Eviction of pastoralists from Mkomazi game reserve in north eastern Tanzania: Analysis of new conflicts and impact on the affected communities

In 1951, the then colonial authority in Tanganyika gazetted an area approximately 3,276 square kilometres in north-eastern Tanzania called the Mkomazi Game Reserve (MGR). Despite its gazetted status, many pastoralists were allowed to exploit pastures and other range resources from MGR. Some twenty years later, a study commissioned by the Government of Tanzania found MGR to be in a degraded state for which the huge influx of pastoralists and game poachers were blamed. This study recommended among other things that pastoralists within MGR be evicted to allow its ecosystem to recover. The..