East African Archaeology: Foragers, Potters, Smiths, and Traders

9. Politics, Cattle, and Conservation: Ngorongoro Crater at a Crossroads

9 Politics, Cattle, and Conservation: Ngorongoro Crater at a Crossroads Charles Musiba and Audax Mabulla Mass tourism in Tanzania’s national parks, game reserves, and conservation areas threatens the very ecosystems and communities these areas seek to protect. Until the mid-1980s, management of these areas stressed wildlife management and long-term mass tourism development. Tourist vehicles, hotels, and camping facilities are causing many stresses on the environment in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA). Maasai relocation from the crater floor and prohibition of their seasonal burning practices has disrupted the ecological balance and led to rampant poaching. The world-famous sites of Olduvai Gorge and Laetoli have suffered from vandalism and insufficient maintenance. Sustainable tourism would include Maasai habitation of the NCA, Maasai employment and participation in the tourism industry, establishment of appropriate facilities at the archaeological sites, control of tourist flow by NCA officials, and use of donkey safaris. In the long term, sustainable eco- and archaeo-tourism will be more beneficial economically, ecologically, socially, and culturally to Tanzania. East African tourism primarily features wildlife, local customs, historical sites, and spectacular landscapes. Like many other developing nations, Tanzania has created national parks and other forms of protected areas (reserves and conservation areas) to boost the country’s economy and protect these areas for future generations.InTanzania,most national parks,game reserves, and conservation areas are located within the savanna ecosystem, which supports a wide range of wildlife. In principle, national parks and game reserves in Tanzania are part of the nation’s heritage and should therefore provide Tanzanians with sustainable and improvable subsistence and revenue (Nyerere 1968, 1974). However, some researchers have concluded that adverse environmental effects caused by mass tourism exceed the benefits generated to communities surrounding the parks, game reserves, and conservation areas (Århem 1985b; Bell 1986; Homewood and Rodgers 1991). Ironically, mass tourism in Tanzania’s national parks, game reserves, and conservation areas threatens the very ecosystems and communities these areas seek to protect. Mass tourism in one of Tanzania’s most valued and well-protected parks, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) in the Serengeti Plains of northern Tanzania, has been socially, economically, and ecologically disruptive in spite of its potential benefit. In particular, mass tourism threatens fragile natural lands and wildlife,pastoralist grazing lands,and archaeological sites including Olduvai Gorge.This chapter is based on long-term observations and interactions between the authors and the Ngorongoro’s Maasai communities, conservation officers, and representative members of the National Parliament. East African Archaeology: Foragers, Potters, Smiths, and Traders 134 Musoma Mwanza Seronera L. Ndutu L. Masek Olduvai Gorge L. Eyasi Mbulu L. Manyara Arusha Mt. Kilimanjaro Serengeti National Park L. Natron Ngorongoro Crater KENYA TANZANIA Karatu Mto wa mbu L. Victoria Ukara Ukerewe 0 100 km N Fig. 9.1 Northern Tanzania, showing Ngorongoro Crater and Olduvai Gorge. National Parks in Tanzania Before colonialism, village community councils in Tanzania had their own ways of managing the environment.They set aside lands for different activities:agriculture,pasturage,ranging,hunting,and sacred areas.The livelihood of all communities in Tanzania, regardless of their subsistence strategies , depended heavily on appropriate land use.The connection of humans to the land was always very strong.The land was sacred. When the Germans conquered Tanganyika (now known as Tanzania) and established direct rule in the mid-1890s, traditional land rights and land use changed dramatically.The objectives of the colonial policies were clearly based on serving the interests of the German empire. German rules controlled all major population centers and trading routes between the coast and the hinterland. Taxation, plantations, and forced labor created a peasantry . At the same time, areas were reserved for special interests, much as hunting grounds and game reserves for the kaiser of Germany. Great Britain and its allies defeated Germany at the close of World War I,andTanganyika was mandated a British territory under the authority of the League of Nations. In theory this gave Great Britain transitional powers to administrate Tanganyika, powers that were to expire within ten years when the people of Tanganyika were to be granted autonomy. In fact, it was 1960 before the promise of independence was fulfilled. In 1922, the British accepted what the League of Nations referred to as their “moral obligation to govern Tanganyika.”They created a system of indirect rule that incorporated indigenous political systems into the colonial framework. They established native authorities to ease colonial control. Although...