Dilemma of local socio-economic perspectives in management of historic ruins in Kilwa Kisiwani World Heritage Site, Tanzania
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International Journal of Heritage Studies, Routledge-Taylor & Francis
Abstract
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The study explored the value that local residents place on historic ruins,
focusing on their socio-economic value. It also explored the implications of
conventional Cultural Heritage Management’s (CHM) indifference to this.
Using in-depth data from 22 residents in Kilwa Kisiwani World Heritage Site in
Tanzania, the study found that residents not only attach cultural value to the
ruins, but also consider them a conservation project and tourist attraction,
from which they can earn money and get employment and see infrastructure
and social facilities developed. It also found that the destructive activities
of illegally digging to construct toilets and water collectors, letting
domestic animals wander in the ruins, quarrying old underground walls
for coral stones, and lighting fires are partly the result of limited socioeconomic
benefits, inconsistent business opportunities, complaints about
employment and payment, and few feasible alternatives for making a living.
By engaging with the socio-economic discourse, this study broadens our
understanding of the integration of conservation in the broader social
agenda, and contributes to the economist-anthropologic debate on CHM. It
informs heritage managers and policy makers on alternative strategies that
would maintain the sustainability of the heritage.
Keywords
Heritage, economic value, Kilwa Kisiwani, development, conservation