LEAT General Publications
Environmental Law Handbook for Businesses
As awareness increases and the economy grows, environmental regulations will have more of an impact on the economy and the economy more of an impact on the environment. Therefore, businesses must be familiar with both the relevant issues and the regulatory legal frameworks and should adopt a culture of voluntary compliance so that any economic development is "sustainable" for both the present and future generations of Tanzanians. It is within this context that this environmental law handbook for the business sector is prepared.
LEAT Research Reports
1. Repackaging Authoritarianism: Freedom of Association and Expression and the Right to Organize Under the Proposed NGO Policy for Tanzania <html> <word> <pdf>
This study analyses recent government initiatives for the regulation of the nongovernmental organisation (NGO) sector in Tanzania. These initiatives offer an opportunity for serious reflection and debate on the status of the rights and freedoms called for by Tanzania's Constitution. They are also of direct importance to social and environmental activists and NGOs, as they are likely to decide not only their freedom of operation but also whether their organisations have the right to exist at all.
2. Environmental Impact Assessment of Foreign Investment Projects <html> <word> <pdf>
This report intends to examine environmental law and policy in Tanzania particularly in respect of foreign investment in Tanzania with a view to showing the manner in which social and environmental considerations have been integrated in the decision-making processes regarding foreign investment and the regulation thereof. The taste of the pudding is, as a saying goes, in the eating and one cannot judge the efficacy of the law without examining what goes on in the world of practice. The brief honours this tradition by examining the practice which has evolved in recent years as regards the EIA processes.
3. Review of the Decentralization Process and it's Impact on Environmental and Natural Resources Management in Tanzania <html> <word> <pdf>
Decentralization is commonly viewed as the transfer of legal and political authority from the central government and its agencies to the field organizations and institutions. This review analyzes the process, institutional and legal framework within which the environmental and natural resources management operates in Tanzania. It specifically focuses on the decentralization within central and local governments' role in environmental management. The focus of the study is to examine how the interface between the centre and local loci of power have affected pieces of legislation relating to management of the environment by central and local governments in Tanzania.
4. Regulating the Hunting Industry in Tanzania <html> <word> <pdf>
This work critically analyzes the operations of the hunting industry of Tanzania in the light of existing institutions, the law and policy-making frameworks. The study is essentially a follow up to one of LEAT's Policy Briefs that focused on the granting of hunting blocks in Tanzania as one aspect of the hunting industry. This study provides a comparatively more holistic approach in analyzing the operation, activities and features of the hunting industry of Tanzania from a legislative and policy-making perspective.
LEAT Policy Briefs
1. The Freedom of Association in Tanzania <html> <word> <pdf>
A cornerstone of democratic governance and constitutional liberalism is the freedom of association. This freedom enables people who share similar interests to come together and form organizations that represent their interests and views. The implications for civil society and NGOs as well as their efforts to promote development, social equity, and environmental management are clear. Effective advocacy is dependent on an enabling environment that provides important rights, including the freedoms of association, expression, and information. Without them, civil society has little political space and few opportunities to hold government accountable.
2. Wildlife Corridors and Buffer Zones in Tanzania <html> <word> <pdf>
Tanzania's rich wildlife heritage has attracted many tourists and hunters, who bring the equivalent of billions of shillings in much-needed foreign currency. Many local populations also depend on wildlife for meat and hides. Despite its values and contributions, Tanzania's wildlife is in crises. This brief focuses on policy and management options for migration corridors and buffer zones in Tanzania, considered to be critical priorities for the survival of wildlife and opportunities to experiment with solutions to the human-wildlife crisis. It addresses the new Wildlife Policy of Tanzania and the draft National Parks Bill and proposes a series of practical changes through administrative and management decisions that will benefit wildlife and help solve the human-wildlife conflicts.
3. The New Wildlife Policy in Tanzania <html> <word> <pdf>
The government of Tanzania recently adopted a new Wildlife Policy intended to better address the problems and obstacles that have plagued wildlife management in Tanzania. The new policy, however, retains state ownership and control of wildlife resources. Continued state ownership and control of wildlife resources perpetuates the "wildlife-first" philosophy of biodiversity conservation -- the use of a protected area network as a principal management tool -- and patron-client relationships that have marked government-community relations in wildlife and other natural resource management. Rural communities are in effect dispossessed of customary land and resources on which they depend for their livelihoods and from which they could generate in-come for local-level development. State trusteeship is a fundamental cause of land and natural resource conflicts that have intensified in recent years within and around protected areas in Tanzania.
4. Access to Environmental Information in Tanzania <html> <word> <pdf>
A Tanzanian citizen's right to obtain and impart information is enshrined in the constitution. Thus, by interpretation at least, the right of citizens to access environmental information is ensured. In practice, however, Tanzanians rarely enjoy this right. As a result, the public is often unaware of the possible hazards or potential benefits of many government decisions and projects. Moreover, without effective access to environmental and other information, Tanzania's citizens are not involved in public policy-making processes to the extent necessary to achieve sustainable development. This policy brief addresses the issues of access to environmental information in Tanzania from policy, legal, and practical perspectives.
5. Granting Hunting Blocks in Tanzania <html> <word> <pdf>
Tanzania is a country with a wealth of wildlife resources. Its national parks - Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, and Lake Manyara, Mikumi, and Ruaha - to name a few, are world famous. Unlike Kenya, which has banned hunting since 1975, Tanzania has sought to exploit these resources by pursuing a policy of consumptive utilization, whereby traditional and tourist hunting are encouraged. This paper begins with a review of the Wildlife Conservation Act of 1974, the main law governing wildlife utilization in Tanzania. The paper goes on to analyze the current hunting allocation system and finds it to be inimical to sound wildlife management, mainly because there are not sufficient checks and balances on the Director of Wildlife and the Minister-the main implementers of the legislation. This absence of checks and balances has resulted in nepotism, abuse of authority and serious allegations of corruption. Finally, we outline options for the reform of the system by which hunting blocks are allocated.
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