1.5 Literature Review
1.5.2 Dynamics of Use and Conservation of Mangroves on the East African Coast
significance in Zanzibar and the East African coast, in general. Such scholars examined the use and conservation of the resources as well as the way in which people in Zanzibar perceived their use and sustainability.
According to Roxburgh, Morton, Rumisha and Francis, poverty is described "as both a cause and effect of marine environmental degradation,"25 which also affects the marine resources. Intensive use of marine resources that cause a decline in fish stocks results in the decline of fishermen’s earnings as well as their reduced ability to acquire and use suitable including effective fishing gears. In turn, the fishermen are forced to employ methods that “provide better short-term rewarding for their cost but are
23 L. Bunce, P. Townsley, R. Pomeroy and R. Pollnac, Socioeconomic Manual for Coral Reef Management (Townsville: Australian Institute of Marine Science, 2000), 1.
24 Ibid.
25 Toby Roxburgh, Ian Morton, Chikambi Rumisha and Julius Francis, (eds.), An Assessment, op. cit., 61.
environmentally degrading.”26 Such methods accelerate decline in marine resources available for utilisation and include the use of dynamite and small-mesh seine, which are both destructive and reduce fish recruitment.27 The scholars call for better ways of fishing to conserve marine resources and the environment.
In his study, “The Spatial Dichotomy of Swahili Towns: The Case of Zanzibar in the Nineteenth Century,”28 Abdul Sheriff shows that since the tenth century, people in Zanzibar constructed houses using traditional technologies common in the East African coast and used local raw materials such as coconut palm fronds, coral rag, lime and mangrove poles. Sheriff propounds that after suppression of slave trade by the treaty of 1822, Zanzibar local merchant class directed their efforts at clove production.
The planters, the majority of whom were Omani Arabs, built houses in their plantation farms, while some of them had mansions in Zanzibar town. Such pattern resulted in cutting down of many forests for plantations as well as house construction. He further submitted in the 1840s, many large houses of one to three stories were built on the islands.29 This signified that there was increased demand for construction raw materials, most of which were derived from the marine environments, such as mangroves and corals.
In another study, “The Peasantry under Imperialism, 1873–1963,” examining Zanzibar economic history, Abdul Sheriff also analysed environmental issues, especially concerning land use, ownership and conservation. For instance, he describes that people started to clear forests for clove plantation from the 1840s onwards.
However, he said that extensive forest extermination in the Islands took place after a cyclone that occurred in 1872.30 That was mainly due to clove replanting process, since many clove trees perished. Therefore, given the geography and ecology of Zanzibar, a large part of marine resources of both Unguja and Pemba, especially mangrove trees, was indirectly affected by forest clearance. So people had to go for mangroves in demand for forest-related items.
26 Ibid.
27 Ibid.
28 Sheriff, “Spatial Dichotomy," 65.
29 Sheriff, “Spatial Dichotomy," 66–68; See also, Gilbert, Dhows, 21.
30 Abdul Sheriff, “The Peasantry," 112.
Adding to this idea, Erik O. Gilbert argued that mangrove poles were largely used in construction of a new capital of Zanzibar Stone Town. Apart from being used to construct large houses in the capital, the poles were also used in building mud and thatch houses in different areas in Stone Town and Ng’ambo (a Kiswahili word meaning ‘the other side’ – of the creek). In addition, Gilbert associated mangrove poles to dried fish in Zanzibar during the nineteenth century as far as trade between Zanzibar and Arabia was concerned. He mentioned the two items as “staples” in the import-export trade during the period. Stability of import-export trade of poles to Asia continued from the nineteenth century up to the 1960s, when it declined abruptly, due to changing social and political conditions in Zanzibar. Otherwise, it would have been expected to have a slow declining process.31 It was estimated that an average traditional local house consumed up to sixty mangrove poles and hundreds of small poles.32
Edna A. Nyika also studied about use of different marine resources in Africa and Tanzania, in particular. In her chapter on Tanzania in The African Ocean and Coasts, Nyika contends that mangroves have been used over time as source of energy and raw materials for construction works as well as furniture in the country. Nyika mentions Zanzibar as among places that are in danger of marine environmental degradation in Tanzania by stating that it is “currently suffering measurable degradation.”33 Therefore, it was the aim of this study to historicise marine environmental issues in Zanzibar.
Jude P. Shunula and Alan Whittick studied mangroves in Zanzibar, with their work, The Mangroves of Zanzibar, concentrated on uses of those trees and contend that uses of mangroves include fuel, dhow-building, dugout canoes, bed legs and traditional medicine. Additionally, they provide food and shelter for other organisms.34 The scholars raised their concern about increased pressure on demand for mangrove trees for trade items such as charcoal and poles, which, if not checked, such pattern poses threat to future sustainability of mangrove forests.35 However, Shunula and Whittick
31 Gilbert, Dhows, 57 & 116
32 Gilbert, Dhows, 116
33 Edna A. Nyika, “Tanzania” in The African Ocean and Coast. http://www.odinafrica.org/learn-about-odinafrica Accessed: 25.01.2011
34 Jude P. Shunula and Alan Whittick, The Mangroves of Zanzibar (Dar es salaam: Institute of Marine Science, 1996), 53.
35 Ibid. 59, See also, Jude P. T. Shunula, “Ecological Studies on Selected Mangrove Swamps in Zanzibar Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Dar es salaam, 1996, 17 – 30.
did not clearly address the social context of conservation of mangroves, despite the fact that local communities in Zanzibar has been living with as well as using and conserving resources. The scholars did not disclose about traditional methods of mangrove conservation that local people in Zanzibar used to conserve resources and environment for sustainability of the forests. Thus, this study aims at analysing traditional methods and places them in a historical perspective to understand influence of the British colonial rule and policies on them as well as its influence on colonial policies including practices.
The mangroves are also significant in the fishing industry given that they provide breeding spaces and food for a number of fish species.36 Destruction of mangroves through overcutting harms the coastal environment and the environment within the ocean. Peninah Aloo analyses the importance of the mangrove as follows:
They [mangroves] efficiently trap runoff sediments, thus preventing siltation of adjacent seagrass beds and coral reefs, and possibly promoting land accretion. The tangles of their roots break away wave action, thus preventing erosion of the shoreline. Mangroves act as a buffer for water pollution by trapping pollutants from runoff water.37
Given the important relationship between mangroves and fishery, it was imperative to study and historicise the significant linkage of mangrove forests to the fishing industry and the marine environment, in general. While doing so, it was necessary to pay attention to the socio-economic interaction of coastal people in relation to mangroves and the fishing industry because they are important components in their socio-economic activities.