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Tanzania: Facts and RumorsIs there an alternative to "Use it AND Loose it"?By Gerhard R DammAfrica Indaba supports - in line with major international Conventions - a conservation policy whichcombines conservation of natural resources, in particular wildlife, with sustainable use. In asimplification of a complex issue, this is packed into the phrase "Use it OR Loose it".Tanzania followed this philosophy and fared quite well as compared to neighboring Kenya, which hasbanned hunting 30 years ago and which has lost 70 % of its wildlife during that time. In the pastyears, we heard frequent news about bad Governance in wildlife management and hunting inTanzania with negative consequences for the conservation of wild areas and wildlife. Now the issuebecame the focus of public debate and controversy in Tanzania. Coupled with critical reports aboutincreasing poaching and hunting areas, which are turned into photographic safari areas by the localcommunities, one could ask whether the country presently follows a policy leading to "Use it ANDLoose it" rather than "Use it OR Loose it"!Since African Indaba champions the “Use it OR Loose it” philosophy we provide readers withinformation about the recent development and with background material. We have collated newsreports in the first part of this article and condensed the main findings of relevant papers on huntingand conservation in Tanzania in the second part. In the third part we are offering suggestions onhow to achieve a win-win situation for the Tanzanian Government, the rural communities who livewith wildlife, the hunting operators and the visiting hunters and last not least the wildlife of Tanzania.Part 1: What happened in the past three months?The Minister of Finance’s remarks in her budget speech were a first indication: “it is proposed toreview the rates for various fees and charges imposed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism(MNRT) to bring them in line with current prices and protect our natural resources … to generate Shillings33,616 million in additional revenue” and “… the proposed measures shall become effective on 1st July2007. The House Committee appealed to the Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism to speed up thereview of the national legislation on wildlife management and recommended that the revised legislationincorporate more effective structures and mechanisms to check the misuse of wildlife resources saying “…that the government should set up a special agency to deal with all hunting-related activities. The movewould allow the ministry's Wildlife Department more room to concentrate on policy and legal issues, includingthe management of protected areas, game reserves and national parks”.A letter from the MNRT Wildlife Division, dated 11 th July, signed by F. Lyimo informed the globalhunting world of the increase in government concession fees and license cost. The letter was accompaniedby Government Notice No 159, dated and published on 29 th June 2007, referring to the Wildlife ConservationAct (CAP 283) and stating that the Hunting Regulations 2005 in particular the Third Schedule has beenrevoked and substituted. This was accompanied by a list of Hunting Blocks (Category A with a minimum areaof 800 km 2 and Category B with a minimum area of 100 km 2 ) and the new concession Fees of US$50,000(A) respectively US$40,000 (B) and a list with “Game Fees” for the huntable species and the fee structure forrifle/shotgun hunting and bow hunting (the bow hunting fees being double the rifle/shotgun fees). The feestructure sheet is signed by the MNRT Minister Jumanne A Maghembe and dated 27 th June 2007.Apparently this was sent to all hunting concession holders in Tanzania.Some safari operators and in particular the Chairman of TAHOA, who were contacted by The HuntingReport, immediately dismissed the claim that the new prices would come into effect for the 2007 seasonwhich began on July 1 st . Other operators reportedly either cut down the hunting days for clients already on142
safari, or advised booked clients that the increase would have to be met. The Hunting Report informedreaders on August 17 th that one subscriber said that Zuka Safaris cut his 21-day safari to 11 days because ofthe new fees. Another subscriber stated that Game Frontiers had demanded payment of the new fees for asafari starting in early September. A refusal would mean forfeiture of all deposits. The Hunting Reportqualified the news about Game Frontiers on August 23 rd , saying that the company had confirmed that thenew game fees will not be implemented this year and “what appeared to be a disturbing development wassimply a miscommunication between the agent, the client and the company”. In the same communiquéobviously serious shortcomings were reported about safaris of Usangu Safaris, and that hunters reportedlyhad been told that the concessions they booked are unavailable, unless they pay additional fees of $15,000to $18,000.Tanzanian media reported that the present director of wildlife, who is near retirement, seems to beunder heavy pressure to allocate hunting blocks as political patronage. According to these sources there is astrong demand for hunting blocks by people outside the hunting industry. Allegedly these people are lookingfor a quick profit through sub-leasing. Back in the 90's sub-letting had led to a subdivision of hunting blocksand to unsustainable quota increases. In June the Tanzanian paper ThisDay mentioned that “the real culpritshave been left untouched” after an earlier reshuffle in MNRT. The same paper wrote that some wellconnectedindividuals have been monopolizing licenses for hunting blocks, which they covertly sublet toforeign hunting companies for exorbitant fees. Most of the criticism fell on the Wildlife Division for favoring aselect group of hunting outfitters. The paper cited a research report into the local hunting industry, whichclaimed widespread corruption and a lack of proper controls by the Wildlife Division thus seriously depletingrevenue and excluding communities.Later in the month an explosive PowerPoint presentation surfaced in Dar Es Salaam and was widelydistributed on the internet. The anonymous document purports to expose some of the corrupt practices in thehunting industry. Speculations ran wild about the author or authors; insiders, who seem to know theauthor(s), say that the source(s) are reputable and reliable. The same insiders say that many of theallegations are based on facts, although some are evidently made without presenting proof. Other reportsspoke of a number of cancellations of hunting safaris and of “Professional Hunters hanging around in Dar”.These sources linked the price increases to an effort of self defense of a "cornered" administration undervery high pressure, being accused of "institutionalized" corruption by the press and in Parliament.Representatives of the hunting industry in Tanzania frantically attempted to meet with the minister toinitiate a dialogue on how to solve an apparent impasse. They claimed that the increase could not beenforced in 2007, given that a previously agreed notice period had not been honored. TAHOA’s argumentscited a 1994 document that was signed between the Stakeholders and the Wildlife Division, whereby huntingcompanies should have a 9 months’ notice period regarding any price hike. Legal advice taken by TAHOAclaimed that the sudden price increases breached this agreement.Around August 14 th , an email from the TAHOA Secretary General was sent to all TAHOA memberssaying “The Office of the President has directed that TAHOA, on behalf of all hunting companies, has to sitwith The Hon. Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism in order to resolve the issue of Block fees andTrophy Fees as announced in GN. 159 dated 29th June 2007 and promulgated on 11th July 2007. ” OnAugust 24 th the Tanzanian paper ThisDay reported that the MNRT flatly rejected to rethink the increasesdespite vigorous lobbying pressure. The Minister reportedly said that the revised game hunting fees were inline with prevailing rates in the rest of the 14-member Southern African Development Community. Heasserted that hunting companies were using the blocks ’’almost free of charge,’’ with a typical hunting blockin the Selous Game Reserve of 100,000 hectares costing actually $0.5 per hectare.In an email bulletin of the same date, The Hunting Report classified ThisDay as tabloid with a historyof anti-hunting stories. The Hunting Report said not to take the ThisDay report as the final word and citedTAHOA’s chairman Gerard Pasanisi "this situation is still open and TAHOA is ready to sit down next week[ed. note: last week August] with specialists from the minister's office to discuss the problem of feeincreases." Insiders, however, are stating that although ThisDay may be considered tabloid, it is not antihunting,but anti-corruption.The internet forum “Accurate Reloading Forum” has a number of posts on the situation. Of significanceis a post by US agent Atkinson Hunting Adventures saying that “we have been booking [buffalo] at the new143
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Dedicated to the People and the Wil
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Hunting in South Africa: Facts - Ri
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Warthog $600 $80 $299 $300 $114 n/a
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a) Trophy fees for overseas hunters
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Bailey (1993) 16 estimates leopard
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and adequate training programs with
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Clearly, 30.5 million Rand addition
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• Use of appropriate hunting prot
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for the triple bottom line approach
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Apart from existing and proposed na
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a result of these concerted actions
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countries to cooperate across borde
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years there have been three differe
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The interference does not only affe
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http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/susg
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Hunting for Conservation in Cameroo
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Tourist Hunting: How Tanzania Can B
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• The leading role that sport hun
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hunters, organizers and entertainer
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Although commercial trophy hunting
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We note that Packer’s proposal fo
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ecruit safari operators with a long
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corruption in the province. Once ag
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grass so the available browse (bush
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wildlife on their own," said Dr. Ko
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Tanzania Development Partners Group
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quality and age of key species bein
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As mentioned earlier, the first ste
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The characteristics of hunting tour
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from the use of a species can provi
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eplaced by holistic triple-bottom-l
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What Do You Know About Conservation
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conservation based on international
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is exceeded game populations have t
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Until 1960 wildlife was in serious
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The aim must be to halt and root ou
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• Incentives are offered as a rew
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similar instruments. Such capital i
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The authorsDr. Graham Child was the
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Hunting Benefits BiodiversityRolf B
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finds a much larger male. Since he
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The “Fortress Mentality” of col
Page 91 and 92: Hunting is a controversial topic, o
Page 93 and 94: are considered to compete for poten
Page 95 and 96: Bwabwata National ParkThe Bwabwata
Page 97 and 98: The visiting hunters will be accomm
Page 99 and 100: Not many members of the South Afric
Page 101 and 102: Symposium, SSC Chair Holly Dublin s
Page 103 and 104: tourist hunting was prepared yet wa
Page 105 and 106: Why SCP?The Tanzanian Government fi
Page 107 and 108: Government Made CBC a Cornerstone o
Page 109 and 110: • Poaching: strong upward trend
Page 111 and 112: ecology from the University of Cali
Page 113 and 114: WWF on “Hunting for Conservation
Page 115 and 116: Moving Ahead (Extracts)Editorial Co
Page 117 and 118: conservation arena, I have undertak
Page 119 and 120: The Influence of Trophy Measurement
Page 121 and 122: A total of 91 samples were collecte
Page 123 and 124: The hunting industry is important n
Page 125 and 126: Photo 4: Buffalo Bull approx. 8 Yrs
Page 127 and 128: Photo 8: Current SCI Number 5 is of
Page 129 and 130: CIC Measuring Method129
Page 131 and 132: I know about hunting too. As a ward
Page 133 and 134: guide them in the hunt as best he p
Page 135 and 136: ewilderment as most of the hunting
Page 137 and 138: After Steve Smith’s untimely deat
Page 139 and 140: owe it to ourselves. We owe it to c
Page 141: “Use it or loose it” - Consumpt
Page 145 and 146: the sector is suffering from sub-op
Page 147 and 148: It is suggested that such donations
Page 149 and 150: ‣ Key-Excerpts from the speech by
Page 151 and 152: Southern African countries that eng
Page 153 and 154: But that however, is only part of t
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