Abstract
Our work examines how communities living along the pipeline corridor experience the social and ecological consequences of large-scale extractive infrastructure, and how their knowledge challenges corporate legal narratives of “responsible” and "compliant" infrastructural development.
We focus on two interconnected landscapes as hotspots of the issues caused by EACOP infrastructural development: pastoral territories in northern Tanzania and the coastal fisheries of Tanga. In Kiteto district, land function as ecological and social infrastructure—providing livelihood such as food, medicine, meeting places, and cultural/spiritual sites for Maasai, Taturu, and Akie communities. Yet infrastructure expansion, land acquisition, and road construction associated with the pipeline threaten forms of life central to pastoral livelihoods. At the coast of Tanga, the pipeline’s marine export terminal intersects with small-scale fisheries which livelihood depend on the interconnection of mangrove, coral reefs, and seagrass beds. Fishers and communities report concerns about dredging, restricted access zones, and increased shipping activity affecting both fishing grounds and marine ecosystems.
While corporate environmental and human-rights legal and governance frameworks emphasize mitigation, consultation, and procedural compliance with international and local standards, community experiences reveal gaps between these formal mechanisms and lived realities and experiences of extraction. Our presentation reflects on how experiential knowledge systems expose these shortcomings and articulate alternative visions of environmental governance that can inform the corporate due diligence framework under which MNCs involved in the pipeline project operate.
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This event is open to everyone interested.