THE WILDLIFE CONSERVATION ACT OF 1974

The principal legislation governing wildlife utilization in Tanzania is the Wildlife Conservation Act of 1974. This Act vests the Director of Wildlife with powers to oversee the overall management of wildlife in the country. The Director is in charge of game reserves, game conservation areas, and open lands, while the Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA) is in charge of the national parks. (This last provision is made under the National Parks Ordinance, Cap. 389.)

The key points of the Act regarding the powers and responsibilities of the Director of Wildlife are:

• Section 3, which establishes the office of the Director of Wildlife who is appointed by the President. (The law does not state the qualifications necessary for appointment to this post.)
• Section 9, which provides that no person may carry out hunting activities in the game reserve and game-controlled areas without permission from the Director of Wildlife.
• Section 12, which states that no person may graze animals in the said areas without having applied for and received permission from the Director.
• Section 32, which gives the Director the power to grant licences for the capture of animals for zoological, educational, or scientific purposes or for any purpose he deems in the public interest.
• Section 41, which gives the Director broad powers to issue Presidential Licences to hunt, capture, and photograph animals on conditions laid down by the Director, whether or not such animals are protected by any other provision of this Act or any other written law. Exercise of this power, which if broadly interpreted could allow the capture or killing of endangered species like elephants and black rhinos - in total violation of international agreements like the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) as well as national ethics - is subject only to the Minister's approval.

The Director is empowered to refuse, in the public interest, to issue licences and certificates, or to grant permission to any person. The Director also has the power to cancel any licence, permission, or permit. Any person dissatisfied with the decision of the Director may appeal to the Minister, whose decision on such an appeal is final and conclusive (Section 55(2)). Finally, the Director is given prosecutorial powers to try offenses under the Act (Section 81).

The Minister is the second layer of authority established by the Wildlife Conservation Act, 1974. He is empowered to:

• declare an area to be a game-controlled area (Section 6);
• prohibit capture and hunting in a closed season (Section 17);
• amend the Second and Third Schedule of the Act by an order published in a Government Gazette (Section 24); allow the hunting of scheduled and specified animals without a licence (Section 23);
• designate a body corporate or unincorporate to be an authorized association, which in turn entitles it to be allocated a hunting licence (Sections 26 and 28);
• make regulations concerning the issuance of hunting licences of scheduled and specified animals, the mode of hunting of scheduled animals, prescribe the functions of the designated organization, and prescribe the maximum number that any grantee of a licence may hunt (Section 29);
• make regulations for better application of the Act to improve wildlife conservation (Section 84);
• act as the appellate authority in cases of refusal or cancellation of hunting licences (Section 55 (2)).

The President is the third layer of authority under the Act. He has the power to:

• establish game reserves (Section 5);
• modify restrictions imposed on hunting of animals in game reserves, game-controlled areas, and partial game reserves (Section 19);
• impose a ban on any category of persons from being given a game licence (Section 22).

Having considered the general powers over wildlife utilization given by the Wildlife Act to the Director, the Minister and the President, we now focus on how tourist hunting has been conducted and regulated in the country.