Stone Town of Zanzibar

• Management system/management plan
• Major visitor accommodation and associated infrastructure
• Development and environmental pressures, particularly in relation with Malindi port project (issue resolved)
• Natural disasters and lack of risk-preparedness
• Visitors/tourist pressures
• Housing pressure
• Lack of human and financial resources
• Lack of legal framework
• Commercial development (large shopping mall) particularly in relation to the Darajani Corridor project
• Lack of maintenance of built fabric

Total amount provided to the property: 2009: USD 24,000 for the inventory of the public spaces in Zanzibar; 2011: USD 14,000 for capacity-building in managing digital inventory; 2013: USD 49,935 for participatory mapping of HUL (Netherlands Funds-in-Trust). 2010-2013; USD 400,000 for Zanzibar and two other African sites under the World Heritage Cities Programme (Flemish Funds-in-Trust), USD 40 000 for Zanzibar for emergency works and capacity building (Oman FiT)

On 1 February 2022, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report, which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/173/documents/ and reports on progress with regard to a number of issues highlighted by the Committee at its previous sessions, as follows:

• A draft of the Stone Town Conservation and Heritage Management Plan (STCHMP) was submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review in May 2021 and will be amended following the ICOMOS technical review;
• The amended management structure has been implemented. Legislative changes to the 2010 Stone Town Conservation and Development Authority (STCDA) Act to give legal action to this new structure will be completed by June 2022. Spatial planning has progressed;
• The “Safe Mobility Program for Stone Town” Plan (traffic plan) is being implemented, funded by the World Bank Boosting Inclusive Growth in Zanzibar project. This Plan will be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review;
• The Malindi Container Port relocation is planned to be completed by 2027. The State Party commits to developing a master plan for this area of the property and to evaluating all proposals through Heritage Impact Assessments (HIA);
• The Darajani Corridor development will be aligned with the Michenzani Green Corridor plan, which focuses on the preservation of heritage structures, greening and pedestrianisation. An HIA of the new proposals was submitted to the World Heritage Centre and assessed through an ICOMOS technical review;
• The Bwawani Hotel area redevelopment plan has been aligned with the STCHMP and details will be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review;
• The stabilisation of the House of Wonders has been completed. The State Party expresses its thanks for the support it received from UNESCO following the collapse in December 2020 and the joint UNESCO, World Monument Fund and Zamani Research Group mission. Plans are now being made for the reconstruction and reuse of this building in collaboration with the State Party of Oman, which has committed funding to the project;
• The State Party of Oman has also agreed to contribute to the stabilisation and restoration of the Palace Museum;
• A utilisation plan for the Tippu Tip House is under development in collaboration with a hotelier and will be submitted for review;
• The State Party and the management of the hotel in the Mambo Msiige building have agreed to gradually implement the mitigation measures and the State Party will submit a timeframe to this end;
• A 5-year implementation plan has been developed to address the Mambo Msiige mitigation measures, the traffic plan, improvement of the management system, capacity building and development controls.

The State Party’s report includes again an invitation for a Reactive Monitoring mission to visit the property in 2023. It also reports difficulties in securing funds for conservation work and that 15% of the buildings in the property require immediate interventions to safeguard them. Other programmes, including addressing sea erosion and developing a Disaster and Risk Management Plan, urgently require funding.

On 5 February 2023, the State Party of Oman informed the World Heritage Centre of a signing ceremony with a contractor for the rehabilitation of the House of Wonders.

On 23 April 2023, the State Party notified the World Heritage Centre of the partial collapse of the historic landmark ‘Banayani’ tree on the Stone Town waterfront during heavy rain and wind on 18 April 2023. The State Party reported that it would undertake attempts to rehabilitate the viable remains of this protected landmark.

The state of conservation of this property, management deficiencies and consequent lack of development have been of concern for a number of years. The collapse of a portion of the House of Wonders in December 2020 highlighted the perilous state of conservation of the property.

In this context, the completion of the draft STCHMP during 2020 is an important milestone. This Plan includes an inventorying of important built attributes, including that of the Malindi Harbour. ICOMOS’ technical review of this document in 2021, however highlighted that essential improvements needed to be made to make it an effective tool for the maintenance of the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property. The technical review concluded that the STCHMP should be resubmitted once the amendments have been made, including:

• Placing the protection and maintenance of the OUV central to the aims of the STCHMP, based on a full analysis and understanding of the OUV and the attributes that contribute to it;
• Analysis and identification of the attributes which convey OUV;
• Embedding HIA for proposed interventions as an essential component of the management system of the property;
• Alignment with the Operational Guidelines.

The new proposal for the Darajani Bazaar development was assessed through an HIA and found to support the OUV of the property. Other actions by the State Party, including the stated intention to develop the “Safe Mobility Program for Stone Town” and commitment to proactively developing a master plan for the Malindi Container Terminal and to assessing proposals through HIAs, are commended, but it remains unclear if any progress has been made in these regards.

The contribution of the State Party of Oman to redress the partial collapse of the House of Wonders and restore the Palace Museum is commendable, and actions, such as safeguarding construction elements from the collapsed portion of the House of Wonders, are welcomed. Following the joint UNESCO, World Monument Fund and Zamani Research Group mission, the State Party reports progress in developing plans for both these buildings. The proposed Scientific Committee for the rehabilitation of the House of Wonders held its first meeting on 16 January 2023, but the agenda set by the State Party focussed on a proposal for the development of a bus terminal and parking garage (the Malindi Bus Stand) on the Malindi Grounds, which it must be recalled is a protected green space. The World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies recommended that the State Party submit additional information to allow for a review of the proposed project. In preparation for that meeting, the State Party submitted plans and outcomes of some of the investigations for the House of Wonders requested by the Committee (Decision 44 COM 7B.12). While thorough technical investigations into the collapse, the geomorphology of the site, and the three-dimensional scanning of the building before and after the collapse have been completed, unfortunately, the rehabilitation proposals do not yet provide for an appropriate and holistic approach to the rehabilitation of the House of Wonders, one of the most emblematic monuments of the Stone Town. In addition, the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies are not aware of either the proposed vision and plan for the monument or the details of the contract entered into with the Sultanate of Oman. The State Party has set up an external committee for the renovation activities in the House of Wonders. The Committee may wish to request all parties engaged in the rehabilitation of the House of Wonders to share any proposals with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies, possibly through the forum of the Scientific Committee, as previously requested by the Committee.

The mitigation measures adopted for the Mambo Msiige building date to 2014, with minimum measures identified in 2016, but little progress has been made in their implementation despite repeated Committee requests (Decisions 39 COM 7B.45, 40 COM 7B.21, 42 COM 7B.51). The indication that the State Party and the management authority of this building have agreed to implement these is a step forward, but the “gradual” nature of possible future implementation is not in keeping with past Committee requests.

Equally disconcerting is the report that the Tippu Tip House reuse is under development in collaboration with a hotelier. Previous Reactive Monitoring, Advisory missions, and ICOMOS technical reviews over the last decade have recommended its reuse as a public cultural facility, and the Committee has requested that it be given a public educational use, appropriate for its significant contribution to the OUV of the property (Decision 44 COM 7B.12).

Likewise, the State Party’s reporting on the implementation of the recommendations of the 2019 joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS/ICCROM Reactive Monitoring mission omits issues that are critical to the improvement of the management of the property and the maintenance of its OUV (Decision 44 COM 7B.12). The reported 5-year implementation plan developed in response to the Committee’s Decision 44 COM 7B.12 (2021) should be submitted for review to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies.

It is noted again, as in the 2021 State of conservation report, that the 2019 Reactive Monitoring mission to the property recommended that the property should not be considered for inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger at that time due to the positive steps initiated by the State Party. The World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies in 2021 noted that should the lack of effective conservation management, combined with the perilous state of conservation of the property and development pressures not be addressed in the short term, this could warrant the inscription of the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger by the Committee at its session in 2023, in accordance with Paragraph 179 of the Operational Guidelines.

The World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies conclude that, despite the State Party’s efforts and the progress made, the future of the OUV of this property remains highly uncertain. Additional threats, including sea erosion, and traffic management, with uncontrolled mobility using motorcycles in the property are emerging in addition to the continued concern over the physical state of conservation of buildings and other issues. The State Party faces a daunting task to improve the state of conservation and the management and protection of this property, harmonise its continuous growth and enhance the good governance of the property, which is increasingly becoming weaker to face threats of uncontrolled transformation and even demolition with the property. Development and conservation, including but not limited to the Malindi Port redevelopment, must be beneficial to the inhabitants and the property to ensure its long-term sustainability. The Committee may wish to call on the international community to mobilise financial and technical resources for this aim.

A joint World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies Reactive Monitoring mission to the property has been programmed in July 2023.