Responsible Tourism in Zanzibar

There is a growing preoccupation in general for tourism sustainability, and it is a vital concern in particular in Zanzibar.
There is different words that refers to tourism sustainability: Responsible Tourism, Ecotourism, Sustainable Tourism. They all try to promote (or are supposed to do so) a tourism which is more acceptable from an environmental and social point of view (cf “Why sustainable tourism is required").
Different categories of people are interested in promoting a more responsible tourism:

• Tourists of course are interested: They want to decrease the negative impact of their journey on the environment and on local communities, spend their money in a way that can be beneficial for the local people, and at the same time enjoy a closer experience with the country, its nature and people.
• Local communities are supposed to benefit from this “more responsible” tourism. Fair wages, good working conditions, job stability contribute to their well-being. And environment preservation is a condition for them to be able to continue living and working as they always did.
• Tourism professionals are the last (but not the least) interested in this “green tourism”. For them, it is a very effective way to sell high added value goods and services. At the same time, sustainability is a key factor for them to be able to continue their activity.

As you can see, responsible tourism can be a win-win strategy. Nevertheless, be watchful: as it is the case elsewhere, money, power and information give a dominant position. And the question is: between local communities and tourism professionals, who have the money, power and information?

If you're interested by this subject in Zanzibar, you can follow this links:

• UMOJA, Network for Africa
• LABAYCA Development fund
• Zanzibar responsible accommodation
• DHOW BEACH VILLAGE

Do Stray Dogs threat Bushbabies in Zanzibar?

Stray dogs are everywhere in Zanzibar. Tens of thousand of dogs are living in the streets, and local people are afraid from them. Can these dogs be a problem for the bushbaby, this small and defenseless monkey?

Stray dogs in Zanzibar are a real problem. For many years the Zanzibari government tried to control its large population through mass exterminations methods (which are criticized by the World Society for the Protection of the Animal).

One of the main reasons for killing these dogs is the rabies. Rabies is carried by mammals (usually dogs or small monkeys) and is passed to the human through a bite. You must always assume that a bite from a unknown dog in Zanzibar is rabid.

There are 2 species of Bushbabies in Zanzibar: the Lesser Bushbaby (Galago senegalensis zanzibaricus) and the Greater Bushbaby (Otolemur garnetti garnetti). Both are common in Zanzibar and Africa as a whole. This animal is mainly active during the night, and lives in the ground water forest, in the coral rag forest or sometime in the mangrove forest.

The main threats for the Bushbaby are:

• The habitat degradation because of the humans (places degradation and loss where the Bushbaby lives) is the main threat. In Zanzibar, the main reason is forest clearing for agriculture activities, charcoal production and logging.

• In some cases (but not in Zanzibar) people hunt bushbabies, sometime to eat it (it is the case of an island in West Africa called Bioko island.

• Another problem is that the bushbaby can die because of being caught in trap for birds (this happened in Equatorial Guinea, not in Zanzibar!).

But as far as I know, there is no reported case of threat from stray dog that could threaten bushbabies in Zanzibar. As they usually stay in the trees, they are safe from the dogs. The main predator for them are the large snakes.

So remember : take care with the dogs, they may be rabid! And if you want to help the bushbaby, try to preserve their natural habitat, that's the most important!

More information about Bushbaby

Is seaweed farming a good idea for Zanzibar?

Since more than half century, seaweed resources has contributed to Zanzibar economy. After a couple of decade of wild seaweed harvesting, the overpressure and governemental policies contributed to the decline of this activity during the 1970's.

Cultivation has been introduced at the end of the 80's, initially with local strain, and after with the philippines Euchema dentilacum. Women first, and then men (when they saw that seaweed farming was economically viable!) started cultivating this algae.

Now seaweed farming has become an important part of the coastal society economy in Zanzibar. Almost all the places suitable to grow Eucheuma are occupied by farms. But this activity rises questions:

• Seaweed farmers are keeping very few of the crop added value. For example, the retail value of a kilogram of lower grade carrageenan products ranges from $30 to $50, meanwhile the price paid to farmer used to be 9 cents in Tanzania (ok, these data may be little old, but it is still the same range!).

• There is a margin to improve farming practices in Zanzibar: seedling, growing, drying, management, colective organization... others experiences in Asia or in other islands (Kiribati) may be useful...

• Eucheuma has been recorded by IUCN as a potentially destructive invasive algae in Hawaiian waters. Its high growth rate, ability to regenerate by vegetative fragmentation rises questions about its impact on environment, especially on coral ecosystems.

Think about all these questions, and then go to help seaweed farmers in Jambiani!

Some references:

• Euchema farming in zanzibar
• Algae sheet / invasive alien
  
• Farming seaweed in Kiribati: a practical guide for seaweed farmers
  

Why Sustainable Tourism is required?

Sustainable tourism becomes one of the application fields of sustainable development during the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit within the Diary 21 which include the respect of the balance between tourist needs and local aspirations, or preventive actions in order to preserve the environment and the “touristic product”. Consequently, “the objective of developing a sustainable tourism is to make compatible the improvement of the environmental and social conditions which result from the tourist development as well as the maintenance of capacities of development for the future generations”.

The principles of sustainable tourism were redefined and updated in August 2004 by the Sustainable Tourism Development Committee of the World Tourism Organization (WTO): "Sustainable tourism development guidelines and management practices are applicable to all forms of tourism in all types of destinations, including mass tourism and the various niche tourism segments. Sustainability principles refer to the environmental, economic and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development, and a suitable balance must be established between these three dimensions to guarantee its long-term sustainability".

Consequently, Sustainable Tourism should:

• Make optimal use of environmental resources that constitute a key element in tourism development, maintaining essential ecological processes and helping to conserve natural heritage and biodiversity. Respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities,

• Conserve their built and living cultural heritage and traditional values, and contribute to inter-cultural understanding and tolerance.

• Ensure viable, long-term economic operations, providing socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders that are fairly distributed, including stable employment and income-earning opportunities and social services to host communities, and contributing to poverty alleviation.

More information:

- Sustainable Tourism by Wikipedia
- the Sustainable Tourism Gateway
- En español: mundo azul
- En français: Association pour le tourisme équitable et solidaire

Why the Kiwengwa-Pongwe community thinks that they did not benefit from the local tourism business?

Tourism plays a vital role in the economy of the United Republic of Tanzania (URT). It is the major source of foreign exchange; it accounts for about 16% of the GDP and nearly 25% of the total export earnings with an estimated 14,800 jobs in 1999 (Luhanho 2001).
Zanzibar experiences the same general trend occurring in the URT. Being a heaven for nature
tourism, Zanzibar has been influenced by a dramatic increase in number of visitors from 42,141 tourists in 1990 to 113,237 in year 2005, mostly enjoying the spice tour.

Since 1997, there has been a system of sharing the revenue from the tourism businesses with communities through the Forest Authority’s initiatives: The Forest Authority has developed a community-managed project (Pete-Jozani Mangrove Boardwalk) as an additional visitors’ attraction to the park, so as to enhance the revenue sharing system with partner communities.

Kiwengwa-Pongwe tourism zone (KPTZ) has a great potential to fully gain local economic benefits from tourism business in the area. But the fact is that there are very low benefits enjoyed by the community.

In their opinion, the main reasons why they did not enjoyed benefit is due to the lack of involvement of the local community in management, lack of education to the community and lack benefit-sharing mechanisms. Solving these issues is the only ways that can help to develop and sustain tourism and natural resources management on top of building community trust in conservation in the area.

complete study

Be safe when you catch a snake!

I don't like this idea of catching snake for killing them, in order to make purses for old rich women, or indigestible meals for tourists.
If you keep going on, at least try to keep your people safe: a good reptile tong can be useful not to be bite.

If a snake annoys you, don't kill it: Remove it!

I understand that humans are concerned by having venomous snakes around, and may need sometime to kill them.

But in many cases, snakes aren't that dangerous for humans. Just a few of them can kill people.

Snakes are important for the equilibrium of the nature. So sometime it is better to release them in the forest, far from inhabitated areas.

That what some people do in Kenya: when someone faces a problem with a snake, they go, catch it and release it into the wild.

http://www.bio-ken.com/capture.htm