Chumbe Island Coral Park, Zanzibar
Tanzanian Coral Reef Preservation Project Aids Environment, Economy
Jan 26, 2009
At first, Chumbe Island, Zanzibar, may not look like a place anyone would go out of their way to find. Sitting in the channel that separates the island of Zanzibar from mainland Tanzania, this forested dot of fossilized coral rock is only about a half mile long and 200 yards wide. For most of its history, Chumbe has been ignored: The only visitors have been fishermen, the only human inhabitant a lighthouse keeper.
The appeal is not on the surface, but beneath it. Or, in this case, beneath the sea. Looking underwater at Chumbe (CHUM-bay) Island, visitors might feel that they've wandered into The Wizard of Oz just exactly when the world turns from black-and-white to color. This Zanzibar reef features one of the world’s most diverse shallow coral gardens, representing nearly all of East Africa’s coral species and more than 370 species of fish.
Background of Zanzibar's Chumbe Coral Park and Preservation Project
The reef has been protected due to the establishment of Chumbe Island Coral Park, the brainchild of Sibylle Riedmiller, a German expatriate who founded the Tanzanian eco-resort. To do so, she battled funding shortages, cultural differences, government bureaucracy, logistics, geology, and even the weather to establish what is billed as the world’s first private marine conservation park.
Riedmiller came to Tanzania as a foreign-aid worker in 1982. A scuba diver and environmental consultant, she arrived just as Zanzibar was experiencing a boom that had transformed it into what she called the “Wild West of tourism.”
But the Wild West was fast losing its wildness; According to Riedmiller, overdevelopment and over-fishing were threatening the reefs. "Something had to be done,” she says.
There was no shortage of endangered reefs; there was, however, a problem with identifying reefs where it was practical to launch a program. “There was always a problem,” she says. “The reef was too far from transportation to make it viable for tourists. Or a fishing-based economy stood in the way, or there was opposition from the government. Or the problems were too extensive to be addressed by a small project.”
The problems only forecast the challenges that awaited her in the future. “If I had known then what I know now, I’d never have taken this on,” Riedmiller says. “There were problems from A to zed.”
Still, she had fallen in love with Chumbe Island. Small, uninhabited, conveniently located just seven miles from Zanzibar’s commercial center, it fit the bill. But more, it had a reef Riedmiller still can’t find the words to describe. “The corals, the colors… I just couldn’t believe it. I can’t describe it,” she says, momentarily and uncharacteristically stumped for words.
The Resort at Chumbe Island, Zanzibar
Today, Chumbe Island is an eco-resort that has garnered international awards. The reef has become a protected park. The architecture features local material such as makuti (palm thatch), coir rope (woven from coconut husk fibers), and poles made from the wood of the native evergreen casuarina tree. The main building is topped by a huge thatched roof that shelters it like an oversize umbrella -- and serves the practical function of being part of the water cachement system. Seven small bungalows each contain eco-friendly features that promote recycling, composting waste, and using solar energy. The project also provides jobs for local people and an environmental education program for schoolchildren.
The process hasn't been easy, and environmental issues continue to threaten Zanzibar's reefs. But lovers of the Indian Ocean Coral reefs can be glad Riedmiller has seen the Chumbe Island Coral Park to completion. For now, at least, the reef is safe.
More of Karen Berger's articles on East Africa travel
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