Tanzania: Commissions Call for Mass Eviction of Indigenous Maasai from World-famous Tourist Destinations

by Survival International / March 19th, 2026

President Hassan receives a report from the presidential commissions at an official handover ceremony, March 2026.

Two presidential commissions have recommended the mass eviction of Maasai people from some of East Africa’s most iconic conservation areas and tourist destinations.

The commissions were established by Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan following previous evictions of Maasai pastoralists from parts of the world-famous Serengeti ecosystem, and large-scale protests in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in 2024.

Now, despite a global outcry at the earlier evictions, the two Commissions have:

• Backed the previous evictions and called for them to continue, including in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Ngorongoro and neighboring Lake Natron.
• Described the long-standing Maasai presence in the area as an “environmental pressure” that needs to be reduced.
• Threatened local NGOs that support the Maasai, accusing them of “spreading misinformation or propaganda” because they “conflict with government interests.”
• Called for the “relocation” of all “non-conservation activities” [in other words, Maasai occupancy of the land] outside the conservation areas.
• Called for existing recognition of the Maasai people’s right to live in the Ngorongoro area to be removed.

An anonymous Maasai spokesperson said today: “We are blamed for environmental degradation while the unchecked expansion of tourism is ignored. Forced relocation, disguised as policy, has deprived our people of basic rights and dignity. We reject any continuation of these measures and condemn the Commission’s failure to reflect the voices, realities, and rights of our people.”

Still from a video showing the Maasai protesting the violent evictions from their ancestral lands, 2022.

Addendum

The commissions’ reports have not been published, but their findings have been widely reported in Tanzania, and presented at an official event.

The first commission looked at previous evictions such as the one from Loliondo in 2022; the second was tasked to make recommendations on how to improve “relocations.”

Survival International’s report “Decolonize UNESCO” spotlights UNESCO’s complicity in human rights violations in conservation zones in Tanzania.

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