunting Safaris Ltd).

101. The Minister's announcement was not reported in the press, though the President's speech was: URT, “Speech by H. E. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete”; “JK Expresses Commitment to Empower Local Hunters,” Daily News, June 22, 2006. News of the proposed park expansion later filtered into the press through statements made by the Usangu Game Reserve Manager, Roman Massawe: Kasembeli Albert, “Usangu Game Reserve Cleared of Cattle Herders,” The Guardian, June 26, 2006; Deodatus Mfugale, “Usangu Game Reserve to Become Part of Ruaha National Park,” The Guardian, July 11, 2006; Kasembeli Albert, “Usangu Game Reserve Annexed to Ruaha National Park,” The Guardian, August 8, 2006.

102. Elisante Pallangyo, “Destination Ruaha: Where the North Marries the South,” Kili Album (Tanzania Tourist Board) 1 (March–June 2007), 39–42; Gervase Tatah Mlola, “Ruaha: Creating Africa's Largest Wildlife Paradise in Tanzania,” Twiga Times (The Tourism Magazine of Tanzania Tour Operators) 10 (June–October 2007), front cover and 14; Beatrice Philemon, “Tanzania Mulls Setting up Africa's Largest Recreational Area,” The Guardian, May 21, 2008.

103. Peter Mwaibofu, “Hifadhi ya Taifa ya Ruaha-Usangu Yasubiriwa,” Kakakuona 1 (April–June 2007), 52–5. An interviewee gave the date of the RCC meeting as July 22, 2006.

104. For further details and analysis of the role of pro-pastoralist advocacy in these events see my report on “Pastoralism and Policy Processes.”

105. The committee had visited Mbarali at the end of July 2006. For an account of this visit see John Makunga, “Wafugaji Waliohamishiwa Ihefu wazidi Kuharibu Vyanzo vya Maji Mbarali,” Kakakuona 24 (July–September 2006), 22–4.

106. URT, Bunge la Tanzania, Majadiliano, 4/44, 16/8/06, 30–31; “Ihefu's Vegetation Coming back to Life,” The Guardian, August 22, 2006.

107. URT, Bunge la Tanzania, Majadiliano, 9/12, 14/11/07, Maswali na Majibu No. 159, 6.

108. URT, Maelezo ya Waziri Mkuu.

109. URT, “Hotuba ya Mheshimiwa Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete.”

110. Ole Mwarabu, “Taarifa ya Uchunguzi wa Uhamishaji.”

111. Lucas Liganga, “Cattle Die Migrating from Ihefu to New Design[at]ed Grazing Districts,” This Day (Dar es Salaam), February 22, 2007.

112. URT, Tamko la Serikali.

113. Ole Mwarabu, Taarifa ya Uchunguzi: A Report on Eviction.

114. PINGOs Forum et al., “Lobbying and Advocacy Work.”

115. PINGOs Forum et al., Lobbying and Advocacy.

116. URT, Bunge la Tanzania, Majadiliano, 7/9, 20/4/07, 98.

117. URT, Bunge la Tanzania, Majadiliano, 8/14, 2/7/07, 118.

118. These figures are at odds with those given by the Prime Minister in April 2007, when he told parliament that it had been estimated that 235,000 cattle should be removed from Ihefu (i.e. Usangu Game Reserve), but that a total of 303,354 had subsequently been evicted from Mbarali District, 130,737 to Lindi Region, 72,517 to Coast Region, and 100,000 to Chunya District in Mbeya Region: URT, Bunge la Tanzania, Majadiliano, 7/9, 20/4/07, 98.

119. URT, Bunge la Tanzania, Majadiliano, 8/30, 24/7/07, 23, 59–61, 65–7, 78–9, 92, 108–9, 114–15; Judica Tarimo, “MPs Want Compensation for Ihefu Evictees,” The Guardian, July 25, 2007; Tamali Vullu, “Wabunge Watetea Wafugaji Ihefu,” Tanzania Daima (Dar es Salaam), July 25, 2007; Halima Mlacha, “Serikali Kuhakiki Mifugo,” Habari Leo (Dar es Salaam), July 25, 2007.

120. URT, Bunge la Tanzania, Majadiliano, 8/ 31, 25/7/07, 49, 128–9.

121. URT, Bunge la Tanzania, Majadiliano, 9/12, 14/11/07, 34–35 70–73, 81. The elevation of Mkomazi Game Reserve to national park status was also debated and approved in the same session.

122. I have corrected a spelling mistake in this quote, which is taken from an email written on January 25, 2007.

123. Quote from an email written on January 25, 2007 in reply to another email.

124. Quote from an email written to me on August 29, 2007.

125. Walsh, “The Development of Community Wildlife Management,” 4–5, 13–14.

126. For clients' complaints see “An Important Warning about Usangu Safaris,” The Hunting Report 23 (August 2007), and the online forum relating to this article at http://hunting report.com (accessed May 16, 2008).