Hadzabe Tribe: 40,000 year-old hunter-gatherer tribe gains land rights in Tanzania

The Hadzabe people in Tanzania are among the last remaining hunter-gatherers on earth. In 2011, the Hadzabe gained legal rights over their ancestral lands, allowing them to protect their forests from farmers and herders seeking to clear the land. Deforestation in the core Hadzabe territory has since declined, compared to a significant increase in the wider region. Populations of endangered African elephants, African wild dogs, lions and leopards have also increased. The Hadzabe have also earned over US$450 000 from trading carbon offsets from the forests that cover their territory. This remarkable progress earned the Hadzabe the UN Development Programme’s Equator Prize, which recognizes Indigenous peoples’ efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. Footage courtesy of the Equator Initiative/UN Development Programme, with thanks to : Bagayo Petro David Beroff and Carbon Tanzania Samantha Chan Tasha Goldberg Felipe Ruiz Benitez