Having an understanding of overview managerial challenges facing World Heritage Sites in Africa and Tanzania, it is therefore critical if best practices are to be designed and implemented in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and implementation of 2015 UNESCO Policy in Tanzania. Therefore, it is the objective of this study to design the best practices in the management and protection of World Heritage in order to achieve Sustainable Development Goals in Tanzania.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 

Data presented in this paper are divided in three facets, those which collected through interviews and group discussions with the seven site managers during the site managers meeting at TAFORI offices in Morogoro Region from 22nd to 25th January, 2019. In this meeting, two staffs from the MNRT3, three NATCOM4 and one representative from the World Heritage Committee participated. Some data were through personal observations of activities (social, economic and political activities) in and around of some of World Heritage Sites in Tanzania. The secondary data information was collected from previous State of Conservation reports (SoC) submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Furthermore, the authors of this paper (MC&EK) further, made frequently visit some World Heritage Sites in Tanzania such as Selous Game Reserves, Ngorongoro, Kilwa Kisiwani and Zanzibar Stone Town. During their visitation, the authors observed various challenges facing World Heritage Sites, especially on the means to ensure best practices in management and protection while benefiting local communities through improving their livelihood as an ultimate goal to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and as an applicability of UNESCO Policy on Heritage and Sustainable development of 2015. Lastly, the study employed a qualitative research approach to obtain information about the overview challenges and management of World Heritage Sites in Tanzania. Data obtained through from interviews, documents review and group discussion were analyzed using thematic analysis involving organizing the data into main “themes” and complemented by data from secondary sources about the objective of the study (Boyatzis, 1998; Braun & Clarke, 2006).

RESULTS 

During the discussion with the site managers in the meeting, the site manager of Kondoa Rock Art Site presented the managerial challenges and factors affecting the property. Challenges outlined were those caused by natural environments such as moisture and weathering. He revealed that, while moisture caused by water reaches to rock surface that contains paintings and leads to deterioration of the paints, weathering occurs when flowing water and rain damages of rock surface comprising rock paintings. Usually, the flowing water creates dark/yellow/white patches on the rock surface and it is from around these patches where deposition of the minerals takes place.

Composition of these minerals and water on rock surface lead to building an obscure to the paintings or maybe deposited behind the rock surface eventually causing it to flake. The data imply that the weathering and moisture have affected the surface of rock art paintings which might accelerate the disappearance of this ancient painting in Central Tanzania.

Human-induced problems were other challenges mentioned by the Kondoa Site Manager. The issue of graffiti and scratching on the rock art surface have been a current significant problem mostly affecting the sites of Pahi and Kisese. Illegal digging of treasure mainly by local people has been affecting the site especially in Kinyasi, Soera, Thawi and Cholincholi sites. The site manager said that; 

“The local people thought that the various scholars who occasionally visited the Kondoa paintings during the first half of the 20th century were actually gold prospectors. Unfortunately, as a result of this wrong perception there has been digging and deposits of sand in front of some rock shelters.”

The site manager further revealed that a very recent new case of treasure hunting was documented in 2017 in Pahi Lusangi site B6. Continuous reuse of sites for contemporary rituals by the local community also has posed some problems to the property due to the use of local brew made from millet splattered on the painted rock surfaces on the occasion to perform rituals. Above all, it was also revealed that the site management plan is outdated. The site managers emphasized that the management plan was prepared during the nomination of the site to the World Heritage List 2006. Since then, the management plan has yet to be updated. These findings further appear to suggest that failure of the site authority to deal with negative human activities and failure to update the management plan have led to the challenges in the management of Kondoa Rock Art sites.

In Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara, the site manager also informed some recent challenges facing the property. She acknowledged the financial support obtained from UNESCO for strengthening Coastal Sea Wall on the Gereza Fort however, the site still faces sea wave erosion which affects many other ruins like Husuni Kubwa5 being eroded. She also outlined that human encroachment at the site has been one of the significant problems which has led to some of the coral stones being taken from the ruins by the community for constructions of their houses and that other encroach the site to obtain land for agricultural activities. Furthermore, the site manager expressed that, some encroach for the purpose of looking for grazing areas for goats and even lambs. All these result in deterioration of the site because animals have the tendency to rub themselves with the walls of the ruins and to cause erosion. This situation also was observed by the author of this paper (MC) who visited the site on 25/9/2018 to 30/9/2018 for assessing the project on strengthening coastal sea wall on the Gereza fort. These findings show that the local community lacks awareness on the importance of protecting and conserving Kilwa Kisiwani Ruins while lack of grazing area for the community has led to the animals to continue to deteriorate the site. Additionally, during the discussion, the site manager acknowledged different awareness programs conducted for the local community for the purpose of making them participate in conservation and management activities but the response is not as what was expected. Finally, the site managers revealed that the buffer zone of the site and management plan need to be updated to provide better management and conservation of the site. This information from the site manager suggests that some of these challenges facing the site can be eradicated if the heritage governing bodies are ready to support the site manager financially so as to develop different awareness programs to the local community in Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara on the conservation and management of the site.

In Zanzibar Stone Town, different challenges also were outlined during the meeting in Morogoro Region. The conservator highlighted the challenges of development projects which are taken or about to take place inside and nearby the site boundaries which may pose a potential danger to the Outstanding Universal Value of the property. The project such as Port expansion at Malindi, Bwawani Hotel Redevelopment and Mambo Msiige Hotel are some of the significant projects which can threaten the site authenticity and integrity. Other managerial challenges outlined were some of the building inside Stone town are owned by other institutions such as Zanzibar Housing Corporation (ZHC) who owned about 300 buildings. It becomes a challenge for the ZHC to rehabilitate if it does not receive the required amount from the government. Hence, the deterioration of some buildings. This data appears to suggest that there is a minimum level of communication and cooperation between STCDA6, ZHC and other governing bodies in Zanzibar Stone Town regarding best practices in the management and conservation of the Town. Hence, challenges in rehabilitation of the Town. 

The site manager further revealed that the historical Stone Town in Zanzibar is under pressure from a change of life of the local population and pressure from the increasing number of tourists due to its fame. In the past, most of the people within the property were making their movements by walking, few cars and motorbikes. In recent years, the use of motorized transport is affecting the stone buildings in terms of creating parking spaces but also raising the risk of those who make their movement by walking. It was informed that maintaining rehabilitation of an old building by using materials which were used in the past is a challenge and even there are few technicians who were trained in the conservation of old buildings. These responses from the site manager imply that the managerial challenges facing the Zanzibar Stone Town are perhaps caused by a lack of clear legal framework and policies to compromise project development, heritage management and failure to have traffic control inside the site.

In Selous Game Reserve, the conservation officer identified recently, managerial challenges facing the property during the meeting. He informed that, prior to the 2015 poaching particular to the elephants and black rhinoceros resulted in declining of their number. However, the conservator further revealed that TAWA with assistant from German Development Bank and other partners has been able to establish different projects such as Selous Ecosystem Conservation and Development (SECAD) which has helped to combat poaching.

He also acknowledged the improvement of law enforcement in the property has resulted to reduce poaching and the trends show some positive recovery of elephant’s population. The date above implies that TAWA7 has been working very hard to eradicate all the challenges facing the Selous Game Reserve with help from a different international organization.

Other potential threats are oil exploration in Kilombero which is at the upper stream of the property. However, as it has been a practice, it is an informed study that will warranty a go option. Due to its potentiality, there was an exploration of (uranium) where EIA was conducted and provided a go option for the project. However, due to the decline in the price of Uranium in the world market, no mining activities which have started.

In Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the cultural heritage officer had few to say on the current managerial challenges faced by the site. During the discussion, the officer explained an increasing number of tourists in the crater and this is because it is easy to see all the big five in the crater. Since tourists use vehicles, it implies that an increase in vehicles is likely. Another challenge explained by the conservator was the increase in the population of the people inside the property and livestock grazing. This situation also has led to human-wildlife conflicts due to the area capacity of the property to accommodate human use and livestock grazing to remain the same while the population increases. It was informed that there are foreseen plans to diversify tourism so that they do not concentrate on the crater and for the case of population, voluntary migration is encouraged with support from the authority. It was also explained that the invasive alien plants although not in the alarming rate but have in some areas become persistent. However, the authority has developed a strategic plan to address issues of alien invasive plants and which will be evaluated to monitor its progress in the cause of implementation. The information above suggests that there is also a need for Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Authority to develop another strategic plan for which it will help them to control the number of tourists in the crater and local population inside the sites which currently are providing challenges in the management of the site.

Lastly, the authority has been using a lot of money to maintain an earth road from Lodoare Gate to Golini. In an effort to address this challenge, the authority plan to harden the road. It is informed that both EIA and Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment have been conducted and the findings are in support of the project due to negligible negative impacts which will be mitigated.

In Serengeti National Park, the conservators had very few issues to inform as to the challenges facing the site. He pointed out that poaching activities and wildfire were some of the difficulties which used to face the site, but at present, the authority has been able to combat these challenges. However, there was a concern on the series of the proposed dams to be constructed on upstream of the Mara River which is in Kenya. The concern is obvious since it is the Mara River which is the main source of water in the Serengeti National Park and warranty availability of water to wild animals throughout the year unlike other sources which are seasonal. It is likely that this leads to an ascertained danger to the properties and Kenya Lake System in the Great Rift Valley World Heritage properties itself given the fact that they are in the same ecosystem. This data further appears to suggest that an effort to address these challenges should continue between both governments of Tanzania and Kenya by having several meetings through East Africa community and other meetings regarding the implementation of the project in managing Mara River. This might help the government of Kenya has postponed the project. 

In Kilimanjaro National Park, threats such as an increase in the land use adjacent to the property, invasive species, fire and climate change have been reported to pose some challenges the OUV of the property. However, KINAPA has been able to control these challenges by providing Education awareness programs and integration of park management with all involved partners and stakeholders, including the surrounding rural population, (see also UNESCO 2019). These findings also imply that the authority in Kilimanjaro National Park has done enough to fight against the challenges facing the Kilimanjaro National Park.

DISCUSSION

This paper aims at proposing best practices in heritage protection and management in order to address and achieve different Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and implementation of UNESCO Policy of 2015 in Tanzania. It should not be understood that there are no efforts done by either government or at the site level to address these challenges. The government of Tanzania has made big efforts to curb different challenges faced by the World Heritage Sites in the Country. However, the question remains whether these efforts provide a reflection on achieving Sustainable development goals and carries a meaning of what the 2015 UNESCO Policy on Development and Sustainable expresses. 

It has been revealed that the World Heritage Site of Tanzania is highly facing managerial challenges especially in the management and protection of the OUV of these properties. Some of the managerial challenges found out were proposed mining development projects, hydroelectric power projects, poaching, increased human population inside the property, sea wave erosion, outdated management plans, port expansion projects, hotel development projects and human encroachment in the sites. However, it was further found out that the World heritage governing authorities have been able to establish different awareness programs to the local communities to fight against these challenges. These outcomes perfectly accord with previous studies (e.g. Mwamulowe, 2013; Mbabazi, 2015; Morgan, 2013; Marijnissen et al., 2018) which found similar findings in Uganda, Kenya, DR Congo and Malawi respectively.

These findings suggest that the challenges facing World Heritage Sites in Tanzania are mainly due to the lack of connection from which heritage sites are expected to realize in addressing people’s challenges which have been addressed in Sustainable Development Goals and UNESCO Policy 2015. Furthermore, the failure of the local communities to get social and economic development from these protected sites. Many of the local communities living around these protected areas lack social services such as good hospitals, quality schools, lack of clean water, energy and living in highly poverty life while they know the potentiality of protected areas that they can help remove them from poverty. This perhaps led to the local communities to find another mechanism of improving their social and economic development through engaging themselves in illegal activities such as treasure hunting and poaching which can be seen in Kondoa Rock Art Site and Selous Game Reserve and eve in other protected areas (Tassie et al., 2015; WWF, 2017; Marijnissen et al., 2018).

It can further be argued that lack of employment to the locals living around the site and unequal distribution of the tourism economic profit with the village governments surrounding these World Heritage Sites can be one of the issues accelerating the managerial challenges to the site managers and the authority. This situation possibly influenced the local community around to find other major means to sustain their life around or inside the sites. It should be well understood that unequal towns, cities and communities’ development, inadequate infrastructure and shortage of food also can inspire the local communities to have a desire to find other means to get rid of these problems. With the presence of laws in management and conservation of the heritage resources in Tanzania, still, these laws are far away to ensure Sustainable Development Goals and implementing UNESCO policy of 2015 as local communities, and their traditional practice and knowledge are neglected in protection and management of the World Heritage Site (see also Kamamba, 2005; Sullivan, 2003; Mumma, 2003).

Lastly, the findings from the previous result section further revealed that the OUV of World Heritage Sites are also threatened by the various proposed projects such as port (harbour) expansion projects, mining extraction and hotel development projects, airstrip development inside the properties. These findings support some previous studies (e.g., Chirikure, 2013; Morgan, 2013), who have found out comparable results from the management and conservation of heritage resources in Uganda and elsewhere. These results suggest that the desire of the Tanzania government to bring development to its citizens will automatically be obliged to find resources even those which are found in the protected areas for the purpose to address poverty which is an ultimate goal of any responsible government. What is advised is to make sure that studies are done in order to make sure OUVs are not threatened in the World Heritage Sites in Tanzania. These problems also might have been caused by the failure of the government to have a clear framework on how development projects are going to be carried out in the World Heritage Sites. Hence, whatever the reasons one could provide, it is sufficient enough to understand that the managerial challenges facing World Heritage Sites are due to the lack of a clear legal framework for management and protection of the World Heritage Site in Tanzania based on the protection of heritage sites and harmonized with international conventions, treaties and policies to facilitate the country to have a best practice in management and conservation of the heritage resources for the attainment and achieving Sustainable Development Goals and implementing 2015 UNESCO policy.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the above discussion, the paper concludes that the managerial challenges facing the World Heritage Sites in Tanzania are due to the desire of the local communities to have economic and social development in their surroundings. This includes good hospitals, schools, reliable energy, infrastructure development and poverty alleviation. This also applies particularly to the desire of the government to have affordable and clean energy, industrial development and development of infrastructure which has to threaten the OUV of my World Heritage Sites in Tanzania. Finally, it is sufficient to conclude that there is a need for a government of Tanzania to develop a legal heritage framework which will ensure the best practices in World Heritage protection and management which address different Sustainable Development Goals and implementation of UNESCO Policy 2015 in Tanzania.

In recommendation, several measures are required to ensure the best practices and to solve challenges in heritage protection and management in order to achieve different Sustainable Development Goals and implement the UNESCO policy of 2015 in Tanzania. Firstly, there is need for the government to develop a new heritage legal framework for protection and management of World Heritage Sites which harmonizes with international conventions especially UNESCO policy of 2015 especially on how to protect and manage the heritage resources in order to achieve Sustainable Development Goals to the local communities. Secondly, there is a need to ensure equal benefit-sharing from tourism profits to the village governments found around the World Heritage Sites at the maximum level. The heritage governing authority should provide the profits to the village governments which they will invest in their social and economic developments such as schools and hospitals around their villages. This situation will help to reduce the desire of the local communities to involve themselves in illegal activities in the site as they see the profits of the property in their villages. Thirdly, there is a need to provide the employment opportunities to the local communities living around the World Heritage Sites so as they can be able to sustain their social and economic life. This means will help to change the mindset of the local communities to engage themselves in the destruction of the World Heritage Sites and bring a sense of ownership. Fourthly, the paper also recommends that all the proposed development projects within the World Heritage Sites should abide by the international conventions and continue to ask for international assistance for project review before implementation. This perhaps will help to provide some project alternatives in order to protect and manage the OUV of the site. Finally, the heritage governing authority needs to develop and update management plans in accordance with the UNESCO policy of 2015 which will help to attain the Sustainable Development Goals in Tanzania.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Kindly, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all the site managers, conservators and the staff from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism who participated in the discussion meeting and being able to make presentations on the current state of the conservation in their sites. Finally, we would like to thank the United Republic of Tanzania National Commission for UNESCO for funding this activity. Thank you!!