The extraction of raw materials, especially rare earths, including for the European market; the designation of national parks for use for tourism purposes; the enclosure of natural areas to compensate for CO2 emissions in the global North. Projects of this and other kinds are increasingly jeopardising the livelihoods of nomadic pastoralists in countries such as Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. The Catholic aid organisation Misereor points this out with regard to a world conference starting today in Nepal entitled "The Global Gathering of Pastoralist Women".
According to Misereor's findings, nomadic shepherds, known as pastoralists, are being driven from their traditional grazing grounds in many regions of the world and with increasing frequency, not least because their use conflicts with the interests of people from wealthy countries. Raw materials are needed above all for modern technologies, the extraction of which leads to massive land rights conflicts and the displacement of marginalised groups. The interests of pastoralists, who are travelling with their herds of cattle in large natural areas, are often hardly taken into account.
Vital routes are interrupted
In Uganda, this dynamic affects the Karamoja region, among others, where massive deposits of gold, marble, limestone and strategic materials such as rare earths have been discovered - such as niobium, which is used for special steels for pipelines and aircraft turbines, antimony, which is essential for the semiconductor industry and infrared devices, and coltan, which is indispensable in the production of rechargeable batteries.
Pastoralism is dependent on mobility in order to react flexibly to water or pasture availability in arid regions. This is why large-scale barriers for mining projects have drastic consequences: routes that are vital for the survival of the nomadic population are cut off by fenced-off mining areas. Water and soil resources are heavily contaminated by the use of chemicals in the extraction of raw materials, and large areas of the upper soil layers are removed and destroyed in open-cast mining. As a result, important grazing areas and water sources are irretrievably lost for the herds.
Disadvantages of tourism in national parks
"Our partner organisations report that the designation of national parks, which are important for tourism among other things, also restricts or completely prevents access to traditional grazing areas and water sources," says Jutta Himmelsbach, specialist for water and sanitation at Misereor. "In addition, there are private farms that often belong to international companies or former colonial families and fence in large areas. In Tanzania, nomadic groups - especially the Maasai - are being forcibly resettled and in some cases driven from their traditional grazing areas at gunpoint."
Jutta Himmelsbach clarifies: "By 10 May, Germany had already used up its share of this year's globally available renewable resources. As the example of the pastoralists shows, we must become aware of how our prosperity and lifestyle affect the lives of people in other places and nature - not only in the present, but also with a view to future generations."
Focus on women's rights
Against the backdrop of these developments, this week's Pastoralist Women's Conference in Kathmandu will focus on raising awareness of the displacement of pastoralist peoples and the multiple violations of their human rights, and on land and resource rights, especially for women.
