Geographical characterization of the Zanzibar coastal zone and its management perspectives

The coastal zone of Zanzibar, Tanzania, is culturally, socially, economically, and ecologically unique but there is a lack of baseline information about its state characteristics as a whole. This paper provides a holistic assessment of the environmental and socio-economic settings of the Zanzibar coastal zone with its unusual physiographic characteristics and key habitats such as coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrass meadows. The human livelihood of Zanzibar is unmistakably coastal with its many cultural adaptations but the most recent decades have shown drastic changes in the prevailing seaborne and coastal activities. This development has not been without disputes among the different interest groups. The driver-pressure-state-impact-response approach allows to scrutinize the socio-ecological system circles of the Zanzibar coastal zone. Systematically, the approach provides interlink of the drivers and with their impacts on the socio-economic systems and the appropriate responses necessary to combat the impacts. The main drivers identified to be the population increase, urbanization with settlement expansion, and the rapid expansion of the shore-dwelling tourism with its associated infrastructures. These factors are adversely impacting the coastal and marine nature and the traditional socio-economic systems. The Zanzibar government has put forward several initiatives to protect the health of the coastal ecosystems and the endurance of the traditional cultures. The effective implementation of measures, for example, the Zanzibar Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning as part of the National Land Use Plan, have not yet been sufficient to restore the situation. However, there are also signs of commitment being fostered and an improvement in the know-how for making changes. We conclude by asserting the need for coastal and marine spatial planning as the holistic and robust approach for sustainable coastal and marine planning while emphasizing community participation throughout the process.