Tanzania’s Zanzibar launches campaign to conserve Stone Town

By Xinhua

Tanzania’s Zanzibar Second Vice-President Hemed Suleiman Abdalla has launched a campaign aimed at encouraging walking and cycling in Stone Town as a measure to conserve the historical area.

Walking and cycling in the Stone Town, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site, will reduce pressure caused by an increasing number of motorists in the area, Abdalla said.

Shortly after he cycled in the area on Sunday, Abdalla urged relevant authorities, including the Stone Town Conservation and Development Authority and other stakeholders, to promote walking and cycling among residents and visitors in the area.

“Let us promote cycling or the use of non-motorized transport to protect those historical towns,” he said. Located on a promontory jutting out from the western side of Unguja Island into the Indian Ocean, the Stone Town of Zanzibar is an outstanding example of a Swahili trading town.

This type of town developed on the coast of east Africa, further expanded under Arab, Indian, and European influences, but retained its indigenous elements, to form an urban cultural unit unique to this region.

Written by Noelyn Nassuuna