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indigenous peoples in the Park. Indigenous peoples continue to be targeted for their
livelihood practices, and their homes have been destroyed in retaliation for collecting
resources, including medicinal herbs, within the Park. 35
48. In the United Republic of Tanzania, Maasai pastoralists residing in the
Ngorongoro Conservation Area have been systematically excluded from the
management of the area and progressively restricted to smaller and smaller portions
of this World Heritage site recognized in 1979, to such an extent that their physical
and cultural survival is endangered. 36 Between 2013 and 2021, the current and former
mandate holders issued seven communications raising concerns about the failure of
the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania to ensure Maasai leadership and
consent in the management of the site, and about the repeated forced evictions,
attacks, intimidation and harassment of the Maasai people. 37
49. In Botswana and Namibia, the Okavango Delta, home to various indigenous
peoples, including the San people, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in
2014. The San were forcefully evicted from their lands without their free, prior and
informed consent, and continue to be denied access to sacred areas and hunting and
fishing grounds. In August 2021, the Special Rapporteur raised concerns about
petroleum licences issued to a Canadian-owned company because future exploration
and extraction could cause irrevocable damage to the fragile ecosystem on which the
San depend for their physical and cultural survival. The Okavango Delta is of great
ecological significance because it provides water to m illions of people and animals,
including threatened and endangered species such as the African savanna elephant. 38
50. In February 2022, the Special Rapporteur urged Sweden not to issue a licence
for an iron ore mine in the Gallok region, close to the World Heritage site of Laponia,
noting that the open pit mine would generate vast amounts of pollution and toxic
waste affecting Sami traditional lands and endanger the protected ecosystem,
including reindeer migration. 39
51. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the fact that UNESCO has raised concerns
about the negative impact of planned extractive activities on indigenous peoples’
rights both in the Okavango Delta and in the vicinity of Laponia. 40
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Communication AL NPL 3/2020 addressed to Nepal, available at https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/
TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=25642 .
Communication AL TZA 3/2021 addressed to the United Republic of Tanzania, available at
https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=26938 .
Communications TZA 3/2013, TZA 1/2014, TZA 1/2015, TZA 1/2016, TZA 1/2017, TZA 2/2019 and
TZA 3/2021 addressed to the United Republic of Tanzania, available at
https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=22007,
https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=22743 ,
https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=17993 ,
https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=3343 ,
https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=22948,
https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=24872
and https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=
26938.
Communication AL BWA 3/2021 addressed to Botswana, available at https://spcommreports.
ohchr.org/fr/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=26804; and communication
AL NAM 2/2021 addressed to Namibia, available at https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/fr/
TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=26802.
Communication AL SWE 2/2022 addressed to Sweden, available at https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/
TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=27057.
See https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2230/; and internal document cited in communication AL
SWE 2/2022.
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