Searchable database of alleged violations against Indigenous Peoples' human rights in protected areas and natural parks.
| Title | Country | Impacted Indigenous People(s) | Short Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chitwan National Park | Nepal | Tharu, Bote, Majhi, Darai, Kumal | In Chitwan National Park (Nepal), Indigenous Tharu, Bote, Majhi, Darai, and Kumal peoples have endured decades of displacement, violence, and livelihood loss under state conservation and tourism policies. Established in 1973 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984, the park was created without Indigenous consent, forcing entire communities from ancestral lands into “buffer zones” disconnected from their cultural roots. Reports from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch describe ongoing harassment, arson, and destruction of homes by park authorities—such as incidents where soldiers used elephants to trample villages and burn houses. Indigenous peoples now face repeated crop destruction by wildlife, lack of compensation, and restrictions on fishing and forest use central to their survival. Despite extensive international funding from WWF, GEF, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, conservation in Chitwan continues to rely on militarized enforcement that violates fundamental land, cultural, and subsistence rights of local Indigenous communities. |
| Ruaha National Park-Runapa | Tanzania | Maasai, Sangu, Toga, Barabaig | In Ruaha National Park (Tanzania), Indigenous Maasai, Sangu, Toga, and Barabaig peoples have faced decades of displacement, violence, and economic devastation under government and donor-backed conservation programs. Established as a national park in 1964 and expanded in 2008, Ruaha’s boundaries were enlarged without Free, Prior, and Informed Consent, forcing thousands from ancestral lands. Reports by the Oakland Institute and PINGOs Forum document shootings, rapes, and cattle seizures by park rangers under the World Bank-funded REGROW project, which continues to drive mass evictions across dozens of villages. Despite court rulings halting unlawful removals, intimidation and confiscations persist. Funded by the World Bank, GEF, and private foundations, Ruaha’s “fortress conservation” model has militarized wildlife protection while systematically violating Indigenous land, livelihood, and human rights. |
| Selous Game Reserve-SGR | Tanzania | Maasai, Barabaig, Sukuma | In Selous Game Reserve (Tanzania), Indigenous Maasai, Barabaig, and Sukuma pastoralists have endured years of violent displacement and killings under state-led conservation and land-clearing operations. Established as a reserve in 1896 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982, Selous has become the focus of repeated government crackdowns, including Operation Save Kilombero Valley, which displaced over 2,000 people and killed several pastoralists. Authorities justified evictions by blaming livestock for damaging wetlands, while police and rangers carried out shootings, extortion, and cattle seizures that left families destitute. Despite international funding from WWF, GEF/UNDP, GTZ, and KfW, conservation efforts continue to rely on militarized enforcement, denying Indigenous communities their land, livelihood, and cultural rights, and leaving most abuses uninvestigated or unpunished. |
| Tarangire National Park-TNP | Tanzania | Maasai, Hadzabe and Akiyie | In Tarangire National Park (Tanzania), Indigenous Maasai, Hadzabe, and Akiyie peoples continue to face violent evictions and land seizures under state-driven conservation expansion. Established in 1970 through the displacement of Maasai pastoralists, the park has since expanded beyond its original 2,600 km² to 2,850 km², with ongoing plans to annex an additional 100 km² of village land. Recent efforts to enforce these expansions have led to mass arrests, shootings, and livestock confiscations, leaving thousands displaced with little notice. Despite international partnerships through USAID, the African Wildlife Foundation, and the U.S. National Park Service, conservation in Tarangire continues to follow a “fortress” model—prioritizing tourism and wildlife protection over the land, livelihood, and consent rights of the Indigenous communities who have inhabited the region for generations. |
| Sukenya farm, Sukenya and Mondorosi and the US company Thomson Safaris | Tanzania | Maasai, Hadzabe and Akiyie, Datooga | In Sukenya and Mondorosi villages (Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania), the Maasai people have faced decades of land dispossession and violence linked to foreign investment and state-backed conservation. Originally seized in 1984 by Tanzania Breweries Ltd., the 10,000-acre Sukenya Farm was later transferred to Tanzania Conservation Ltd., a subsidiary of U.S.-based Thomson Safaris, and converted into the Enashiva Nature Refuge. This transfer, allegedly fraudulent, triggered forced evictions, home burnings, arrests, and shootings of Maasai residents, including the 2014 killing of herdsman Olunjai Timan. Despite ongoing legal action in both Tanzania and U.S. courts, villagers continue to be denied access to ancestral grazing lands. Funded in part through conservation and tourism initiatives supported by UNESCO and UNDP, the case exemplifies how privatized “eco-tourism” projects have deepened violations of Indigenous land, livelihood, and cultural rights under the guise of sustainable development. |
| Mkomazi Game Reserve-MGR | Tanzania | Maasai, Barabaig | In Mkomazi National Park (Tanzania), the Maasai and Barabaig pastoralists have faced decades of dispossession and violence tied to conservation expansion and forced evictions. Established as a game reserve in 1951 and upgraded to a national park in 2006, Mkomazi was cleared of tens of thousands of cattle and herders during the 1988 mass evictions, justified by environmental claims and foreign-funded conservation agendas led by the George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trust. Despite court challenges asserting customary land rights, the High Court upheld their removal. In recent years, rangers have continued to shoot and kill herders, including the 2022 killing of 17-year-old Ngaitepa Marias Lukumay, sparking local outrage but no accountability. Backed by international donors such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Frankfurt Zoological Society, and WWF, Mkomazi remains emblematic of “fortress conservation,” where wildlife protection is prioritized over the survival, safety, and ancestral rights of Indigenous pastoralist communities. |
Disclaimer: The Conservation database contains allegations related to human rights violations of indigenous peoples impacted by protected areas, national parks and other conservation measures. Allegations of human rights violations were collected from a wide range of sources, including thematic, country, and fact-finding mission reports submitted by indigenous organizations, individual experts, non-governmental organizations and other civil society actors, newspaper articles, petitions, communications, statements, and other relevant information or materials issued by United Nations independent experts and human rights mechanisms. The information provided in this database does not necessarily reflect the official views of the University of Arizona, the University of Arizona College of Law, or the University of Arizona Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program, nor is there any guarantee or endorsement of any information or views expressed therein. If you wish to add additional allegations, please reachout to us via email law-conservation@arizona.edu