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The Maasai, a prominent indigenous community in East Africa, are resisting international carbon credit projects in Tanzania. They fear these initiatives may lead to land dispossession and the erosion of their traditional pastoralist lifestyle.

Who are the Maasai?

• Ethnic Group: Semi-nomadic pastoralists found primarily in Tanzania and Kenya, especially in the Great Rift Valley and semi-arid savannas.
• Language:Maa (Eastern Sudanic branch, Nilo-Saharan family).
• Cultural Identity:
  • Known for distinct attire, beadwork, and warrior traditions.
  • Socially organized through patrilineal clans, divided into moieties and age-sets (from junior warriors to senior elders).
  • Youth (Morans) undergo bush training for resilience and discipline.
• Livelihood:
  • Rely on cattle, sheep, and goats for milk, meat, and blood.
  • Practice transhumance, moving seasonally for water and pasture.
  • Reside in kraals—circular enclosures with mud-dung houses and thorn fences.

Carbon Credit Projects and Rising Tensions

• Projects Involved:
  • Longido and Monduli Rangelands Carbon Project (Volkswagen ClimatePartners).
  • Resilient Tarangire Ecosystem Project (The Nature Conservancy).
• Area Affected: Nearly 2 million hectares of Maasai grazing land.
• Project Goal: Store soil carbon and sell offsets to polluters globally.

Maasai Concerns and Resistance

• Forced Land-Use Changes:Carbon projects impose structured rotational grazing (e.g., 14-day grazing cycles), disrupting centuries-old mobility practices.
• Lack of Consultation:Research by the Maasai International Solidarity Alliance (MISA) shows widespread violations of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC).
  • Women and youth were excluded from consultations.
  • Some communities unknowingly entered 30–40 year contracts.
  • Payments were often tokenistic and poorly explained.
• Economic and Legal Risks:
  • Villages lack clarity on revenue shares from credits.
  • Contracts lock communities into rigid systems despite village land-use plans being reviewed every 10 years.
  • Intermediaries—not end buyers—dominate the agreements.

Government and Global Dimensions

• Tanzania’s Push:The government expects $1 billion/year from carbon credit sales and is streamlining the sector through the National Carbon Monitoring Centre (NCMC).
• Global Scrutiny:
  • Investigations reveal over 90% of rainforest offsets by some certifiers are ineffective.
  • Soil carbon in semi-arid areas (like Maasai rangelands) is volatile and hard to quantify.

Grassroots Resistance and Legal Action

• Cultural and Spiritual Attachment:Land is integral to Maasai identity, beyond livestock rearing—it holds spiritual and cultural significance.
• Legal Mobilization:Young warriors, once defending livestock from predators, now advocate legally to protect ancestral land.MISA, formed after violent evictions in 2022 (Ngorongoro, Loliondo), spearheads resistance against exploitative schemes.