President Kikwete recently rejected the nomination for Tanzania’s Eastern Arc Mountains to be considered as a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage Site. The nomination was applied for by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism. Below is a recent letter from the same ministry to the Director of UNESCO, withdrawing its application (it links to the PDF):
The Eastern Arc Mountains include the Pare, Usambara, Uluguru, Udzungwa, Kipengere, and Livingstone mountains. These stretch from Tanzania’s southern border with Malawi to her northern border with Kenya.
The rejection comes at the conclusion of a 14 year relationship Tanzania has been cultivating with the United Nations on the preservation of biodiversity in this region. The African Conservation Foundation (ACF) reports on the reason why the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism had nominated this site:
The project was selected because an estimated 70 percent of the Eastern Arc’s rich and unique forestland had been destroyed mainly through farming and timber harvesting. Only about 5,400 square kilometers of the original 23,000 square kilometers of forested area remained on the mountains.
Considering Tanzania’s relationship with UNESCO on this project, President Kikwete’s decision to veto the application for its nomination comes at an akward time. The ACF writes that he wanted the matter to be referred to his government for further inquiries into the application. Since Tanzania is a signatory to the World Heritage Conservation effort coordinated by UNESCO, the nomination will not go through until approved by President Kikwete’s office.
Since March 31st, a website has been launched with information relevant to how the nomination can be re-submitted. As the nomination campaign website says:
The aim of this campaign is for the Government of Tanzania to re-submit the nomination document to the World Heritage Centre and for the Eastern Arc Mountains Forests to be inscribed on the World Heritage List. We encourage you to write to His Excellency the President of Tanzania to request that he lends his support to the re-submission of the nomination document.
What can we learn from this? Are all decisions by Tanzania’s ministries under the jurisdiction of the Presidential office, or can they exercise individual decision-making powers? More importantly, when does nature (or more literally, land) become more of the government’s responsibility than those who live around it?
Related links:
Sijaelewa, what was the point in making the app in the first place?
Hizi so-called patriotic/nationalistic veto decisions are becoming a nuissance. Huko Ngorongoro wamasai wanafukuzwa makwao kisa wasiingilie wild-life reserve na kuharibu maz…ingira. Here you are told the forest products are useful for TZ’s economy so let people (big-businesses?) plunder the resources unchecked. Why are they selective only for the far-fetched economic gains? Hizi patriotic efforts mbona hatuzioni kwengine; mf. a defined medium of instruction (Kiswahili) at all levels of education, au ktk vita ya kweli dhidi ya rushwa?
I am very doubtful of JK’s label as an environment conservation champion.
I think wizara na wataalamu wake wawe na autonomy fulani from such interference.
@Joji Agreed. I guess the government is chasing the big money. But sometimes that’s completely contrary to local entrepreneurship, and so rejecting these kinds of nominations defeats the purpose, albeit the “human” purpose.
Hiyo barua mbona imeanza na kipengele namba 2 …namba 1 hakipo?
@Kibua – good question!
Kikwete kashaona joto la Serengeti Highway in effect anasema isiwe tabu, tukifanya hizi sehemu ziwe za UNESCO tutakosa autonomy na tutapata scrutiny sana, hivyo bora tukache tu. What a shame.
Hongera JK kwa kujitoa. Hawa jamaa wanajua wanachotafuta huku. Urithi wa dunia kwa ardhi yetu tu…teh. Chao chao, chetu chao. Tumeilinda milima hii na tutaendelea kuilinda wenyewe, Hatuhitaji tulindiwe cha msingi ni sera bora ya ulinzi wa maliasili hizi zilizo katika mipaka ya taifa letu kwa manufaa ya watanzania. My foot..Word heritage site inasaidia nini kama wanaweza kubadili mchoro wa mpaka wa eneo kwa ajili tu ya kuchukua vyao (uraniam) visivyotusaidia sisi