2.4 The Southern African Development Community Protocol on Wildlife Conservation and Law Enforcement, 1999

Tanzania is also a Party to the Southern African Development Community Protocol on Wildlife Conservation and Law Enforcement signed by Southern African States in Maputo, Mozambique in 1999, (the SADC Protocol).²¹ The Protocol contains provisions that are relevant for hunting industries in the Contracting Party States. Most of these are reflected in Tanzania's principal wildlife legislation and the new wildlife policy. The hunting-related objectives of the SADC Protocol are provided for in Articles 3, 4, 6 and 7.

Articles 3(a) and 4 of the Protocol call upon Party States to take legislative measures to ensure the sustainable use of wildlife resources. Regulating the hunting of species of wild animals seeks to ensure sustainable use of the wild animal population and squarely fits in this objective. Article 6(2) on the other hand urges Parties to penalize the taking away of wild animals or their products for purposes of trade. Article 7(2) and (3) obliges the Parties to control activities that may significantly affect conservation and sustainable use of wildlife in order to avoid or minimize negative impacts, and to take measures to prevent over-exploitation and extinction of wildlife.

The analysis of the hunting-related provisions of the African Convention, the SADC Protocol and the CITES serves to illustrate the effort made by the Tanzanian government to comply with international and regional standards and obligations in regulating the hunting industry. On the face of it, the provisions of the main wildlife law and the policy strategies on hunting promulgated by the government have also attempted to reflect this compliance. A review of the extent to which these laws and policies reflect the government's intent is delved onto in the following chapter.

21. See the Preamble and page 20 of the Protocol. Both show the list of Contracting Parties.