Natural Resources
Rugemeleza Nshala, Harvard Law School
Nshala is a leading environmental and human rights activist in
Tanzania and currently an S.J.D Candidate at Harvard Law School where
he also received his LL.M Degree in 1997. He also holds a Masters of
Environmental Management (M.E.M) Degree from Yale School of Forestry
and Environmental Studies that he received in 2007. Moreover, he
received his LL.B Degree from the University of Dar es Salaam in 1993.
Nshala co-founded the Lawyers' Environmental Action Team (LEAT) in
1994 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. LEAT is a leading public interest
environmental law organization in the East African region and Nshala
served as its executive director until September 2003. In that role,
in addition to organizing conferences, events, undertaking policy
research he served as counsel before Tanzania's High Court on behalf
of those affected by the dumping of hazardous wastes. LEAT was also
instrumental in the promulgation of the Environmental Management Act,
2004 which is Tanzania?s framework environmental legislation. In
addition, LEAT has successfully pushed the Tanzania government to
undertake a review of the mining agreements so as to enable the
country receive equitable returns from minerals exploitation.
Nshala also taught environmental law at University of Lands and Architectural Studies, a Constituent College of the University of Dar es Salaam. As a Visiting Fellow at the Human Rights Program during the 2003-2004 academic year, Nshala researched violations of human rights in Tanzania's mining sector, with a focus on the role of the World Bank. This is a topic on which he has amassed a great deal of first hand experience, having been very engaged in the defense of the rights of local communities affected by World Bank-financed mining projects in Tanzania. His S.J.D. project at Harvard Law School focuses on the review and examination of the extractive industry regulatory and tax reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa so as to enable these countries receive meaningful returns from the industry.