1 
1. Introduction to the Research Project 
This first chapter introduces the Research Project. Following an initial contextualisation, the chapter looks 
at the research question, assumptions and limitations. 
 
If heritage is the contemporary use of the past and is defined and 
constructed through present circumstances, then, because those are not 
agreed, heritage itself cannot be otherwise. It is often conflicting 
meanings, combined with the multi-use and multi-consumption of 
heritage, which makes any attempt at synthesis so complex and prone 
to constant qualification. 
(Graham et al. 2000: 256) 
* 
 
1.1 Research in Context 
Places and individuals. People in space. Individuals actively making homes, existing in their environment, 
surviving, creating networks, building relationships, feeding, being part of a system, creating a history, 
their history, determining their surroundings, choosing their path, having choices made for them, feeling at 
home, abandoning their houses, encountering the different, appropriating the different, becoming 
different, always becoming. Places and individuals. 
Mozambique Island, Ilha de Mo?ambique in Portuguese, is situated in the northern province of Nampula, 
in the Republic of Mozambique, in Southern Africa. In December 1990, UNESCO declared it a World 
Heritage Site1, for its unique architecture, a testimony to the history of the ?discoveries? and a product of 
the amalgamation of different cultural and scientific practices and knowledges. The majority of the 
population of Mozambique Island currently lives in a state of poverty, with poor access to public health 
facilities, extremely low economic conditions and in a physical environment that does not respond to their 
needs as individuals or groups.  
In early 2007, I set off to conduct qualitative research on this island. My main research question broadly 
related to the then current state of the island ? why is this World Heritage Site not being conserved, 
restored and managed, as one would expect of places with such recognised universal value? In gaining 
in-depth understanding into the attitudes and perceptions of the islanders that hold positions of 
hierarchical power and decision-making, I aimed to understand the networks that were in place, and 
those which were absent in the conservation, maintenance and management of the World Heritage of 
Mozambique Island. In the process of my investigation, I managed to obtain some key answers to the 
question I first posed. This research report aims centrally to share those key answers in a creative way. 
The connections between theoretical, analytical and factual components have been processed in order to 
allow for the fluidity of voices to converse and express the complexity of the location.  
                                                
1 Appendix 1 ? UNESCO?s Declaration granting Mozambique Island World Heritage Status, December 1990 
 
 2 
The concepts and ideas of appropriation and complexity are central themes in my research. In them, 
identity and space are strongly engaged with to illuminate the relationship that individuals 
acquire/construct/reconstruct/abandon with the World Heritage of their place of residence. Coming from a 
theoretical standpoint where space is understood as something physical, rational and/or emotional that 
individuals and communities create, recreate, have access to, and/or are rejected from, Mozambique 
Island, as a World Heritage Site presented as? an incredibly interesting place from which to analyse how 
the access and knowledge we have of this, determines our appropriation of it.  
It was the idea of appropriation that initially helped me understand the islanders? attitudes towards World 
Heritage, in the context of globalisation and locality, where the complexities of a place dictate how this 
appropriation is performed, the degree to which it is carried and the reasons that lead to it. As only 
through the observation of the various complexities that make up this island could I gain access to the 
island?s interiority, fieldwork was dedicated to the awareness of these. I sought to understand the island?s 
specificity, in relation to the universal status bestowed upon it.  
In sharing my research, I decided that the use of different voices to bring out these complexities and the 
various layers present in this island would be necessary. As well as my voice as the researcher 
presenting factual evidence and analysis of this, direct quotes from the interviewees and my fieldwork 
notes are weaved with photographs, portraits and maps. 
* 
1.2 Research Question 
Research questions serve to guide one?s investigation. I departed into the field with this hope. However, 
encountering various unexpected novelties, which although did not alter the main research question, did 
indeed alter methodologies, broke some of my expectations, and made me a more robust fieldworker.  
Throughout the course of this research, from its inception to the current process of writing up, the 
research question(s) have been subject to change. It is safe to say that when a research location lies 
close to one?s heart, one is sometimes sabotaged by one?s own confusion and willingness to answer one 
too many questions that tend to pile up throughout the experience of this ever-enticing location. I guess 
Mozambique Island, for me, represents the forever in the process of research and curiosity space. And in 
acknowledging this, I voice the danger that this entails, for it can confuse the focus ? it opens a world that 
can dangerously become more encapsulating than the actual research. Two processes have helped me 
overcome this: firstly, being part of a short consultancy for UNESCO towards the development of 
educational material on Heritage and Conservation for the residents of Mozambique Island in late 2008, 
and secondly, understanding that any location will always have issues and problems that need to be 
noticed and analysed. Each research project can only be extended to the diameter of the research 
questions, to ensure that these are answered in their complexity and depth, or in other words, that each 
research project is inherently bound by its subjectivity and timeframe. 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
Ilha, a place that I have fantasised about from a young age, a place of my father?s 
beautiful memories of childhood, a place where different ?civilisations? met, a place that 
held time still, and that just by its sole existence manifests history, time, the 
discoveries, fighting, difference, and architecture.  
Architecture assumes an important role in my life, as my home environment while 
growing up was filled with drawings, and card boards, fa?ades, and many infinite 
words about buildings, design, and light, wind, function, aesthetic. So the idea of an 
island where my father had grown up with his parents and siblings, an island that had 
been once the capital of the whole country, whose buildings were unique and 
representative of a period, that their value as witnesses of the past had declared them 
heritage of the world, filled my dreams, my curiosity and slowly started constructing 
an island that belonged, for many years, solely inside of me. 
* 
State in light of Status 
The research question has gone through various stages, all of which had a practical and investigative 
character, and each sought to answer the broad question of why the island is in its present preservation 
and development state. This physical and cultural heritage for which the island gained its World Heritage 
Status in 19902, is seemingly being destroyed by both the lack of maintenance, and its present usage.  
My final and current research question aims to address the issue of state in light of status, and vice-versa. 
In the larger political and economic context of Mozambique, and of developing countries at-large, 
decisions are, for the most part, made from the top, and presumably benefiting the bottom, where the 
benefactors of development programs have little or no say in the design and implementation of projects 
that are to have an impact on their livelihoods. In the case of the programs that do attempt to have a 
bottom-up approach3, the conception and implementation are not guaranteed to have positive results, 
given that they depend on the technical expertise and quality of the participation from the stakeholders 
involved. 
Before starting my research, my assumption was that a similar situation of mismanagement, or lack of 
participation in the management, was taking place in Mozambique Island. From the perspective of a 
Mozambican, but outsider to the island, the situation seemed somehow disparate: UNESCO gives the 
island a World recognisable status, the National Government declares its Special Status (the national 
media thrive on using images of the Island to promote some sort of national identity), but the island 
remains in a situation of extreme poverty, while both its tangible and intangible heritages are slowly being 
                                                
2 Appendix 1 ? UNESCO?s Declaration granting Mozambique Island World Heritage Status, December 1990 
3 In management and the organisational fields, the terms top down and bottom up are used to indicate the manner in 
which decisions are made. The bottom up approach is one that works from the grassroots, causing a decision to arise 
from the joint involvement and participation of people working together.  
Figure 2: Side view of my paternal grandparents 
home in Mozambique Island 
 4 
destroyed, forgotten or substituted. Even though, I understand that World Heritage brings high status to a 
country, I think this should be a consequence, and not an end in itself. After all, the status is granted 
because this specific location holds value to the understanding of a period in history, for the whole 
humanity, including those who are still to be born. 
* 
A Complex, Specific and Unique Location 
Following these first thoughts, I then asked: if such important status was granted by such an important 
and world-renowned body ? Unesco ?, then why is it that the management and conservation of the island 
is not being taken seriously by the National Government? Who has the responsibility to maintain and 
restore its physical and cultural heritage? Is it a case of negligence? Is it a case of ignorance? 
Mismanagement? Bad governance? A consequence of colonialism? A case of neo-colonialism? The 
possibilities seemed endless, and as I had a first glimpse at Mozambique Island as a research location, I 
came to understand that its reality is incredibly complex, specific and unique. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The complexity of any location, and the possibility of various answers, made me unsure of where to start. 
I first thought that looking at the historical geography of the island would allow me to understand the 
attitudes and values attributed to heritage, according to the historicity and geography of the island. Then, I 
moved on to what I thought to be a more underlying problem, which included issues of scale ? the global 
status vs. the local state. The rationale was that perhaps this would help me to answer issues of 
citizenship, space and participation, which on the other hand, would hopefully aid me in understanding 
and drawing conclusions about the way the islanders, Unesco and the National Government took care of 
this World Heritage Site. Through this process, it became clear that I had to know how the citizens of the 
island understood/perceived World Heritage, their sense of participation, their knowledge, their 
aspirations, their priorities, and finally, their appropriation of it. 
* 
 
 
Figures 3, 4 and 5: Kids in the street, 
fa?ade of a building in Stone Town and 
view of boats arriving in Mozambique 
Island 
 5 
 
 
?They gave it that name of World Heritage for nothing, just because. We 
don?t know why they gave that name. You come here and there is so 
much rubbish [?]. There are people that buy ruins and leave them. And 
now we have a pile of added ruins, so things don?t get better.? 
 
 
Roquia, Habiba, Ahsha, Lima, Fatima, Anshia, Waquim, 
 Zaitouna, Amina Mussaji ,  Habiba, Manaueto, Zaina  
Khalifas of various tariqas; 
Photographed in the courtyard of Khalifa Habiba?s house, in Macuti Town 
 
 6 
Why is the World Heritage of Mozambique Island in its Present State? 
The final and main research question that drives this research project is Why is the World Heritage of 
Mozambique Island in its present state? The first premise is, as will be read in the theoretical framework, 
that one?s own sense of access to space, which is undoubtedly informed by a series of factors to be 
explored further on, including knowledge, participation and decision-making, influence one?s sense of 
citizenship (including quality of life), which on the other hand has an impact on how individuals take care 
of their environment (Sandercock 19974). The second premise is that the knowledge that one holds about 
the importance of World Heritage is directly related to the manner in which one relates to it. Perhaps 
these were not only premises, but also assumptions, which I later concluded to be incomplete in their 
formulation, where my theoretical proposal that the appropriation of change and adaption to new global 
ideas and practices becomes a vital concept in my argument. 
I look around the island one more time this morning. In its perimeter, I see individuals 
walking slowly. Some older than others; everyone an islander. Me, a researcher whose 
father lived here for many years. A white and foreign looking Mozambican. A woman. 
I seek to hear stories of another time, and yet it is the now that I am mostly attached to. 
I sit here, writing on this bench, in the park recently renovated by the city council; I 
observe the grass growing over the beautiful design patterns of the park?s garden, the 
rubbish, the goats eating the newly born grass, the colours of the band stand departed 
with the strong rains. The renovation took place three years ago, yet the park looks old 
and forgotten. I wonder how this comes to be, and get excited about exploring issues of 
citizenship. It is when we feel our own space that our sense of citizenship is raised, in 
turn contributing to our increased sense of responsibility and interest in keeping 
one?s space clean and ordered. Who owns Mozambique Island? And in what manner is 
the World Heritage status undermining the sense of ownership of the islanders? On 
the other hand, how does extreme poverty induce and provide a scenario where taking 
care of physical property is not on individuals? priorities? Would tourism be a 
solution? Or given the economic and social context, could it contribute to the 
reinforcement of some of the existing difficulties and disparities? How can the World 
Heritage benefit the population of this Island? Is there a solution that can contribute to 
the betterment of the quality of life and the maintenance of the physical propriety of 
the island? Or in other words, in a case of extreme poverty, can buildings and 
individuals benefit equally? Which should be prioritised? I?m left with more questions. 
The goats wander close to me. They are certainly enjoying the park, perhaps because 
their owners have found this to be their best way of taking advantage of it. Maybe. 
In summary, my research question is about a paradox: Mozambique Island is a place that has been 
designated as a World Heritage site and has been recognised within Mozambique for its Special Status. 
Yet it is in a state of disrepair and buildings are being rebuilt and reconstructed in ways that are not 
consistent with the designation. There is clearly a problem: How do you build local support/identity with 
World Heritage designation in a place that faces many hardships? 
* 
 
 
                                                
4 Sandercock (1997) argues that individuals? access to space determines their relationship with it. In line with the 
actor-network social theory, in which individuals and objects have agency and relationships exist between them to 
form networks that are created, developed and which die, Sandercock (1997) clarifies that the relationship that exists 
between individuals and space is determined by the access that individuals have to public space, how much they own 
it, how they are allow to use it and transform it, and how they are barred from it. This determines how individuals take 
care and maintain the public space that surrounds their everyday lives. 
 7 
1.3 Research Assumptions 
This section explores the assumptions that I took with me to the field, which were, through the process of 
research, modified and ultimately transformed. Assumptions are like double-edged knives. On the one 
hand, they can feel like one is stepping back while in the field, as they cause the need for change in 
methodology, in conception and, definitely, in the understanding of a place and its inhabitants. Dealing 
and being aware of my assumptions has been an important personal goal, which entails having 
thoroughly conducted my desk research and being open to the field findings. On the other hand, 
assumptions are invaluable ? they require an open-heart, much awareness and knowledge of the location 
to be studied; always caught up in them, having to break them, to overcome them and reformulate one?s 
understanding, and through that process, constructing continuously clearer and fuller multi-dimensional 
pictures of the field processes and social mechanisms. In addition, it is through assumptions that one 
directs field research, as one always assumes that a specific theoretical framework would be successful 
in investigating a location, until it partly needs to be reformulated, added on, or even replaced altogether. 
My assumptions were both theoretical and practical. In the theoretical realm, as mentioned in the 
previous subsection (Research Questions), before entering the field I assumed that I could investigate the 
present state of affairs on the island regarding the maintenance of its World Heritage, through a 
framework of citizenship and access to space. Furthermore, added to that framework, I assumed that the 
knowledge of World Heritage and its significance could also determine/influence one?s relationship with 
World Heritage as a patron of humanity?s most valuable assets. I failed to take into consideration poverty, 
and how the lack of economic resources leads to an instability and self-reliance that does not allow for the 
consideration of things such as the importance of maintaining a World Heritage Site for the sake of 
humanity?s understanding of its past ? unless it brings individual and communal benefits. Poverty, 
education levels and potential benefits from conserving World Heritage were not obvious factors in my 
initial theoretical assumptions. Furthermore, although I understood locations as complex entities in 
permanent change, I did not expect the notion of complexities to become such a key concept in 
investigating appropriation. 
In the practical realm, my assumptions were due to lack of experience. Firstly, and perhaps that which 
was most significant, I assumed that after my physical arrival on the island, within a few days I would be 
able to start interviewing and collecting substantial data. Instead, it took me three weeks to settle onto the 
island (Stone Town, the neighbourhood in which I was living), to find a suitable interpreter/field research 
assistant, to identify the individuals I would interview and to negotiate my own identity in the field. 
Although I see the fieldwork process as flexible and one which is continuous, from the moment one 
arrives to when one leaves (and I might also include, the pre-conceptions, the dreams before arrival, the 
memories and the dreams upon departure), within the timeframe there are different stages through which 
the researcher goes through (to be discussed in the chapter on methodology) that I had not accounted 
for, nor was I aware of my need to go through them to ready myself to interact formally with my subjects. 
Although the field research started on my arrival, when I started collecting field-notes and became an 
active participant in the life of the island, it did not mean that I was immediately ready to engage as an 
interviewer with those around me. 
 8 
Secondly, I feared that because I had arrived on the island with my husband, Khalid Shamis, who is a 
practicing Muslim, I would have difficulty being trusted by the research participants, who might assume 
that I was sharing the research findings with him. Instead, his presence granted me respect, for being 
married, and for being married to a Muslim, as well as a social/religious context where individuals could 
place me. 
Thirdly, although I was aware of potential problems arising from interpreting and translating, I did not 
expect to have as many difficulties. Fortunately, these were recognised early on and I changed my 
strategy accordingly. I became stricter regarding my direction, both in terms of the interpretations and the 
power relationship between Mr. Issufo (fixer and interpreter) and I. In retrospect, I find that my 
assumptions brought more awareness to the complexities of being in the field and shed light on the need 
to be open to the complexities of the field itself. Moreover, the act of transforming assumptions into 
unrealistic or actual realities, whether practical or theoretical, is one that I truly enjoyed: a process that 
shaped my research report and through which I grew as a researcher. Although acknowledging and being 
aware of one?s assumptions does not appear to be an obvious preoccupation, there has been much 
benefit in checking myself and changing, adapting and modifying my behaviour, understanding and 
theoretical framework. 
* 
1.4 Research Limitations 
Projects have limitations by nature, whether due to lack of technical knowledge, time constraints, weather 
or other logistical problems. The limitations of a project determine and frame the outcome of a research 
project. In the context of my own research project, there were a few obvious, planned for and integrated 
limitations, and others, which I surprisingly encountered while in the field, and during the stages of 
analysis of data and report writing. 
Not speaking the local language of Macua was a great limitation for me, given that my chosen interpreter 
was not a trained translator/interpreter5, and that there were many expressions and local observations 
that I was not able to capture. In addition, Mr. Issufo?s position of power within the community ? him 
having been a District Administrator for Mozambique Island (as explained in the subsection that follows) 
was not always easy to manage. In the beginning of our work together, he often expected to make 
decisions and speak on my behalf. Due to the fact that I chose to interview individuals that occupy 
positions of recognised hierarchical power in Mozambique Island, the gender became predominantly 
male and the age average is 50 years old. 
I hear Macua all around me, and yet it is solely through Mr. Issufo that I 
get an insight into what is being said and expressed. I want my brain to 
transform these sounds into working phrases through which I 
encounter opinions, expressions and even perhaps, poetry. But my 
brain doesn?t do it, and I patiently wait for Mr. Issufo?s turn to translate, 
in his own words. Later today I remind Mr. Issufo again to be as 
objective as possible when interpreting for this project. He understands 
                                                
5 There are no trained interpreters for the language combination Portuguese-Macua in Mozambique Island, and my 
research funding did not cover the services of a professional interpreter, who would have had to travel from Nampula 
or Maputo. 
 9 
and agrees with the significance of this technicality and ethical 
consideration. I am comforted but continue to wish for Macua to, like in 
a dream, become comprehensible for me? that night I dream I am 
having a long chat with a khalifa. She speaks in Portuguese to me. I 
reply in Macua. 
 
The limited amount of time I spent in Mozambique Island, which led to the interviewing of a limited 
number of individuals, is the reason why I chose to concentrate on individuals that hold positions of 
power/authority in the Island, as a thematic parallel between the interviewees from which I could later 
draw realistic and useful conclusions. 
The existing political and religious conflicts were a surprise for me, and entail reflecting on strategies that 
would account for them. I chose to not allow these conflicts to interfere with my work as much as possible 
by working with all political factions, recognising their social value in the community and by being 
sensitive during the interviews without associating myself to a particular viewpoint and institution. 
Figure 5: Mr. Issufo outside his cousin?s house 
 10 
?Each person has to like where he or she is. For example, I like the 
madrasa the best, because that is where I spend all my time.? 
 
 
Abdul Rahim Ali Momade  
Director of Madrasa Babu Salaam;  
Photographed in front of the Madrasa Babu Salaam. 
 
 11 
2. Research Methods 
This chapter describes the various methodological tools that were utilised during the fieldwork, analysis 
and writing-up stages of research. Each tool will be defined/put in context, in terms of its general utility, 
the reason to incorporate it, and the way in which I appropriated it. 
 
I arrive in Ilha and breathe in its warmth 
My body as a tool for research has started working.  
I feel the poor roads under my flip-flops, 
Feel the humidity tearing through my arms 
Shortly after I hear the call to prayer, I abandon my bags and walk to the mosque.  
 
I am in constant negotiation with my identity. 
The researcher goes to mosque. 
I can feel its novelty.  
The white looking girl goes to mosque. 
I can feel the curiosity 
And attempt to reject the limitations I have pre-imposed on myself, the fears of how I 
will be imagined 
 
Over the course of the week, 
Over the course of the following two months, 
I learn that I am not invisible 
And that certainly, my body never stops researching. 
 
 
Once my research question was clear, I moved on to clarify the research methodologies that would best 
aid me in exploring it. Due to the time constraints and small nature of the project, I was advised6 to solely 
use qualitative methods. I chose participative observation, individuals and group interviewing, collecting 
short narrative biographies as the base methodologies used for data gathering, while discourse analysis 
would be my main analytical tool. The following sub-sections describe the methodologies used during the 
various phases of this project according to Data Presentation, Data Collection and Data Analysis. 
At this stage I should add that, it is the onion like exploration of the location an ethnographer chooses that 
most excites and scares me. It excites me because it makes it clear to me that living in this world is about 
being open to the varied truths (in all their forms) that we encounter depending on our openness, identity, 
and general and unique tools we have acquired prior, during and post research. It scares me because the 
definitive acknowledgement of the subjectivity of anything produced by it becomes increasingly evident. If 
anything about me was different, the research results would be different, and if I had stayed for longer on 
the island I would have different information; and very importantly, if I had written this thesis within the 
framework I was expected and supposed to, I would not have been able to include information since then 
acquired, thoughts since then conceived, and an independence of creation and style since then perhaps 
matured. 
* 
 
 
                                                
6 By my supervisor Professor Charles Mather 
 12 
2.1 Data Collection: Sensual Ethnography 
The investigation I embarked on necessitated research at various levels. The purpose of data gathering 
was primarily to be able to have my research question answered and clarified. Notwithstanding, I also 
wanted to perform research in a sustainable manner, should this carry on at a later stage, or should some 
of its recommendations be conceptualised and implemented. This turned out to be challenging given the 
subjective nature of the research. I gathered as much information about each individual interviewed as 
possible, so that each person could be traced and re-interviewed and invited to participate in workshops, 
if that becomes the case. 
I have recently learnt to name the research that I practice sensual ethnography. This way of practicing 
fieldwork focuses on the apprehension and acquiring of information through the ethnographer?s senses, 
acknowledging the sensuality of the reality where he or she is encapsulated. Furthermore it 
acknowledges the ways in which one?s senses are awoken during fieldwork, allowing, in due course, for 
this information to be shared with the reader in a way that might awaken his or her senses. 
Sensual ethnography signifies that the ethnographer is open to experiencing the research location 
through his or her senses, going beyond rational and conceptual explorations; even going beyond the 
visual (which is a strong sense for an ethnographer) to add smell, touch, movement, and what cannot 
even be expressed. In the case of this research report, the use of the various methodologies chosen 
indicates the wish to express what was acquired during fieldwork. I recognise that this general approach 
to fieldwork has its limitations and that its subjectivity totally informs the style as well as the content of this 
research report. 
The following paragraphs describe the various methods used to gather data to answer my research 
question. Participant observation, as well as individual and communal interviews (including collecting 
short biographical narratives), amount to the main field methodologies used in the collection of data. In 
addition, photographs and portraits were used as methods to gather further insight into individuals? 
relationships with their built environment.  
* 
Participant Observation 
 From the moment one arrives in the field, participant observation begins. 
One is admitted into a space in which one observes and is observed, in a 
constant dance of identity, positioning and construction of oneself and 
those around. This method can be taken to different levels in terms of 
one?s access. As a practising Muslim, I participated in the religious life of 
the island, from my arrival, even before I was identified as a researcher. 
Participant observation is a research strategy that aims to gain a close and intimate familiarity with a 
given group of individuals and their practices through an intensive involvement with people in their natural 
environment (Wikipedia, 2009). Originated through the works of Malinowski (1884-1942), and later, Boas 
(1858-1842) it consists of a qualitative research method that often involves the use of a range of methods 
Figure 7: Satamo and I walking the 
streets of Stone Town 
 13 
from informal interviews, participation in the life of the group, focal group discussions, collection of life-
 histories and self-analysis, amongst others. Although it is a qualitative research method, it can be used 
together with quantitative methods in order to bring epistemological coherence to the research findings. 
Due to time limitations mentioned earlier, my methodologies are solely qualitative. 
The first fifteen days in the field were dedicated to exploring its reality, the dimension of the research 
problematic I had previewed. I spoke to numerous individuals, at various social levels, exploring their 
perception and opinion on my topic of research through informal conversation. The importance of 
understanding the manner in which the islanders perceived World Heritage was generally agreed upon, 
and overall I received much encouragement that my topic of research and its potential outcome was of 
interest to the islanders themselves. 
Into the third week of my fieldwork, I started engaging formally with my research. At this stage, the island 
started increasing in size, as my knowledge and experience of its people and intricate narrow roads 
expanded. Although I tried to distinguish between times when I was being an active researcher, and 
others in which I was participating in social and religious activities for personal reasons, one never ceases 
to engage in an observant way, and therefore participant observation was the methodology I used 
throughout the whole duration of the field research, one that sustained the other methodologies described 
below. 
While walking, engaging in conversation, in formal interviewing or just resting, I observed in great detail 
the manner in which the islanders used the buildings of the island, including the fort, the hospital and the 
mosques. In moving with those who live on the island, I was able to acquire some sensibility into the 
space inhabited on Mozambique Island, as well as conduct daily informal conversations that 
substantiated my thoughts, my questions and my understanding, which altogether allowed me to 
understand the complexities of the island. 
In addition, I participated in the social and religious lives of Mozambique Island. I attended the Central 
Mosque every Friday for the communal prayer (jumua) and was present at some group gatherings for the 
performance of dhikr (for further insight into these practices read section below on the Religious 
Complexities of Mozambique Island). Participant observation benefited my research in invaluable ways. 
Mostly, it aided me in placing myself as a researcher who has a personal life, and makes personal 
choices, even while researching individuals that are making judgements and attributing identities to me. 
* 
Field notes  
Silverman (2000) states that ethnographers who fail to use their eyes as well as their ears are neglecting 
a crucial source of data. Fieldwork is immensely fascinating. It involves one?s senses, and allows an 
individual to explore his and her way of interacting with the world. I agree with Silverman that one can 
forget to think, to make deeper and more general sense of what is happening, to begin to explain it in a 
conceptually coherent way (2000) and, in light of my reference to peeling an onion like research, I add the 
importance of field notes, in annotating particularities, thoughts, words, phrases produced by the contact I 
had with the physicality, emotionality and spirituality of this island. 
 14 
In the spirit and practice of sensual ethnography, I wrote field notes daily while in the field. These told 
what I could see, as well as hear, describing everything in my surrounding environment. My behaviour as 
well as how I was treated and perceived by others was observed and noted, in addition to how individuals 
behaved and were treated by others present in particular situations. Field notes became pieces of 
information that helped me trace back my field research, from conversations to beautiful moments ? as I 
had noted them down, I could easily go back to them. In deciding to include some of these notes 
throughout this report (as the second voice), I aim to acknowledge their importance in constructing 
theoretical standpoints, understanding my surrounding environment and defining my experiences. In 
addition these field notes are used throughout this report to illustrate situations with greater intimacy. 
I?m exhausted. Walked through Esteu neighbourhood. The sun is piercing my skin, 
invading my privacy, I long for a walking fan. My backpack carrying my laptop and a 
bottle of water is heavy. Mr. Issufo walked by my side. We just found out that my 
interviewee, the Imam of the mosque of Ponta is nowhere to be found. We are sitting 
on the side of the mosque, giving our legs a rest. Mr. Issufo complains that we should 
have left the house earlier. I finish my bottle of water, and complain that it is too hot.  
* 
Population Group in Focus 
In wanting to gain insight into the current state of the World Heritage of Mozambique Island, I decided that 
it would be valuable to interview those who hold positions of power and authority on the island. It seemed 
likely that both in the past and the present, these were the individuals with most access to formal 
knowledge as well as access to participation, public affairs and decision-making. Together with my field 
assistant and interpreter, Mr. Issufo, I made a list of all formally and informally institutionalised groups in 
Mozambique Island, from religious groups to political parties7. 
Regarding the gender tendency of the interviewees, although male in their majority, there was greater 
than expected participation from women, as they are traditionally integrated into the higher ranks of the 
hierarchical organisations of the island social structure8. The average age of 50 years old has certainly 
determined the kinds of answers I received, as I assume that the younger generation has a different 
relationship with the World Heritage of Mozambique Island. As holding positions of power and authority is 
largely determined by increased respect and experience, most interviewees were older than 40 years. In 
this manner, the perceptions of the younger generation were not collected during the fieldwork, which 
although not a limitation for the present study should be the focus of further research, given that this is the 
generation which will be managing and conserving the island in the near future. 
* 
In-depth Individual Interviews 
As an investigative research project solely using qualitative research methodologies, in-depth interviews 
are the second main methodology used. In-depth interviews refer to interviews established by the 
                                                
7 Appendix 3 ? List of formally and informally institutionalised groups in Mozambique Island 
8 The social and religious organisation of the island stems from a matrilineal societal structure, incorporating women 
at high ranks of the Sufi brotherhoods. In addition, since the peace accords, Mozambique, as a democratic country, 
as made explicit efforts to bring forth gender equality through the participation and decision-making power of women 
as legislative and administrative players  
 15 
researcher and developed together with the interviewee in an open and organic fashion, based on a 
skeleton questionnaire, allowing further questioning and exploration. Each interview took a minimum of 
two hours (although there was no minimum or maximum time limit), and sought to, firstly, explore various 
themes that surround the research question9 and, secondly, collect a short biographical account, so as to 
gain insight into each individual?s understandings based on his/her socio-economic, political and religious 
context. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The skeleton of the questionnaire was divided into three main sections: [i.] biographical narrative, [ii.] 
current perceived and experienced state of life in Mozambique Island, and [iii.] knowledge, attitudes and 
behaviour towards World Heritage10. The interviews were all conducted either in Macua or Portuguese, 
according to the choice of the interviewee. When conducted in Macua, Mr. Issufo interpreted the 
interviews in a consecutive style and these were recorded on my digital voice recorder and subsequently 
transcribed into Portuguese by myself. In this manner, all interviews were analysed in Portuguese, and I 
translated the quotes chosen for the final text of my research into English.   
* 
Group Interviews 
By group interviews I refer to interviews that were based on the same basic skeleton as the Individual In-
 depth Interviews, but which were made with a group of individuals in the same time and space, who are 
from a particular shared denomination. Throughout the group interview I was able not only to collect 
factual information provided by the participants, but it also aided me in understanding the general way 
individuals relate to a specific topic as a group. 
The following were interviewed as groups: the sheikhs, the khalifas, the secretaries of the neighbourhood, 
the local chiefs and the secretaries of the council. The same basic questions that I used during the in-
                                                 
9 Appropriation of identity; appropriation of space; globalisation of World Heritage; globalisation and locality. 
10 Appendix 2:  Full individual and group interview skeleton in English 
Figure 8: Informal interview with a shehe in his house in Macuti Town 
 16 
depth interviews were used in the focal group discussions, though I fashioned them to support a 
discussion with more than one individual. Biographical narratives were not collected with the same level 
of detail. 
Individual interviews allow for the collection of in-depth information from each subject. On the other hand, 
group interviews, in situations of time constraints, aid the inclusion of multiple voices, interviewing more 
individuals that share a strong social identity in less time. Although in the group situations there are 
individuals whose voices are less heard, their presence nonetheless is felt and heard, and through short 
comments they trigger others into giving more in-depth accounts of thoughts, ideas and experiences. 
I arrived this afternoon at the khalifa?s house. Mr. Issufo and I were 15 minutes early. 
We were offered water and a place to sit. We sat in a wide cane mat and waited for the 
women to arrive. Within the next 20 minutes thirteen women arrived, all of them 
older than 40 years. I had asked Mr. Issufo to invite only the heads of the tariqas, those 
being the older women. I start by introducing myself, Mr. Issufo and the project. Mr. 
Issufo follows me, interpreting. He is interrupted by one of participants. She wants to 
correct him. I feel shaken. Working in an environment where one does not speak the 
language is tricky. We carry on. The participants introduce themselves, I write 
furiously in my computer, don?t want to miss one word, one idea, one opinion, and yet I 
need to catch their eyesight, to be present in their conversation. The women are happy 
to be participating in such a study. They voice their opinions, they want to be heard. 
Later, at home, Mr. Issufo and I have a discussion around my expectations of him as 
an interpreter. Tomorrow is another day. 
* 
Portraits 
In-depth and group interviews gather verbally constructed ideas, opinions and articulated attitudes. In 
investigating individuals? relationships with their surrounding built environment, I felt the need to use a 
research methodology that allowed for a different lens ? a non-verbal way ? in which I could analyse 
behaviour, relationship and choice. In light of this, portraits were chosen as a way of attempting to gain 
further understanding into individuals? relationships with the World Heritage site they inhabit. As Loizos 
(2000) points out, images offer restricted but powerful records of the real-world, real-time actions and 
events. He further argues that ?although social sciences are typically on the service of complex theoretical 
and abstract questions, it can use as primary data visual information that need not be in the form of 
neither written words or of numbers? (Loizos 2000: 93). Nonetheless, these visual records are not 
unproblematic or above manipulation, 
they are never more than representations or traces of more complex past actions. 
Because real-world events are three-dimensional, and the visual media is only two-
 dimensional, they are secondary, derived, reduced-scale simplifications of the 
realities that gave birth to them (Loizos 2000: 94). 
Following this thought, although the camera does not lie, the humans who are the agents who are 
wielding the cameras, can manipulate reality, including the very image once it has been taken. 
Portraits. Individuals in front of cameras. The power to decide where and how one is 
visually represented. The issues of representation addressed perhaps in more than 
one way. The power to decide where to be captured, and the responsibility that that 
power brings upon one self. How does one choose a space for one?s portrayal? What 
does one associate with? And what does one appropriate in their choice. 
 17 
In the context of this research project, portraits are an interesting and powerful tool, as the individuals 
photographed were given the freedom to choose where and how they were portrayed and represented. 
Mona Moe Machava11, the photographer, a colleague and friend, has a special interest in the power 
relationship established between the subject and the photographer through and during the act of the 
portrait being taken. She uses a medium format camera. In this manner, taking photographic portraits 
grew to become a unique and essential methodology in the collection of data, where each participant 
chose where to be photographed, in terms of the place they cared for most in the island. 
As mentioned above, the third section of the individual and group interviews was dedicated to the 
relationship that individuals establish with the physical World Heritage of Mozambique Island. Individuals 
were asked about their favourite buildings, the buildings that should be given priority for maintenance, the 
building that they consider most valuable and most beautiful. Once all questions on this section had been 
answered, I asked whether the individuals or the group would agree to have their portrait taken in front of 
their favourite building. Everyone agreed and chose a building of their choice12. From the Green Mosque, 
to the hospital, to their own homes, answers were given, and portraits were taken. 
On the agreed day and time, Mona Moe and I met the individual or the group in front of the chosen 
building and took a series of portraits with Mona?s 1960s camera and a digital SLR. I held her flash meter 
as well as her flash while she engaged with each individual or group. 
We met Dr. Cristina at the front entrance of the Capitania, the harbour. She was 
wearing a colourful capulana, cloth, which she wrapped around her waist. In her eyes, 
I seek to understand her relationship with this island. It is obvious she is not from 
here, and she chooses to be represented as a tourist in the island. In countless 
positions and poses, she manifests her pride in being a woman, living in this island. 
And I wonder, how I get to such detailed conclusions. In her feminine poses she does 
not come across as a school director, but rather as a beautiful woman being 
photographed in front of a building she considers powerful, and historically 
significant. The Capitania held, during colonialism, an important value, as the place 
where the transport of trade was organise. And it was through trade that Mozambique 
Island came to be the city that it became. 
 
 
The portraits received very little digital manipulation. Mona solely adjusted the levels of light and contrast, 
but the content itself was not transformed and therefore I would argue that scitexing13 did not take place 
(Winston 1995). 
In the context of this research, the portraits serve as an added voice for the subjects, where they had the 
opportunity to physically relate to their city, to their location. The analysis of these can infer a wide range 
of information from body language, the chosen building and what these imply. Nonetheless I 
acknowledge that inferring strong and secure conclusions from these photographs is demanding (Loizos 
2000: 98), and depending on the context can be extremely complicated. Readings have to be attained  
                                                
11 Mona Moe Machava is an award-winning photographer of Norwegian origin, working in Southern Africa. She is 
interested in portraiture of youth in Africa, as well as capturing the power relationship that exists between the 
photographer and the subject. 
12 Note that some interviewees changed their choice on the day of the portrait was taken. 
13 Scitexing ? a more technical term for photographic manipulation (taken from the name of the company that 
developed the technology) and can include overlaying multiple negatives, airbrushing, image quilting and so on 
(www.elearning.ubc.ca: 2009)  
 18 
 
 
?In terms of World Heritage status, here, in the field, it?s only symbolic. 
If they gave that status then they should have invested. If this were 
somewhere else it wouldn?t be in this state.? 
 
 
 
Momade Noor Khan  
Imam of Central Mosque; 
Photographed inside his shop 
 
 19 
after much social and historical understanding of the context where the photographs are being taken 
(Loizos 2000: 101). 
Portraits, as a methodology to assess the relationship individuals have with places, interrogating the 
appropriation of identity and space, was an interesting and effective tool, as it provided me with a real 
record of each individual that was interviewed. During the analysis process, looking at those portraits 
brought memories back to the interviews conducted while in the field, and allowed me to relate to both 
those individuals and the places they chose to be captured in an easier and more effective manner. In 
addition, it led to the arousal of questions relating to the photographs, image identity and photographing in 
Mozambique Island such as: How does an individual from the North of Mozambique interpret a 
photograph? How have photographs been perceived, from aesthetic and utilitarian points of view? What 
access have individuals had to photographs? What influences their perception of what a portrait is? What 
are their expectations of themselves as the ones being portrayed? What is their sense of ownership 
towards their portraits? 
* 
Ethical Considerations 
Given the limited amount of time I had to conduct my research, as well as its limited scope, I have 
decided to only use qualitative methodologies. Although I aim for my research results to be accurate and 
representative, they are, at all times, associated with the individuals that I have interviewed, and solely 
based on their and my opinion, as well as factual information gathered to support the understanding of 
the context and my theoretical arguments. In light of this, my research used the methodological 
considerations that follow to assure that the information gathered and analysed, can be read as 
representative, coherent, transparent and true, but nonetheless, subjective. 
In using qualitative methods to acquire data, one is sure to come across ethical considerations, in relation 
to issues of reliability, validity and representativeness. My research is of a subjective nature, wherein I 
acknowledge and believe that any other individual-researcher asking the same questions to the same 
individuals would not get the same answers, as these are in response to who I am and who I represent to 
them. So, how can my data be validated? Perhaps it cannot to the detail, but the standard of quality of the 
data I collected and the way the methodology was applied is based on high ethics of honesty and 
transparency. 
Garkell and Bauer (2000) believe that there is certain criterion that needs to be considered and 
incorporated into one?s methodology in order to have a research product that is ethically acceptable. They 
further argue that the design, methods and procedures, and the analysis and reporting, need to meet and 
to be seen to meet certain standards of quality (Garkell and Bauer 2000). According to these authors, the 
work has to have representativeness, where the population chosen to participate in the research should 
represent the broader context (Garkell and Bauer 2000). In the context of my research, I chose to 
interview individuals that were in positions of recognised hierarchical power, so as to gauge the level of 
knowledge and the relationship with World Heritage. The following methodologies were used to maintain 
a strong ethical holding on the qualitative nature of the research. 
 20 
Triangulation and reflexivity, as explained by Flick (1998), are important processes for the researcher to 
go through. Reflexivity implies that before and after the event the researcher is no longer the same 
person. To call for triangulation of theoretical perspectives and methods (Flick 1998) is a way of 
institutionalising the process of reflection in a research project. In other words, the design forces the 
researcher to address inconsistencies as an ongoing part of the research process. In qualitative research 
one wants to ?see evidence of this labour of inconsistencies, as by struggling with inconsistencies novel 
understanding is generated through the fusion of horizons, which each depend on a perspective? 
(Gadamer 1989: 306 in Flick 1998: 345). Coming to term with my assumptions, deciding on a target 
group, organising interviews, analysing the material gathered in the field, amongst others, were 
processes in which I had to reflect on myself as a researcher, my research methodologies and theoretical 
framework. Being open to reflection and the change that comes with it was essential in understanding 
such a complex context and topic. 
My research methodology has followed clear steps of observation, choosing interviewees and collecting 
data, which can all be traced and used for further investigation in the field. In this manner, transparency 
and procedural clarity have been present. Although the primary function of documentation should be to 
enable other researchers to reconstruct what was done in order to verify or imitate it or for historical 
record (Lazarsfeld 1951 in Flick 1998), in this case I believe that it would be hard to track down the exact 
information that I gathered due to its highly subjective nature of the fieldwork.  
Thick description is used throughout my research report to provide the reader with insights into the local 
colour, the language and the world of the social actors of Mozambique Island. As much as the source can 
be a confidence marker, carefully indexed reportage is also a relevance marker. I hope that through 
careful and detailed descriptions the reader is brought into the milieu of the social actors, as they begin to 
make sense to him or her, and as that sense emerges, so are the claims and generalisations given 
credence (Geertz, 1983 in Flick, 1998: 347). 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I am sitting down in the step of an old house, close to the central mosque. I wait for my 
next interview with the president of OJM, who lives close by in the Macuti 
neighbourhood. My camera is charged, its memory full, and I sit here, pointing the 
lenses forward and clicking at those who pass: women, men, children, walking, on a 
motorbike, cycling. I notice the way they walk, the mannerism in observing me, the 
occasional pose, the wall cracking, the irregular roads, the children crying and playing 
to the camera; I notice the heat and how my hands and forehead sweat; I think of the 
interview to come; I make sure my digital voice recorder is in order and I start 
recording my surroundings as I see them: 
A woman passes with her child on her back, the child sleeps trusting of where he goes; 
two men pass by with fresh fish, they look in a hurry to go home and see their wives 
cook them lunch/dinner, teenage girls pass enveloped in colourful scarves, smiling at 
 21 
the camera and at me; a motorcycle passes fast. It goes and it comes back, now with an 
extra passenger. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Local surprise is another methodology employed during fieldwork, as a marker of the relevance of my 
research with regard to some theoretical expectations (Flick, 1998: 347). Thus for textual research one 
might expect to see evidence of revealing insights, of open-mindedness to contrary evidence, or a 
change of mind that may have occurred during the research process (Gadamer 1989: 353 in Flick 1998: 
348). In this manner, evidence is used to confirm and disconfirm expectations. 
Although communicative validation14 was intended as a research validation technique, due to the short 
amount of time in the field, and the difficult access to the subjects interviewed, content of interviews has 
not be verified with the interviewees. 
* 
2.2 Data Analysis: A Balancing Act 
Data analysis is the second stage of the process of researching. This can take a varying amount of time, 
according to the nature of the data collected and the methods employed for analysis. The generalisation 
of one?s analysis drastically depends also both on the nature of the data collected and the methodology 
used in doing so. Generally, there are certain methods that can be used to assure that generalisation can 
be made from one?s research. These could include the combination of qualitative and quantitative 
methodologies, purposeful sampling guided by time and resources, theoretical sampling and using an 
analytic model which assumes that generalisation is present in the existence of any case. In this 
research, I do not intend to generalise my findings, as they are specific to the context of the research both 
in space and time. Additionally, the quotes from the interviewees serve to specify and attribute opinion 
rather than recreate the general feeling. Nevertheless, I do intend to construct a complex picture, which 
although not generalist, aims to give an insightful, in-depth and complex understanding of the different 
opinions and attitudes towards World Heritage in Mozambique Island. 
According to Silverman (2000) data should start being analysed from the first day of the research project; 
the author suggests three stages, which I duly followed: [1] analysis of data already in the public sphere ? 
websites, novels, newspapers, radio, media, qualitative studies ? materials that are immediately available 
? they provide a marvellous opportunity to refine one?s methods; [2] borrowing other people?s data ? look 
                                                
14 Communicative validation is used in qualitative social research to enhance the validity of results: feedback on 
findings is systematically solicited from different stakeholders to challenge the data collected as well as its 
interpretation (www.peer-review-education.net, 2009) 
 
Figures 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14: People of Mozambique Island, border of Stone Town and Macuti Town 
 22 
into data that has previously be collected in the geographical area; and [3] analysis of own data as one 
gather?s it ? data analysis should not come after data gathering. I started transcribing field notes straight 
away, in this manner, reviewing my data in the light of my research questions. 
Unfortunately, the research report did not make use of previous research products around similar topics 
as these are not available. The problematisation of World Heritage around issues of identity, place and 
ownership has not been looked at before. My research does not build on existing facts or theories applied 
to Mozambique Island. Instead, it dives into the novelty of it, with fear of its size and hopes that once at  
the other end, things, phrases, theories, portraits make sense, and enlighten the above described issues, 
proposing new/added theoretical assumptions and frameworks from which to analyse change, and adapt 
our continuously global but local world. 
* 
Social Constructionism 
Social constructionism is a sociological theory of knowledge that considers the way social phenomenon 
develops in social contexts. Generally it understands that social constructs are by-products of countless 
human choices. It counteracts essentialism, a sociological theory of knowledge that considers that the 
essence of individuals, places and individuals determines actions and behaviour. A major focus of social 
constructionism is to uncover the ways in which individuals and groups participate in the creation of their 
perceived social reality. This research project projects a ground understanding of the reality of 
Mozambique Island as socially constructed. Its premise stems from the basic idea that individuals are 
active participants in the making and remaking of their reality, which therefore is in constant flow and 
fluidity, reacting to what people choose as individuals and groups. Socially constructed reality is seen as 
an ongoing, dynamic process; people acting on their interpretations and their knowledge of it reproduces 
reality in a constant and continuous way. 
* 
Actor-Network Theory 
No one acts alone. 
Within social constructionism there are various major social theories, which recognise individuals as 
active constructors of their reality. The Actor-Network Theory is a distinctive approach to social theory 
and research ? which interestingly emerged out of science studies (Barnes 2005) ?, developed by Michel 
Callong, Bruno Latour (1993, 1999) and John Law (1994, 1999). It maps relations that are simultaneously 
material ? between things ? and semiotic ? between concepts. It assumes that many relations are both 
material and semiotic, to form single networks between actors. This theory tries to explain how material-
 semiotic networks come together to act as a whole, claiming that entities take form and acquire their 
attributes as a result of their relations with other entities, and there are no limits to what those entities can 
be (Law 1999 Barnes 2005: 97). As Barnes affirms, the important point is that ?the meaning of an entity is 
a relational effect of its association with other entities? (2005: 70).  
In the language of this theory, individual entities are called actors (or 
actants), and the sum of the relations established among or between some 
 23 
of them is termed a network. A network is a tight-knit assemblage of 
heterogeneous actants that are persuaded at least temporarily to stay in 
place, and work with one another to produce order. Order is only as 
durable as the network itself, however, and reaches only as far as the 
network extends. (Barnes 2005: 70) 
This theory has received vast criticism, including the absurdity of assigning agency to nonhuman actors, 
that it is amoral, that because it assumes all actors are equal within the networks no accommodations for 
power imbalances can be made and that it leads to useless descriptions that seem pointless 
(www.learning-theories.com, 2009). In my perspective this theory, like no other, supports the 
understanding that humans exist in a constructed world, and react to that world, and that relationships 
exist between them and emotional and physical worlds, in fluid, constrained and infinite other ways. I do 
not see it as amoral, and although the power of non-humans is recognised, in my understanding I am still 
able to attribute and recognise power differences within a network. 
The agency granted to the actors is not a property unique to human beings, and correspondingly it cannot 
and should not be identified exclusively in terms of linguistic and communicative capabilities (Gregson 
2005). By awarding agency to objects and other non-human entities one is not denying human agency. 
Instead, one is recognising the value that all entities (human and not human) are actively present in the 
construction of systems of survival and development of relationships. The car that one drives, the house 
one lives in, the pet one strokes, the mountain one walks in, the train one takes ? all these have a certain 
amount of agency, and are an active part in the networks we create and maintain in our daily lives. 
Gregson argues, by admitting the agency of the non-human does not mean that we should abandon the 
difference that human agency makes; rather we should bring the affectivity of things and intentional, 
expressive, human action together (2005).  
This research project reflects on this theory and borrows some of its underpinning concepts. These are 
used to understand the relationships that individuals have with their physical and surrounding reality, as 
well as with the concept of World Heritage. The various formal and informal, visible and invisible networks 
were the focus of my research. These networks are understood to be potentially transient, existing in a 
constant making and re-making. I borrow from this theory the understanding that relations need to be 
repeatedly ?performed? or the network will dissolve. Furthermore, it is assumed that networks of relations 
are not intrinsically coherent, and may indeed contain conflicts (Barnes, 2005). 
Although it is argued that actor-network theory does not typically attempt to explain why a network exists, 
and is instead more interested in the infrastructure of actor-networks, how they are formed, and how they 
can fall apart, during my research reasoning why certain networks came to exist became central to 
gaining insight into their existence and their importance within its context. 
The actor-network theory further incorporates the principle of generalised symmetry, where humans and 
what is not human should be integrated into the same conceptual framework and assigned equal 
amounts of agency. Or in other words, the impact that things and structures have on individuals is 
acknowledged. In this way, one gains a detailed description of the concrete mechanisms at work that hold 
the network together, while allowing an impartial treatment of the actors (www.learning-theories.com, 
2009). 
 24 
* 
Feminism and Postcolonial Theory 
Within social constructionism, as an umbrella social theory, feminist and postcolonial voices shine a light 
into issues and situations less visible in overwhelmingly West-oriented academics and political arenas. 
These are voices that challenge the basis of dominant forms of knowledge, offering powerful reflection on 
subjectivity and identity, the importance of culture, and the nature of politics and resistance (Sharp 2003). 
As Sharp rightly puts it, 
feminist and postcolonial theorists ask political geography to expand its 
gaze?.  Feminists famously state that ?the personal is political?, and that 
patriarchy works to exclude women from the political realm. 
Postcolonial theorists argue that the domination of Western forms of 
knowledge has similarly marginalised the voices and experiences of 
those from outside the West. Both require political geography to 
examine the power relationships woven through everyday life, and to 
challenge boundaries wherever encountered (Sharp 2003: 60). 
This decentralisation of the apparent universal knowledge of the West to demonstrate their situatedness 
has led to a complex and ambivalent model of political geography, in which there is a tension between a 
perception of the fluidity of borders and identities and an acknowledgement of the inescapable materiality 
of both (Sharp 2003: 59).  
The sense of fluidity, movement and hybridity that these voices bring to the social sciences is inspiring 
and fundamental in my engagement with research. This hybridity is not only the necessary attribute of the 
?colonial condition? (Loomba, 1998: 176 in Sharp 2003: 64) but also further illustrates the inability of 
colonial authority to replicate itself perfectly and so undermines its own position (Bhabha 1994 in Sharp 
2003: 64). In a location where different people have lived throughout the last six centuries, it is crucial to 
have this in mind, and to attempt to understand senses of identity and of space through such frameworks 
and standpoints. 
From work previously read, it has become clear to me that as Soja and Hooper argue, ?binary thinking is 
widespread in human geography and remains persistent and powerful in the shaping of landscapes of 
understanding? (Soja and Hooper 1993 in Cloke and Johnston 2005: 11). I believe that feminist and 
postcolonial voices counteract this, bringing the possibilities of fresh senses of being, which stem from 
engaging with the world and ourselves as multiple, as active, as marginal and, at the same time, 
hegemonic, for there are all these dimensions, according to the lenses that are used, the access one has 
to observe and interpret, and the person that one is. Furthermore, relationships between actors and 
networks are temporary in constant reassessment and development, allowing for difference and change. 
While Bhabha (1990) and Soja (1996) go further to offer the idea of a third term to signify a turn towards 
the critical potential ?third spaces? which refer to spaces that transcend what is produced by binary 
processes (Cloke and Johnston 2005), this research report does not apply this concept. Instead, as 
mentioned in the paragraph above, it uses postcolonial and feminist views to bring fresh air into the 
theorising and understanding of Mozambique Island, as an extremely poor place, with a past worth 
conserving for the whole of humanity. 
 25 
 
?Macuti Town is being forgotten. Macuti itself is finishing. People 
that have some money they put other types of roof. Also the people 
that are selling macuti are cheating; they don?t dry it properly so it 
lasts for about one year and then it starts to rotten. So of course 
people prefer to by corrugated iron.? 
Ibraimo Muss?  
Imam of the Islamic Council Mosque 
Photographed inside the madrasa of his mosque 
 
 26 
* 
Analysis of the Discourse 
A discourse analysis is a careful, close reading that moves between text and 
context to examine the content, organisation and functions of discourse. In the 
final analysis, a discourse analysis is an interpretation, warranted by detailed 
argument and attention to the material being studied (Silverman 2000: 188). 
The analysis of research data such as talk can lead from very detailed analysis on to the social issues 
that typically concern social science researchers. It can be used to explore the kinds of categories 
assumed by participants. It can show how participants link and contrast activities and actors and how they 
present views of each other. It can lead to practical changes in the style and structure of interviewing and 
moderation. And it can be a step towards more reflexive research, enabling researchers to consider the 
kind of situation they have set up, the participants? orientation to it and their own roles in it as researchers 
(Myers 2000: 192). 
The methods of discursive analysis are employed in working with the data gathered through the in-depth 
individual and group interviews. The most popular approach is to treat respondents? answers as 
describing some external reality (facts, events) or internal experience (feelings and meanings). Realism is 
here used in the sense of the literary genre whose aim is to describe the gritty reality of people?s lives. In 
this approach, typical of tabloid journalism, confessional stories are gathered and presented to the 
researcher as new facts about personalities (Atkinson and Silverman 1997 in Silverman 2000: 122). As 
the first part of my interviews related to biographical information, narratives were collected of the various 
actors interviewed, with as much detail as possible about their lives in Mozambique Island. This detail 
helped me construct the identities of these individuals, so as to relate their answers and choices in 
relation to World Heritage in a more informed way.  
An alternative approach treats interview data as accessing various stories or narratives through which 
people describe their world. This approach claims that, by abandoning the attempt to treat respondents? 
accounts as potentially ?true pictures of reality?, we open up for analysis the culturally rich methods 
through which interviewers and interviewees, in concert, generate plausible accounts of the world.  
The realist approach has a high degree of plausibility to social scientists who theorise the world in terms 
of the impact of objective social structures upon subjective dispositions. The narrative approach uses 
culturally available resources in order to construct the respondents? stories.  
Participation in a culture includes participation in the narratives of that culture, a general understanding of 
the stock of meanings and their relationships to each other (Richardson 1990 in Silverman 2000). The 
idea is to see respondents? answers as cultural stories. This means examining the rhetorical force of what 
the interviewees say. Collective stories which resist the cultural narratives about groups of people and tell 
alternative stories (Richardson 1990 in Siverman 2000). 
Glassner and Loughlin (2000) argue that narrative analysis works through examining the nature and 
sources of the frame of explanation used by the interviewee. However, the character of what the 
interviewee is saying can also be treated, through a realist approach, as a factual statement and validated 
by observation. Another methodology used during the interviews is what Silverman (2000) terms 
 27 
?methodology of listening?, when the interviewer is centrally concerned with seeing the world from the 
perspective of the subjects and understanding the authenticity of the interviewees? experiences. 
* 
Analysis of Field data 
Returning home after data collection is not an easy task. Ultimately I felt inadequate and unsatisfied with 
the quantity of information, confused at the grandiosity of the various information sources and content 
which had been made available to me. It took me a long time to rationalise that the complexity that I had 
seen would be exactly what I would write about. That a location, although slow and poor, although lacking 
standards of good governance and so on, is still complex and made of amazing networks playing with 
and against each other, for the benefit of those who have power and those who dare manifest their voice. 
After I overcame confusion and self-imposed disappointment, I slowly introduced data analysis to the 
report. Below are some of the techniques, based on Miles and Huberman?s (1984) proposed 
methodologies, which were employed in this process, not in the order presented, but rather in an organic 
and very personal manner, perhaps untraceable. 
[1] Data Reduction refers to the process of selecting, focusing, simplifying, abstracting and transforming 
raw data. This method was applied in a very careful way and was extremely time consuming: firstly to 
decide which data chunks would provide me with the initial focus, secondly, to establish that all data 
chunks were important and that (as said above) my focus would be on the complexity of the research 
material/location/problem and finally, to decide that I did have to reduce the amount of data I would use in 
this research report in the presentation of my ideas and findings. 
[2] Data Display is an organised assembly that permits conclusion drawing and action taking. In looking at 
my interview material I drew mind maps, networks and tables that would help me group information by 
theme/issue and clarify the main direction of theoretical frameworks and theme analysis.  
[3] Conclusion drawing means beginning to decide what things mean, noting regularities, patterns, 
possible configurations, causal flow and propositions. This part of the process accompanied me from 
early on. I was quick to make conclusions, and I was equally quick, perhaps quicker and keener, to 
embrace newly acquired information and manufacture new conclusions. 
[4] Verification means testing one?s provisional conclusions for their plausibility, their sturdiness, their 
degrees of confirmation and their validity. In rather unconventional ways I did verify the main theoretical 
proposal that this report presents. Abundant thoughts were dedicated to its premise and its hypothesis. 
Countless thoughts led to conversations with fellow academics about this. There is no real way of testing 
my thesis, except whether it assists in uncovering the complexity of life in Mozambique Island as a World 
Heritage site. 
Ethnographic research has a characteristic funnel structure, as it is progressively focused over its course 
(Hammersley and Atkinsin, 1983: 175 in Miles and Huberman, 143-144). As described above, my 
research problem was developed and transformed over time, as well as the clarification and delimitation 
of the scope of the research and the exploration of the internal structure. The organic and sensual way in 
which I practice research and the subsequent writing of it, allowed me to transform throughout the last 
 28 
two years, in which I suffered influences from authors read and thoughts constructed. Although I agree 
with Hammersley and Atkinsin (1983) that ethnographic research deepens like a funnel, I would like to 
challenge that metaphoric verb which in my opinion insinuates rigid narrowing, to say that ethnographic 
research deepens like a mine, in ever expansion, and we never know where we will find the precious 
comment, the fabulous subject, but we try different tools and we acquire renewed degrees of sensitivity, 
sensibility and knowledge, which in a dialectic way, determines the manner in which we proceed with 
digging (within the same metaphor is the idea that the digging never ceases ? a conclusion is temporary 
and subjective ? someone else would have dug in another direction, using different tools, come across 
different precious stones, and even if all the above were the same, in looking at the stone, different values 
would be bestowed upon them). 
* 
Analysis of the Transcripts 
I interviewed many individuals for long hours, using my digital voice recorder. In order to analyse my 
transcripts I had to go through a process of firstly figuring out how to organise each interview in the digital 
voice recorder in a functional manner. Once I figured that out, it became easier to record and to access 
what had been recorded. Secondly, I transferred all the audio to my laptop, producing many different files. 
Thirdly, these were carefully transcribed. Fourthly, I read them a first time making observations as going 
along. In reading a second time I started noting the various features of the apparent contexts in which 
communication had taken place. Nevertheless, in this process I did not aim to dissect all the information, 
or tried reading too much into what individuals had shared with me. Readings were read a number of 
times, after which I started picking up themes, which were later grouped (as much as possible). The 
chosen extracts were used throughout the report to illustrate theoretical stances, and to allow the voice of 
the subjects a real place in it. After all, the report is based on their histories and stories.  
* 
Analysis of the Visual 
Through the use of portraits, the intention was to analyse the subjects? engagement with the surrounding 
world, specifically reading the relationship that individuals have with their physical environment, in this 
case, a World Heritage Site. These images served to draw conclusions and observations about: 
individuals? most significant and important place in Mozambique Island, individuals? sense ownership of 
the World Heritage, the body language used in the portrait, in relation to the chosen place. 
In analysing the portraits, the subjectivity involved in this exercise is acknowledged. Another 
photographer would have taken them differently, and through a different set of questions, perhaps the 
subjects would have chosen a different place at which to be photographed. As explicitly noted, 
subjectivity is an active part of the product of this research, not something that shakes its credibility or the 
ethical positioning of the researcher. It is acknowledged that my analysis of the information contained in 
each portrait is also subjective as not everyone is equipped to recover it in the same manner. As Loizos 
(2000) points out while casual inference is easy, more secure inference is more demanding. Additionally, 
he explains that a photograph may arise in one of at least four ways: 
 29 
1. The subjects can be caught off guard, behaving informally, by a photographer; 
2. A group of subjects, hearing that there is to be a photograph taken, may position 
themselves in a way they consider to be appropriate; 
3. A photographer may take the initiative to place subjects in a specific composition, 
and they may passively accept direction; 
4. Same collusion or negotiation between photographer and subjects may take place 
(Loizos 2000: 99). 
According to these options, the photographs which I took throughout my fieldwork, as additional 
observations and aides in gathering detailed field notes, fall into the first two options: the subjects were 
caught off guard, or they positioned themselves in front of me when aware that I might capture them with 
my camera.  
On the other hand, the portraits taken by Mona Moe, according to Loizos?s (2000) categories, seem to fall 
closer in the fourth category where there is a negotiation between the photographer and the subject. 
Nonetheless, perhaps this description does not give justice to the manner in which those images arose. 
The portraits are a product of the subjects? choice of place, as well as their choice of body language in the 
photographs. The photographer did negotiate certain frames according to the position of the sun, and 
presence of sunlight. 
In terms of the analysis, Loizos maintains ?readings have to be attained after much social and historical 
understanding of the context where the photographs are being taken? (2000: 101). Personally, I am not 
indigenous to Mozambique Island, and I might add that my social and historical understanding of this 
island is limited to the two months of fieldwork, as well as a couple of other short term visits prior and post 
fieldwork. Nonetheless, given that the portraits were taken in the context of my research, I do believe that 
I hold enough information and social understanding to ascertain conclusive and useful observations from 
my analysis of them.     
* 
2.3 A Three-Voice Narrative 
The presentation of my data and its analysis is particular to this exercise, and to my research report 
writing methodology. Its fragmented appearance, made of different fractions, which together serve to tell 
of a situation and of a story, are subjectively chosen and interwoven. Its tapestry like formation, aims to 
remind oneself and the reader of the ways in which life and the lives of people are interconnected, how 
they came into conflict, how they harmonise with actors and networks, and how this is in a constant 
production of new interactions, relationships and networks. I aimed to capture the rhythm of Mozambique 
Island during my visit there, filled with analytical observations, concepts and thoughts, which were 
interlaced with conversations, images, photographs, hugs, gossip exchanges and so on. Through a non-
 linear text, although still obliging to academic standards, I impose and offer the reader breaks ? where I 
share my thoughts, my experiences, quotes from other academics, images taken by me of the island and 
its residents, direct quotes of the islanders interviewed as well as their portraits taken by Mona Moe.  
My analytical and academic voice can be read throughout the research report, linking factual historical 
and current information, with theoretical concepts and frameworks, so as to build a structured analytical 
platform from which to understand my argument throughout the report. I consider this to be the main 
 30 
voice of the research report. It incorporates direct quotes from fellow academics and other technical 
reports regarding the different themes of the report.  
The second voice is a subjective text, transcribed directly from my fieldwork notes, as 
well as memories of being in the field. A mixture of observations, poetry like 
sentences, this voice reflects who I am as a less filtered researcher, who I am as person 
who loves Mozambique Island, who dreamt of this island for many years, who relates 
to it in novel ways, and who allows the island and its residents to change her, 
penetrate her life, modify her routine, experience the unknown and dream of a better 
and more informed and participative future. 
 
?The third voice represents the islanders that were interviewed throughout the course of 
my fieldwork. Direct quotes are placed where found to be elucidative, guiding, illustrative 
and to add value to an argument, a description or a theoretical conclusion. In choosing to 
find this voice its own space in the text, with its singular position, I aim to acknowledge its 
individuality, and that although a product of interviews conducted, transcribed, chosen 
and translated by me, they exist on their own, having value for who and what they 
represent and therefore deserve their dedicated space, their time and their position.?  
The fourth and fifth voices are of visual nature. I personally took photographs throughout my stay in 
Mozambique Island, of my immediate environment, the people with whom I interacted as neighbours, of 
the context of the interviews, the interviewees and other details that caught my attention. This accounts 
for the fourth voice, which is used within the text in small-scale images to illustrate an interview, an 
observation or a memory. According Loizos (2000), photographs can be taken in different ways. Towards 
this voice, photographs were taken of subjects caught off guard, behaving informally, by me, the 
researcher. In addition, there were occasions in which a group of subjects, hearing or seeing that there is 
to be a photograph taken, may have positioned themselves in a way they considered to be appropriate. 
The fifth voice was directed by me, and executed by Mona Moe. Portraits are printed in individual pages 
accompanied by captions from the interview with the photographed individual(s). The choice of presenting 
the portraits in single pages scattered throughout the report demonstrates the importance of this as 
information collected in the field, and as a fresh way of self-representation from the interviewees. In light 
of this, portraits are not placed in relation to the other text. They exist independently, and strive to make a 
statement on their own. 
 31 
3 .  L i t e r a t u r e  R e v i e w   
This theoretical chapter aims to introduce the reader to the sphere of World Heritage. It starts by 
introducing the concept of heritage, followed by the origins and development of the World Heritage 
concept and status. This is followed firstly, by a review of existing conservation and management 
principles and methodologies, and secondly, by an exploration of issues of identity, space, ownership, 
scale and tourism in World Heritage Sites.  
 
* 
3.1 Concept of Heritage: Definitions and Contextualisation 
?According to me, I think that when we speak of heritage, we talk about a historic place, a 
tradition of the area itself, having something that other places don?t have. The history that 
exists in the museum and the fort [of Mozambique Island) for instance, doesn?t exist in any 
other country.?   Ibraimo Muss?  
Imam of the Islamic Council Mosque 
  
Heritage is the central theme of this research report. But, what is heritage? Why is it relevant? Where 
does it fit within Human Geography and the broader Social Sciences? The section that follows aims to 
shine a light into these and other questions, while laying the foundations for the manner in which heritage 
is understood in the context of this present work. 
The concept of heritage is linked to the idea of inheritance ? that which is inherited from the past, that 
which we can still access in the present, and who is responsible for conserving for the future. Once a 
thing is destroyed and ceases to exist, it stops being our existing heritage. On the other hand, not all that 
is inherited becomes heritage, unless it has recognised value for conservation. Leaks maintains that 
heritage can be ?regarded as anything that someone wishes to conserve or to collect, and to pass on to 
future generations? (2006: 6). In this regard, it is clear that heritage only exists in relation to people, as 
humans are the ones attributing value and meaning to inheritance, it being natural or cultural inheritance. 
People collect heritage for their own benefit or for the perceived benefit of others. 
?Because its architectural elements have, like in Zanzibar and Lamu, Arab influences. In 
history, they were many people that moved through this city, like Europeans, Asians, and 
many Africans as slaves, so went to the Comoros, to Madagascar ? they came from the 
interior and the harbour was here. So this was a slavery trade point from here to America. 
It was an obligatory stop over. And that?s how it got developed. And putting these elements 
together was used to classify the island as a World Heritage Site.? 
Gulamo Mamudo  
President of the Municipal Council 
 
Building on these traits which can help make the past beneficial to 
people, Lowenthal sees it as providing familiarity and guidance, 
enrichment and escape but also, and more potently, validation and 
legitimisation. (Ashworth and Graham 2005: 9) 
In establishing that heritage is subjective and that its existence is something worthy of conservation, one 
needs to go further to understand the manner in which this heritage is processed and produced. How 
choices are made and who makes them depends on the site/object of heritage ? where this received 
national, international, local attention, or a mixture of this, which in turn, leads to the concept of 
dissonance (later explored). Heritage is concerned with the manners in which very selective material 
 32 
artefacts, mythologies, memories and traditions become resources of the present (Ashworth and Graham 
2005). I agree with Ashworth and Graham (2005), that the contents, interpretations and representations 
of the resource are selected according to the demands of the present; ?an imagined past provides 
resources for a heritage that is to be bequeathed to an imagined future? (2005: 4). This argument is 
based on the idea that the meanings and factions of memory and tradition are defined in the present and 
that, furthermore, heritage is in fact more concerned with meanings than with the material artefacts 
themselves (Ashworth and Graham 2005). Within this understanding of heritage, the fluidity of what is 
worthy of conservation is fundamental, indicating that the values and morals of people determine what is 
to be conserved. 
Heritage is capable of being interpreted differently within any one culture 
at any one time, as well as between cultures and through time. (Ashworth 
and Graham 2005: 4) 
?Cultural heritage is a group of inheritances. Heritage itself is an inheritance. Something 
we have inherited from generation to generation. The cultural heritage can be a group of 
things or elements that are tangible or intangible. In Mozambique Island we?ve got many 
types of Heritage: we?ve got the tangible part, the part that we can see, through 
archaeology, or historical buildings that need to be conserved, we?ve got monuments. And 
this heritage in Mozambique Island has been left by people of different origins, therefore 
becoming World Heritage.  Then we have intangible heritage: what we know, our 
knowledge. Sheikh Amud, for example, that man was part of our heritage. He left much 
knowledge to us, being able to give us oral history, which is intangible. He told us what the 
Arab culture was like, he told us of the Arabs that came through here, and he became a 
great sheikh through his spiritual work. And all of this is part of intangible heritage. 
Something remained after his death, in our subconscious, in our memory. But there is also 
literature, and imaginations and we need to consider all of these, value them and conserve 
them.?                                                       Cristina  
                                                                           District Director for Education, Youth and Technology 
 
In this regard, heritage becomes diverse, and a product of different knowledge, producing different 
heritages, the contents and meanings of which change through time and across space. In light of this, it 
becomes clear that we, as individuals, create the heritage that we require to manage for a range of 
purposes defined by the needs and demands of our present societies (Ashworth and Graham 2005), 
which in turn are informed by a vast range of complexities, according to our specific and very unique 
circumstances ? from geographical, to social, medical, religious, environmental or political, amongst many 
others. The idea that heritage is a result of a conscious appropriation of a thing, for the perceived 
betterment of individuals? lives is a key understanding in this report, as it sustains my argument about the 
need to understand individuals complexities in their locations, to comprehensively (as much as possible) 
understand why individuals appropriate their heritage and how. 
?Heritage are the things, or infrastructures, or houses that were built a while back, by the 
population that came through here, that is heritage. What those people left behind ? I think 
that?s world heritage.?  Martinho Carola  and Manuel At?pore  
Secretaries of Neighbourhood 
It is safe to say that the value attributed to artefacts, buildings or places ?rests less in their intrinsic merit 
than in a complex array of contemporary values, demands and even moralities? (Ashworth and Graham 
2005: 7). As such, heritage can be visualised as a resource but simultaneously, many times over. Clearly, 
it is an economic resource, one exploited everywhere as a primary component of strategies to promote 
tourism, economic development and rural and urban regeneration. But heritage is also knowledge, a 
cultural product and a political resource and thus possesses a crucial socio-political function. Thus  
 33 
 
 
 
 
?Mozambique Island is a 
ruin city ? it suffers from 
ruins. That?s why it became 
heritage. And also because 
there are tourists visiting 
from every nation ? there is 
no racial discrimination.? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Abacar Faqui Amuri,  Momade Abdul 
Amisse, Ussaine Ossane, Alfane Pilale,  
Abudo Swal? Abudo  
Municipality Secretaries of Neighbourhood; 
Photographed in front of the Museum 
 34 
heritage is accompanied by a complex and often conflicting array of identifications and potential conflicts, 
not least when heritage places and objects are involved in issues of legitimisation of power structures 
(Ashworth and Graham 2005: 7). 
In what concerns the tourism industry and its relationship with heritage, Walsh (1992) explains that the 
expansion of heritage during the late 1970s and 1980s was not only a response to a perceived need for 
the past during a period when the rigours of (post-)modern life eroded a sense of history or rootedness, 
but also should be considered as a product of the expansion of the wider leisure and tourism services 
sector, and an articulation of a service-class culture. The heritage industry does not exist in a vacuum ? it 
responds to particular social, economic and political needs to uphold values and objects of the past, in a 
global era that is becoming more and more service-oriented towards tourism.  
It is of course arguable that the heritagisation of space can help maintain an identity of place, rather than 
solely resulting in a sense of placelessness or homogenisation. This can happen through the emphasis 
on historical characteristics which stand as metaphors for that place. While the preservation of such 
images may be all the more important as local industries and communities are destroyed, it may be 
however, that only safe and selected images will be preserved, and the history of a place will be 
neglected, while the heritage, over subsequent generations, helps to construct an image of place, which 
is based on superficialities. (Walsh 1992: 139). In looking at heritage as an economic resource within the 
tourism industry, it becomes clear that,  
economic restructuring has led to the increasing abstraction of the 
characteristics of certain spaces, the emphasis on the differences that a 
space possesses in terms of resources and labour force. This abstraction 
has become more refined and intense to the point where ?the active 
production of places with special qualities becomes an important stake 
in spatial competition between localities, cities, regions and nations? 
(Harvey 1989: 295). Capital can occupy spaces as access is increased 
through improved communications. As spaces compete with one 
another, they must attempt to promote an image, an attractive 
marketing surface, which will lure the multinational to their particular 
place (Walsh 1992: 136). 
The role of heritage in this process is undeniable. Beautification, through the heritagisation of space is 
one of the mechanisms that can be employed to attract capital (Walsh 1992: 136). 
?Mozambique Island is a ruin city ? it suffers of ruins. That?s why is became heritage. And 
also because there are tourists visiting from every nation ? there is no racial 
discrimination.?                                     Abacar Faqui Amuri,  Momade Abdul Amisse,  
Ussaine Ossane, Alfane Pilale,  Abudo Swal? Abudo  
Municipality Neighbourhood Secretaries 
 
The fact that heritage is subject to individuals? senses of time and place makes it contested along several 
different axis ? the temporal, the spatial, the cultural/economic and the public/private. In addition to the 
issue of contestations and difference in what individuals want to conserve, another issue evolves from the 
need to conserve heritage as a static thing. The heritage display, with its denial of process, and its 
emphasis on the synchronous spectacle, removes any idea of change through time. The spectacle 
represents the isolated event; we are removed from history. (Walsh 1992: 137) 
Ashworth and Graham (2005) offer that ?heritage is the medium through 
which senses of place are created from senses of time. However, the 
 35 
processes are contested ? and inevitably so ? because of their plurality 
and the continuous interplay of the official/unofficial and insider/outsider 
dichotomies that characterise every single manifestation of heritage? 
(Ashworth and Graham 2005: 11). 
Heritage ?assumes a demand oriented approach in which the questions of selection are answered in 
terms of the demands of the consumer not the nature of the object being preserved? (Ashworth, 1991: 3 
in Kuipers 2005: 206). This signifies that selection criteria with respect to the object should not so much 
be based on its intrinsic qualities, such as age, beauty, or historical importance, but more on the needs of 
the market that are extrinsic to the object (Kuipers 2005).  
Graham et al. (2000: 2) defined heritage as ?the contemporary use of the past, based on the present 
needs of people?, and argue that from this point of view an object does not per se need to be ?historically 
correct, intrinsically authentic, innately valuable or qualitatively worthy?. If people in the present are the 
creators of heritage, and not merely passive transmitters or receivers of it, then the present created the 
heritage it requires and manages for a range of contemporary purposes? (Graham et al., 2000: 2). They 
interpret heritage as a concept of meaning rather than artefact, that ensures it is a field of social conflict 
and tension, carrying differing and incompatible meanings simultaneously (Kuipers 2005: 206). 
From here it becomes clear that one should not be concerned with whether one piece of heritage is 
historically more correct, intrinsically authentic, innately valuable or qualitatively more worthy than 
another, if people in the present are the creators of heritage, and not merely passive receivers or 
transmitters of it, then the present creates the heritage it requires and manages it for a range of 
contemporary purposes (Graham et al. 2000: 2). Once again, the concept of appropriation according to 
the needs to individuals becomes clear to be the driving force behind how and why heritage is conserved. 
In appreciating that conflict arises around heritage according to whom and with what perspective one 
looks at it, clarity arises around the various facets that heritage can have as economic, cultural, religious, 
political or geographical resources. Heritage fulfils several inherently opposing uses and carries 
conflicting meanings simultaneously (Graham et al. 2000: 3). In light of this argument, Graham et al. 
propose that heritage is both a cultural and economic good and commodified as such (2000: 5). In most 
existing writings about heritage I read, the dichotomy between heritage as a cultural or as an economic 
resource is exacerbated. I would propose the other dimensions of heritage, such as the religious, political 
or geographical, are considered potentially as important as each other. I believe that this is fundamental 
for allowing one to understand the dimensions that heritage has in the different localities and social 
situations. 
Furthermore, Graham et al (2000) argue that as knowledges about heritage are constructed according to 
particular social and intellectual circumstances, in specific times in which its meanings can be altered as 
texts are re-read in changing times, circumstances and constructs of place and scale, and consequently, 
these knowledges become fields of contestations. Although I agree with this argument in its full, from my 
experience in the field, it has become clear to me that the lack of an attribution of meaning to heritage by 
some also contributes to dissonance and contestation. In this manner, I suggest that it is not only the 
existence of two or more different meanings that can result in contestation, but the non-existence of 
attributed and constructed meanings can equally conflict with the existence of this, and this fact should be 
disregarded or ignored. 
 36 
In itself, the concept of heritage can also be perceived as dangerous, for its frequently ?nationalist, 
exclusive, sexist, elitist and backward-looking? tendencies (Howard 2003:4). Heritage exists in a platform 
of conflict, often being the target of conflict, or creating it, as individuals fight over its management, 
ownership and possible outcomes stemming from it.  
Landscape or museum are characterised by a complexity of images and 
a polyvocality of interpretation reflective of a wide array of social 
differences; none the less, the images portrayed are selected by 
someone, thereby raising issues of privileging or suppressing particular 
viewpoints; however, single landscape or museum display can be viewed 
simultaneously in a variety of ways, which means that ostensibly 
hegemonic interpretations are open for subversion (Graham et al. 2000: 
33). 
Heritage is inherently a spatial phenomenon, characterised by location, distribution and scale; it is a 
fundamental part of cultural geography?s concern with signification, representations and identity; and it is 
an economic instrument in policies of regional and urban development and regenerations (Graham et al. 
2000: 256). In addition, and to be further explored, it also functions at a variety of scales in which the 
same objects may assume ? or be attributed ? different meanings (Ashworth and Graham 2005: 6) 
Besides existing in relation to people, heritage is also owned by people. In light of this, the concept of 
ownership becomes a vital concept in the field of heritage. 
Modern management practice frequently uses ?ownership? to describe the feeling of 
responsibility for a policy by the group, without which the policy is likely to fail. This 
usage is very similar in heritage matters, where either groups try to persuade 
others to take ownership of heritage, or they themselves aspire to such ?ownership?, 
even, perhaps especially, when there is no legal basis for that ownership (Leask 
2006: 7). 
Furthermore and of key interest in my research report, I introduce the concept of appropriation, strongly 
associated with that of ownership, as the central means to understand individuals? constructed 
relationships with heritage and the result of these relationships on heritage itself. 
Although it is widely assumed that heritage is good, people are also ?capable of obliterating, forgetting 
and disowning heritage that they would rather be without? (Howard 2001:9). In order to answer my main 
research question, one of the questions that I aim to answer is how the heritage in Mozambique Island is 
perceived ? whether it is something positive and benefiting, something negative that the islanders wish to 
cease existing or something they are oblivious towards, not caring, but liking the idea of. Is the heritage of 
Mozambique Island an obstacle or a vehicle for a better life? Or is it neither, depending on the knowledge 
the islanders have of heritage itself? 
In addition, while heritage is often perceived as worthy of conservation and therefore static in time, I 
suggest that although conservation and renovation are honourable ways of maintaining the value of 
heritage, this is not static, on the contrary it gains new meanings throughout time, gaining new 
significance and value to those who enjoy it. I acknowledge that this is a complex issue. You want to 
renovate a World Heritage building to its original form given its value, but you want to do it in a way that is 
useful for those who live in it currently. It is a fine balance. You want to tell the inhabitants of Macuti Town 
to maintain their macuti roofs (for the sake of its World Heritage significance) but what about the cost 
 37 
involved in maintaining them properly when compared to having corrugated iron, which is safer and 
brings about a sense of social and economic accomplishment in their society?  
The central preoccupation should be in finding new solutions that allow for the integrity of a heritage 
building or thing to be maintained, while useful and beneficial for those who surround it. But, due to the 
above said and what I present below, this is not simple. It involves the profound and intricate 
understanding of the complexities of heritage in a particular location, as well as macro and micro 
conditions that allow for the conservation of heritage in ways that are positive for those involved. Even 
after a few months of research, and several more of analysing and thinking about this, I am not sure if 
there is a solution to maintaining the heritage of Mozambique Island in a positive way for its islanders, 
without in many ways impacting on their lives, in ways that they might perceive or feel as negative ? but 
that will be the focus of further discussion below. I now move to the analysis of literature of World 
Heritage, which brings a different complexity to the concept of heritage, and to the object or landscape 
that has been attributed this status, as is the case of Mozambique Island.  
* 
3.2 Origins and Development of World Heritage 
Memory is vital to creativity: that holds true for individuals and for peoples, 
who find in their heritage ? natural and cultural, tangible and intangible ? the 
key to their identity and the source of their inspiration (UNESCO, 2005a in 
Millar 2006: 34). 
World Heritage is considered to be the heritage that is worth conserving for the sake of all humanity, 
given the intrinsic value it holds, and the meaning the people give to it in their sense of historical and 
present identity. This notion of a ?heritage for all humanity? was borne out of a Convention that came into 
force in 1977, after its ratification by twenty countries (Cleere in Leask 2006: foreword). Its first years 
were characterised by enthusiasm, while also lacking coherence in policy-making. Cleere explains that,  
cultural and natural properties were nominated to be evaluated in a somewhat 
ad hoc fashion by the two Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Committee, and 
the World Heritage List gradually grew. In the Convention the sole criterion for 
inscription on the List is ?outstanding universal value?, a noble phrase but one 
that proved almost impossible to define, as a result of which ten more detailed 
criteria were painfully evolved (in Leask 2006: foreword). 
The 1977 Unesco World Heritage Convention was introduced to preserve the world?s ?most outstanding? 
heritage sites in the built or natural environment for the benefit of all humanity now and into an 
undetermined future. In light of this, there are two different perspectives into what should be awarded 
World Heritage Status. While some are of the opinion that the World Heritage List should thus comprise 
the best heritage sites, selected on their intrinsic merit, conserved and managed in a way that satisfied 
the aims of preserving for the very humanity in whose name they have been designated (Ashworth and 
van der Aa 2006: 148), others carry the stance that the meaning attributed to heritage is the basis for its 
value. According to Unesco (2002), World heritage status is only rewarded to those sites that are of 
?outstanding universal value?.   
As a product of this broad concept, and perhaps also, an eagerness of awarding the status together with 
the idealism of conservation,  
 38 
 
 
 
?Here the whole population lives from the sea. The factory here is the 
sea, the ocean.? 
 
 
 
 
 
Mussagi Fakir  
Imam of first mosque of Mozambique; 
Photographed inside his mosque 
 
 39 
by 1994 the World Heritage List had grown in an uncontrolled manner to more 
than 400, and the Committee recognised that a more systematic approach was 
needed. This resulted in Global Strategy which has been striving to ensure a 
more equitable and logical representation of the heritage of outstanding 
universal value, both geographically and thematically ? so far, it has been 
admitted, with only limited success (Cleere in Leask 2006: foreword). 
According to Cleere (in Leask 2006: foreword), nonetheless, the most significant development in the 
Convention over the past two decades has been related, not to its representative nature but rather, to the 
establishment of standards and criteria for the management, presentation and promotion of World 
Heritage Sites. This is a crucial point, as it created a sense of uniformity in choice, as well as imposed a 
certain pressure related to the upkeep of the World Heritage Status. 
At this point, I would like to introduce ICOMOS, the International Council on Monuments and Sites. This is 
the advisory body for Unesco on issues concerning the world cultural heritage, in particular the evaluation 
of monuments and sites that have been places on the World Heritage List or are under consideration for 
listing. ICOMOS is committed to preservation of our heritage worldwide, wherever monuments, sites or 
cultural landscapes that are defined by historic buildings are affected. According to the preamble of the 
Necine Chaster (1964), which is considered a founding document for ICOMOS, the preservation of the 
authentic material evidence of our history is at stake: ?Imbued with a message from the past, the historic 
monuments of generations of people remain to the present day as living witnesses of their age-old 
traditions. People are becoming more and more conscious of the unity of human values and regard 
ancient monuments as common heritage. The common responsibility to safeguard them for future 
generations is recognised. It is our duty to hand them on in the full richness of their authenticity.? (Michael 
Petzet; ICOMOS 2000: 9) 
Interestingly, currently, no property is now inscribed on the List unless it can show evidence that it has ?an 
appropriate management plan or other documented management system which should specify how the 
outstanding universal value of a property should be preserved, preferably through participatory means? 
(Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention, 225, para. 108)15. 
Cleere, who was the World Heritage Committee Head from 1992 to 2002, claims that ?the scrutiny of 
these systems by the two Advisory Bodies is now rigorous, and the inscription of a number of important 
sites has been deferred to await the preparation and implementation of a suitable plan.? In other words, 
the award is no longer seen as a means in itself. It has been recognised that together with its award, 
World Heritage status can only be awarded to sites that also have a management plan that can easily be 
operationalised.  
The key aim of the World Heritage Convention is to conserve cultural and natural heritage resources, but 
one ends up wondering if the present structure of the WHC and associated processes actually do this? 
According to IUCN (2004) and ICOMOS (2004) the World Heritage Convention is indeed an effective 
                                                
15 As mentioned in Chapter 1, Mozambique Island received a notification in 2006, that if by February 2007 the 
government did not show the existence of a management plan for the Island, the Island would fall into the 
Endangered List, with the possibility of losing the status all together in future. In August 2008, UNESCO Mozambique 
received another notification regarding Mozambique Island moving to the List of Endangered World Heritage Sites, 
given that the Management Plan was not yet in place. Currently, this Management Plan is being finalised. Whether 
there will systems in place to implement the Management Plan is something that the National Government as well as 
UNESCO need to take a close look at, together with other strategies that propel the islanders to start conserving, 
restoring and managing their heritage by their own initiative. 
 
 40 
framework for implementation of conservation strategies (Leask 2006). Nevertheless, it needs better 
integration of Convention and international, national and regional conservation instruments, to achieve 
universal membership of Convention and to involve communities. As stated by Barbosa (2005), ?We have 
a collective responsibility to safeguard our human heritage. This is a ?responsibility, furthermore, that links 
past, present and future generations in a chain of reciprocity and care, and tourism has a vital role to play 
in that future? (Leask 2006: 17).  
Leask (2006) confirms that tourism plays a vital role in the sphere of world heritage throughout the world. 
There is an increased awareness of the economic importance of heritage conservation, its special role in 
terms of the much-heralded ?sustainable development? (Michael Petzet; ICOMOS 2000), as well as the 
economic gain stemming from the tourism industry. 
World heritage, as it is further discussed, exists in a world of complex flows and relationships, which 
make its management difficult to grasp and maintain. As with heritage that belongs to an individual or 
community only, World Heritage is also subject to political, economic and social circumstances. Although 
it is a thing that is supposed to become World Heritage for its intrinsic value, in reality it does not work like 
that. That is the main push towards the award by UNESCO, nonetheless, there are always particular 
perceptions that are influencing the candidate state to choose that particular site. The perceptions of 
one?s history, and what is of value in the present society in order to maintain a particular identity, 
influences what becomes World Heritage. In light of this, one cannot disengage the economic dimension 
of world heritage sites, when discussing them. 
According to each country?s available funds and cultural policy World Heritage will be less or more 
attended to. In many countries, not only are the financial means unavailable to guide such developments 
in the direction of cultural continuity ? so important for the identity of a land ? but the political will is also 
missing. This is demonstrated, for instance, by the absence of a state preservation organisation with 
appropriate experts, by the total lack of preservation laws (ICOMOS 2000: 9) or by legal regulations that 
exist but are not put to use. The ?continuous loss of historic heritage is pre-programmed if there is not a 
certain amount of public-sector protection in the interest of the general public? (Michael Petzet; ICOMOS 
2000: 10).  
In some countries the tourism industry, ubiquitous in its connection with 
monuments, historic districts and cultural landscapes, apparently provides the 
only reason to protect monuments, at least as sightseeing objects. A community-
 based soft tourism naturally would have its positive effect of preservation. But 
mass tourism, to which entire cultural landscapes have fallen victim over the last 
decades, represents as before a danger. It remains a disappointment that, despite 
the many assurances at countless conferences on the theme of tourism and 
preservation, there is a lack of commitment by the tourism industry, which by 
now with its sales in the billions is the most important branch of industry 
worldwide. The tourism industry exploits the cultural heritage through over-use 
which is sometimes ruinous, but does not render any serious financial 
contribution to the protection and preservation of the cultural heritage (Petzet; 
ICOMOS 2000: 10). 
Petzet concludes that in the development of an increasingly globalised world that is dominated by the 
strongest economic forces, the tendency to make all aspects of life uniform represents an obvious risk 
factor for the historic heritage (2000: 10). He maintains that with the new global ?lifestyle?, attitudes to 
historic evidence of the past naturally also change, although there is hope that in some places this very 
 41 
globalisation is causing a renewed consciousness of the significance of the monuments that embody 
regional and national identity (Petzet 2000: 10). This trend can also be identified for artistic and 
craftsman?s traditions, out of which the historic heritage has developed in the course of centuries. 
Nevertheless, as I will further identify in relation to the renovation of houses in Macuti Town, the mass 
products of the industrial society that are distributed world-wide remain a tremendous threat because they 
continue to displace the historical techniques of craftsman, and then prevent the possibility of repair with 
authentic material techniques that are so critical for preservation  (Michael Petzet; ICOMOS 2000: 10). 
Millar (2006) speaks about how communities are often keen to present their World heritage Sites to 
visitors or to exploit them as tourism resources in the anticipation of economic gain. She adds that they 
are also actively protecting their own privacy and lifestyles, which can be overwhelmed during peak 
tourism seasons. It is common that at both natural and cultural World Heritage Sites local people are 
often the tour guides and interpreters. At others they are the guardian and purveyors of the intangible 
heritage in the form of priests, musicians, dancers, storytellers, craftspeople, demonstrators, cooks and 
farmers or gardeners (Millar 2006: 51).  
The quality of the tourism experience is greatly enhanced if members of the local 
community are engaged as key stakeholders and encouraged to welcome visitors. 
The confidence of communities to invite strangers to join in their they local 
festivals held within the boundaries of a WHS often means that they can benefit 
directly from the financial rewards tourism brings. In addition, genuine 
community support can ensure that the promotional images of the destination 
presented to the outside world are those actually experienced by the visitors as 
they interact with local people during their visit (Millar 2006: 51). 
Although World Heritage is supposed to have all individuals of world as its stakeholders, Millar (2006) 
affirms that, in practice, until recently, a limited number of stakeholders ? governments, conservation 
experts and local authorities ? were involved in the process (Millar 2006: 34). The issue of responsibility 
arises over and over again. Who should be maintaining World Heritage for the future?  
The focus of responsibilities concerning the protection and conservation of World 
Heritage is shifting from a forum of conservation experts and national and local 
government representatives to a partnership approach involving an expanded 
list of local and regional stakeholders covering a wide spectrum of interest 
located both inside and outside of the boundaries and buffer zones of a WHS. 
These stakeholders include private sector businesses, developers, owners, non-
 governmental organisations (NGOs) and community groups (see paragraphs 39 
& 40 Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage 
Convention, Unesco 2003 in Millar 2006: 39). 
The struggle around responsibility is partly the result of the various scales in which World Heritage Sites 
exist. Their localism coexists with a universal scale, complicating roles, duties and responsibilities. In light 
of this, the World Heritage Committee acknowledges that there must be a link between universal and 
local values for a World Heritage Site to have a sustainable future. The ambition for world ownership of 
the World?s special and diverse natural and cultural heritage remains strong. While what makes the 
concept of World Heritage exceptional is its universal application, I wonder to what extent we can actually 
believe that World Heritage Sites belong to all the peoples of the world irrespective of the territory on 
which they are located? (Unesco 2005b in Millar 2006: 39). I agree with Millar (2006) that such idealistic 
rhetoric, such global aspirations can create problems when they are transposed into the reality of the 
local context on the ground. If, ?in fact WHS status encourages indiscriminate mass tourism, 
 42 
compromises authenticity, distorts traditional values, gives rise to the need for congestion management at 
?honeypot? tourist destinations and thereby creates a need for additional conservation management, then 
inscription ? however well intended ? is problematic.? Although this report does not seek to answer 
whether World Heritage Sites should exist or not, the extent to which this is beneficial for the people of 
Mozambique Island, has been a question that followed me throughout my research. It is possible that 
world heritage is not what is best for this island, but given that the Government of Mozambique as well as 
Unesco have found it to be in the interest of the world population to nominate this a World Heritage Site 
worthy of conservation and maintenance, then that is what needs to be taken as the reality of the island, 
as decided by those who have authority over it.  
If the number of World Heritage Sites in the developing world increases ? as it 
rightly should ? the cost of their upkeep in terms of conservation and 
management has to be addressed. The local community who live in or near a 
World Heritage Site and visitors arriving as tourists become the most significant 
stakeholders in this new arena. They need to be trained and nurtured (Millar 
2006: 43-44).  
The implementation of the World Heritage Convention is in itself problematic given the regulatory 
dimensions that it has. Within a context of independent nation-states, international law cannot be 
enforced in the same manner as domestic law, because nations can rarely be compelled to perform their 
legal obligations. Indeed van der Aa (2005) notes that, while most Word Heritage Sites have some 
degree of local or national legal protection, designation does not necessarily lead to an increase in legal 
protections under domestic law (Hall 2006: 24). For further insight into the World Heritage Convention 
and its workings, read Hall (2006). 
Upon this brief conversation around World Heritage, I conclude upfront that Unesco has a na?ve 
understanding of heritage, that its regulations are too static and that the fact that World Heritage exists in 
the complex political geographic sites cannot continue to be ignored. The following sections aim to give 
further insight into theoretical and practical discussions of World Heritage. Conservation, maintenance 
and management of World Heritage are explored, followed by issues of identity, space and ownership, as 
well as tourism.  
One of the things that struck me when I first came across World Heritage was the 
paradoxical relation between the globally dispersed and diverse phenomena and 
the idea that they, in spite of all disparities, had something in common, and were 
constitutive parts of a distinct, universal and categorical entity, i.e. the World 
Heritage of humankind (Turtinen 2000: 8). 
* 
3.3 Identity, Place, Ownership, Tourism and Scale in the Context of 
World Heritage 
If individuals create place identities, then obviously different people, at different 
times, for different reasons, create different narratives of belonging; place images 
are thus user determined, polysemic and unstable (Ashworth and Graham 2005: 
3) 
Identity, place and ownership of these, are key social concepts throughout my argument. In my argument, 
individuals? sense of space, place and identity in relation to World Heritage has a dialectical relationship 
with their appropriation of World Heritage. While the said dialectic relationship is further explored in 
 43 
section 3.3, this section presents the concepts of place and identity within the context of World Heritage. 
It explores the concepts within the field of Human Geography and then moves to engage with them in 
World Heritage Sites. Why are these concepts important? What do they reflect? How can we read them? 
What are they saying in terms of World Heritage? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Space plays a fundamental role in our identity formation. The access we have to private and to public 
spaces determines and influences our identity construction, as it informs our relationships with others, the 
built and natural environments and ourselves. Sandercock (1997) maintains that one?s access to space, 
determines one?s sense of citizenship. She further argues that the act of feeling ownership towards space 
influences the manner in which we relate to that space, how we look after it, how we use it, how we think 
of it. In this line of thought, I argue that unless the residents of a particular location appropriate the space 
they live in, according to the global/regional understandings of what that space means, how it is to be 
utilised and maintained, then there will be inadequacies of management, which moreover will have 
consequences at identity level. In parallel, the residents have to have access to tools of maintenance, so 
as to perform their tasks as custodians of a place. Let?s unpack these three concepts: place, identity and 
ownership, always in relation to the concept of appropriation. 
* 
Space/Place 
Places should be considered as spaces which are continually experiencing 
processes which occur through time, processes which are not, and never have 
been, static. (Walsh 1992: 150) 
The concepts of space and time have changed radically throughout the last century, and come to easily 
manifest the sociological theory underpinning them. The abstract concepts have been the target of much 
theoretical work and debate. Space as place, time as a continuous progressive thing. Space as distance, 
geographical or emotional, time as random moments in reality. Space has legislative, geographical, 
Figures 15 and 16: My young friends posing for the camera, Stone Town 
 44 
political social, religious, economic, emotional, spiritual spheres. It can be understood through these 
various platforms, acquiring different meanings and being interpreted accordingly. Therefore, space as a 
concept is difficult and complex to pin down. My own definition of space is that it is a subjective, dynamic 
concept that is informed by the societal beliefs and conceptions of those who experience it. Space is 
personal, and it is communal, and therefore its definitions are also personal and communal; it relates to 
one?s relationship with one?s immediate and extended environment, that being emotional, physical or 
rational.  
Currently, the world is divided into nation-states that have constitutional power over their geographical 
territory, as well as over their residents. The legitimacy of a state?s power occurs through different means, 
the most popular being the idea of democracy ? where the citizens of a country have the right to vote for 
their government and their leader. Equally, every country has a different political and governmental 
system, determined by the political and social ideology held by the ruling party, which consequently 
determines international politics and, economic and social policies. That to say that every location is 
different and exists under different and specific laws and regulations, has particular relationships with 
other locations, it is determined by the cultural practices of those who live in it, as well as determining 
these practices according to the historical and current use of the environment. Geographically then, a 
place exists on a map and can easily be identified and pinpointed. Nevertheless, space, differently from 
place, exists between people; its existence is subjective, and individuals and communities are constantly 
engaging in the (re)constitution of it.  
According to Carter et al. (1993, xii) ?place is space to which meaning has been 
ascribed? (Kuipers 2005: 207). 
While space identifies something that can exist in a more abstract realm, place generally relates to an 
existing and recognised physicality. According to Walsh (1992) places can be perceived as localities, 
which are at the same time both acting on, and being acted upon by, other places. ?It is therefore 
important that people realise that their places are important, and can influence institutions, including 
multinational capital. However, for all of this to be appreciated, it is necessary that people come to terms 
with the processes that have affected, and continue to affect, their place? (Walsh 1992: 149). Walsh 
(1992) reminds me of the importance of the various factors and actors that come into play in the 
construction of places, and of  
[?] an appreciation of how places change through time and how each place is 
linked to a multiplicity of other places and influences, and thus situated within 
temporal and spatial contexts which are potentially infinite. Any project 
concerned with reconstructing a sense of place must be prepared to consider the 
definitions of the temporal and spatial contexts which are important to the 
development of different phenomena within places. (Walsh 1992: 153) 
Each person assimilates and understands place differently, giving birth to the infinite notions and 
relationships with space. For the sake of my research, I define space as a subjective interpretation of 
place that has to do with utility, emotion and memory. Harvey (1996) suggests the ways in which social 
conceptions of space and time are constructed in social processes and simultaneously become 
objectified as pervasive ?facts of nature? (1996: 211) that regulate social practices. In addition, it has 
become clear, through the works of Foucault and Lebebvre that ?space more than time hides things from 
 45 
us, that the demystification of spatiality and its veiled instrumentality of power is key to making practical, 
political and theoretical sense of the contemporary era? (Soja 1989: 61 in Walsh 1992: 149). 
In terms of the longevity of a place, it seems logical that one can never visit the same place more than 
once as it is continually developing through time. Locations are continually changing, and one?s perceived 
present is always a form of pastness (Walsh 1992). On the other hand, although places are constant in a 
process of becoming, developing a sense of place is crucial if people are to flourish and enjoy living in a 
world which becomes more and more complex, and subject to the whims of extensive multinational 
companies and corporations over which they have no control (Walsh 1992: 150). 
* 
Identity 
Identity is the manner in which one understands oneself, and how one portrays oneself to others. Our 
sense of identity is informed by our socialisation, personality and by our political, religious, economic and 
social surrounding environment, therefore being a social construct that furthermore is in constant 
reshaping through the relationships that actors establish with each other, creating networks and disposing 
them. In that way, our identity is equally informed by the place in which we live, and the manners in which 
we use the space, how we relate to it, as well as the function it plays in our lives and our memory of our 
lives. 
With regards to the notion of nation-state, our identity is nowadays firmly grounded on ideas of 
citizenship. Nonetheless, to be a citizen of a country, or on a small scale, of a village, does not only mean 
to inhabit a specific geographical place; it also means to have access to public and private space in that 
place, which determines one?s feeling of belonging. One needs to feel ownership of space, in order to feel 
like one totally belongs, and in that manner, one will have a better ability to maintain. 
Acting as one means of representing the past, heritage provides meaning to 
human existence by conveying the ideas of timeless values and unbroken 
lineages that underpin identity (Graham et al. 2000: 41). 
Identity in the context of heritage becomes an interesting concept to look at. Graham et al. conclude that 
the cement binding these three elements (people, heritage and places) together is a process of 
identification in which people identify with places because these places have a unique character or 
perceived identity (2000: 183). In that way, heritage, the means by which people in a present associate 
themselves with people in the past, is a major instrument in the creation of identity (Graham et al. 2000: 
183). 
Graham et al. (2000) further argue that identity is a major motive for the creation of heritage, and that 
therefore it is no surprise that heritage is the principal instrument for shaping distinctive local 
representations of place, which can be exploited for external promotions as well as in strengthening the 
identification of inhabitants with their localities (Graham et al. 2000: 204). It is my understanding, that the 
relationship between heritage and identity is not as linear. In the case of heritage being imposed on a 
community, then the identity of the residents of a World Heritage Site does not necessarily become 
strengthened; in fact, it might be that for years this status does not inform the inhabitants? sense of 
identity in any manner. As Rosa (1995: 88) argues, identity is ?how we make sense of ourselves? and 
 46 
sometimes the meanings given to a place may be so strong that they become a central part of the identity 
of the people experiencing them (in Kuipers 2005: 206), but should the case be that the meaning of World 
Heritage in Mozambique Island is not that strong, then it becomes clear why it would be that the islanders? 
sense of identity is not informed accordingly. 
?Are popular sense of place significantly different from official ones or can the 
latter only ever be an aggregate and expression of the former? The imposition of 
heritage designations alters the character of a building or area, which thus 
becomes monumental and historic with potential consequences for the sense of 
place held by insiders and outsiders. If there is a collective sense of place, then 
where are the place identities of those who ? for whatever reasons ? feel 
themselves to be ignored, alienated and marginalised? (Ashworth and Graham 
2005: 153).  
The questions posed by Ashworth and Graham (2005) are fundamental in trying to perceive the manner 
in which identity is determined by the imposition of heritage. As it can be read in the discussion of the 
findings of this research report, the lack of participation ? marginalisation from decision-making, together 
with low quality of life experience by the islanders, does not make much room for the World Heritage of 
Mozambique Island to be substantially determinant in their identity formation.   
* 
Place Identity & Heritage 
Place identity is a social construct. It is not ?something out there, waiting to be 
discovered?. It is not an objective or natural ?given?, but something that is 
attributed to a place by people. We refer to the process of attributing identity to a 
place as the construction of place identity. The attribution process may take 
time. This means that an identity evolves continually and consists of several 
chronological ?layers?. It is a social construct that embodies elements from the 
past and the present in the desired situation. Place identity is based on the 
characteristics of the place. It is not a random process. Actors attribute an 
identity in order to achieve certain implicitly or explicitly stated goals. The 
chosen identity depends on the goals of the actor in question (Huigen and 
Meijering 2005: 21). 
In their description of place identity Huigen and Meijering (2005) emphasise the subjectivity and 
complexity involved in its construction. For these authors, place identity is, to a large extent, based in the 
past, as its characteristics were perceived in the past; it is also debatable, given that different actors 
attribute a different identity to a place; and place identity is attributed within, and characterised by, a 
particular context (Huigen and Meijering 2005: 22). I should add, that I believe that in the context of World 
Heritage, as stated before, an outside body can attribute place identity. Huigen and Meijering (2005) 
further explain that identity attribution is a continuing process in which new actors establish themselves 
and goals and ideas change, according to how the context within which the actors are located changes. 
The production of place is intrinsic to the conduct and constitutions of social life 
(Gregory 1994); place identities are fluid and dynamic (Massey 1994) although 
this does not imply some form of translation to the argument that the rapid 
speeding up of time and space is dissolving any sense of place identity at all; 
there exists a hybridity of identities in which the representations of places is 
both constituted by, and legitimates, social power relationships (Rose 1994); and 
places are invested with the permanence necessary for them to become loci of 
institutionalised power (Harvey 1996 in Graham et al. 2000: 80). 
 47 
Graham et al?s (2000) summary of how the production of place comes to be and what it entails 
demonstrates that the existence of hybrid identities is a fundamental concept in understanding place in 
relation to identity, and therefore in the context of heritage. The various layers that a place upholds, 
determines and are determined by the different influences that the individuals that visit and live in that 
place bring upon their everyday life. Inevitably, tension and dissonances arises from these differences in 
meaning, value attributed and benefit felt by each individual or a group.  
Ashworth and Graham (2005) point out that tensions about place identities arise between the collective 
and the individual and between the official and the unofficial. These authors insightfully add that the 
?paradox is that most of the attention paid by policy-makers and academic observers to heritage, and 
much cultural expression and performance in general, focuses upon the collective and the official? 
(Ashworth and Graham 2005: 87). Nonetheless,  
an individual?s sense of the past derives most strongly from the mundane 
minutiae of personal and family life experiences, over which official agencies and 
their policies have no direct cognizance or influence. Individual memory, 
therefore, may be more important than any postulated collective memory in 
determining the self-identification of the individual with the group or with a 
sense of place (Ashworth and Graham 2005: 87). 
Another issue that Ashworth and Graham (2005) raise that is relevant to this research report, is that the 
dominance of the past, raises the twin dangers of ?creating an identity based upon social and cultural 
elements that are already obsolete and largely irrelevant to the daily way of life of most locals, while also 
possibly fossilising past or present patterns in a way that will inhibit future change? (2005: 222). 
Ashworth and Larkham (1994: 7) correctly add to this definition that heritage not only ?has a proven track 
record of outstanding success in formulating and reinforcing place-identities?, but also that this is ?in 
support of particular state entities?. This emphasis is important, as ?identities are never unified and, in late 
modern times, increasingly fragmented and fractured; never singular but multiple? (Hall 1996: 3). In other 
words, the selected heritage only shows the identity that ?belongs? to the community that selected it. Van 
der Aa poignantly asks if the heritage of the unrepresented or underrepresented population groups will 
also be selected (2005: 136). 
In a conclusive manner it is worth reiterating that the relationship between heritage, identity and place 
should be seen as intensely heterogeneous and full of nuances and ambiguities. As Graham et al, (2000) 
put it  
?hybridity is all, not least because of the increasingly complicated 
interconnections of a globalising world, itself a product of the modern era, but 
hybridity and complexity are not synonyms for incoherence. Place remains a 
fundamental icon of identity but one individual self identifies with multiple 
layers of place and with other manifestations of identity, not necessarily 
spatially defined (Graham et al. 2000: 90).  
Places consist of multiple layerings of hybrid senses of belonging (Graham et al. 2000), and a dynamic 
sense of place is mirrored in heritage landscapes that carry a multiplicity of meanings and significations, 
and must be interpreted according to the various complexities that are to be found in a place in which 
people inhabit. Heritage mirrors individuals and groups identities, but there is space for exception, for  
 48 
 
?This island used to be full of beauty. It was a beautiful island. It 
smelt so well. It was luxurious; it was a pleasure to be in.? 
Khalifas 
Photographed in the entrance of the Municipal Council 
 
 49 
difference, such as in the case of heritage statuses that are awarded by outside bodies. Graham et al. 
(2000) explain that, 
all heritage is someone?s heritage and inevitably not someone else?s. Heritage 
cannot exist as a universal absolute. Because it is what and where we say it is 
then one person?s heritage is the disinheritance of another. Moreover, this 
designation, and the identity of those who recognise or appropriate it, and those 
who do not or cannot, is in itself subject to the shifting crosscurrents of time. 
Heritage dissonance can be defined as the mismatch between heritage and 
people, in space and time. It is caused by movements or other changes in heritage 
and by migration or other changes in people, translations which 
characteristically involve how heritage is perceived and what value systems are 
filtering those perceptions. The most pervasive source of heritage dissonance lies 
in the fundamental diversity of societies (Graham et al. 2000: 93). 
* 
Ownership of Heritage 
Ownership towards space, as previously mentioned, is directly related to the access one has to it, the 
degree of utility it has in our lives, as well as, the means we have to take care of it (Sandercock 1997). 
The notion of ownership is closely related to that of appropriation ? they both entail the feeling from 
oneself, that something or someone belongs to us; the feeling of possession. The element of possession 
might be physical in consistency, like an object, a house, a plot, a person, an animal; and/or it can be 
emotional, like a relationship, pain, love or friendship. I argue that everything we have ownership towards 
has physical and emotional elements, becoming an actor in itself with which we construct a relationship. 
In that manner, ownership of a house for instance, does not solely relate to the physicality of that space, 
including its walls, ceiling and windows, but also to the emotionality of that space, whether this is in form 
of memories, dreams or hopes.  
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, through a range of studies, discovered that real and imagined barriers 
had both to be overcome if disadvantaged neighbourhoods were to be healed. ?The studies found both 
physical barriers, such as lack of adequate transport, and psychological barriers to reconnecting 
disadvantaged neighbourhoods to the urban areas of which they are part? (Jones 2005: 250). Jones 
(2005) argues that creating a sense of ?ownership? of public and community spaces is a pre-condition of 
successful use, care and maintenance. Worpole (2003) further ascertains that the key stakeholders in a 
secure public realm are the public themselves including children and young people, and their involvement 
at all levels is essential. 
* 
Tourism & Heritage 
Tourism becomes a central activity in the networks of World Heritage. It moves it, and it is moved by it. 
Past is ?continually being restored, and reconstructed, packaged, interpreted and displayed? and where 
?tourists are offered wide range of heritage products? (Robinson et al. 2000: v). It is agreed that heritage 
has increasingly been commodified for touristic consumption where, through further processing and 
packaging, it is now more accessible, popular, entertaining and educational than ever before (Fyall and 
Rakic 2006: 164). 
 50 
It has become apparent that leisure tourism, one of the major trends in tourism this decade, has been a 
move away from the traditional elements of tourism ? scenery, sun, two weeks a year ? towards urban, 
heritage-based short break tourism. This trend has brought tourism in to the forefront of regeneration and 
job-creation projects (Walsh 1992: 117). 
Tourism is an integral part of (post-)modern time-space compression and 
machinations of capital. The ?shrinking? of the world, and the concomitant 
expansion in communication and travel networks, laid the foundations for yet 
another industry, the tourism industry. Tourism was never really confined to 
travel in just one?s country. The Grand Tour was an early form of international 
tourism: ?between 1600 and 1800, treatises on travel shifted from a scholastic 
emphasis on touring as an opportunity for discourse, to travel as eyewitness 
observation (Urry 1990: 4 in Walsh 1992: 118). 
Nowadays, people seek to observe how others live, and how others lived. Heritage sites have become a 
target of the tourism industry, deeply impacting the networks and rhythms of the visited localities. In 
cultural World Heritage Sites, it is often the case that locals themselves are asked to take part in staged 
authenticity for tourists. In some instances, while tourists are granted the privilege of moving around the 
living and working locality in which the real inhabitants perform for them (Featherstone 1992), these 
appropriate staged identities, from which they benefit in other ways. Although tourism always has 
negative impacts on the locality visited, the positive impacts cannot be overlooked. For some cultural 
movements tourism may cease to be seen as a resource, but may be identified as a major element in the 
process which is destroying localism and ethnic identities (Featherstone 1992: 69). 
The positive impacts are especially present when tourism is managed in integrated participatory ways. 
Sustainable tourism permits the engagement of the host community in all aspects of its planning and 
managing. As sites where the managed engagement between the host and the visitor communities is 
strongest, visitor management is also the most successful (Millar 2006: 50). Accordingly, as Fyall and 
Rakic (2006) remind us, even though there are positive impacts from tourism, the people who live in 
World Heritage Sites are not always the ones who benefit (Bandarin, 2005: v in Fyall and Rakic 2006: 
165). 
World Heritage Sites can have a variety of interests to offer to tourists coming from all over the world. The 
unique value of what is on offer becomes the key motive, and therefore, those who benefit from the 
growing tourism industry, work hard to maintain the unique value of their locality. In Mozambique Island, it 
became apparent throughout my fieldwork, as later discussed, that the lack of direct benefits felt by the 
islanders from this industry plus the lack of awareness that the tourists come to see a World Heritage 
Site, does not serve as a motivation to conserve and restore this World Heritage Site.  
Perhaps it is safe, and realist, to say that the relationship between tourism and World Heritage is 
somewhat awkward, when it comes to benefits, identity and how lives and places are altered. McKercher 
et al. (2005) identified the need for a holistic viewpoint to be adopted, and the need to recognise ?realistic 
appreciation of the tourism value of the asset, the need to conserve core cultural values and clearly 
defined roles? (McKencher et al., 2005 in Fyall and Rakic 2006: 162). 
* 
 
 51 
Scale & Heritage: Global Status/Local State 
Scales are constructed, not absolute (Howitt 2003: 124). 
There remains the multiple layerings of place, a highly complex set of processes 
occurring at all sorts of scales (Graham et al. 2000: 83). 
Social relationships are always placed and scaled (Howitt 145). 
 
Locations can be understood through a multitude of scales, according to the viewpoint of the observer 
and that who experiences the reality being studied. While open and dynamic, locations are also complex 
and specific. They are impacted upon by local and global dynamics, be them political, religious, social or 
economic. The acute globalisation of the world, and by that I mean the interconnections, in which we live 
and create our understanding of the world, are constantly being shaped and shaping parallel and 
coinciding worlds. Individuals and locations do not exist on their own; they relate to worlds of sociality, 
physicality and spirituality, through which their actions and understandings are in permanent negotiation 
and reconstruction.  
The different scales serve as a truly invaluable lens through which we can better grasp the dynamism that 
makes up who we are. Let?s look at Mozambique Island as an example. We can decide to understand its 
present form and condition, looking at it as a city in the district of Mozambique Island, as a place where 
many refugees sought peace during the civil war in Mozambique (1977 ? 1991), as an island in 
Mozambique, or in Africa even. In increasing the scale, we can observe different factors; we have 
different viewpoints that lead us to different insights about the present condition of the island now. 
Similarly, when doing research there are countless scales we could use to study it, which in turn inform 
the corresponding methods. In this research project it has been crucial for me to acknowledge 
globalisation, the global, locality and the local. These concepts and perspectives from which to connect 
the world, and understand its networks allowed me to gain insight into the manner in which cultures 
change, how the constant flow of information, ideas and practices constantly influences and determines 
the construction of networks between individuals and places. The idea of appropriation of foreign ideas 
and practices is the central theoretical standpoint for the analysis of the state of World Heritage of 
Mozambique Island from the perspective of the islanders. The place where the global becomes local is in 
the individual choice, when he or she makes the decision to appropriate an idea or a practice that did not 
belong to his or her world previously, and establish it making it his or her own. I am left to ask: have the 
islanders appropriated the globalised and universal concept of world heritage, as well as the practices 
that come with this highly institutionalised status? 
At the local scale of the tourist-historic city, for example (Ashworth and 
Tunbridge 1990), management has to reconcile tourist and resident needs for 
heritage while, at the national scale, the cohesion of the state is usually the chief 
frame of reference, taking precedence over both regional identities and tourism 
needs. Internationally, UNESCO, particularly through the medium of World 
Heritage Sites, pits the ideas of universal heritage values (themselves at times 
the subject of intractable dissonances) against the self-interest of the various 
host states, chiefly concerned with national-scale priorities (Graham et al. 2000: 
97). 
One could argue that the subjectivity that scales are informed by corrupts their value. Differently, I believe 
that it is exactly the subjectivity of one?s own scale and the possibility of scaling others when observing 
 52 
them, which enriches the text about them. And moreover, for the same reasons, limiting one?s 
understanding to strictly global or local scales, in a dichotomy and razor like denomination, can restrict 
one?s creativity of thought and of theory. I do acknowledge that this simplification helps compartmentalise 
reasoning concerning scale and impact. But on the other hand, it hides all the in-betweens and, most of 
all, it avoids complexity. Analysing or filtering information about people or a place through lenses that do 
not see the multitude of layers, voices, actors and networks in constant reinvention is useless.  
Scales are periodically transformed and constructed. We cannot touch scale, or 
take a picture of it. It?s not easily objectified (Howitt 2003: 140). 
Howitt (2003) maintains that there is wide consensus amongst human geographers that the social 
construction of scale affects cultural and political landscapes, which perhaps becomes particularly salient 
when exploring and theorising on globalisation and localism. I agree with Howitt (2003) that discussing 
the politics of scale in the framework of global and local becomes a relatively simple matter, and that like 
all binaries, this one had its limits. Conflating global/economic/general and contrasting it with the 
local/cultural/specific obscures important dimensions that an alternative approach to scale might bring to 
critical geopolitical analysis, and responses built from it (Howitt 2003:139). 
We can thus argue either that the international scale has incorporated and 
annexed the local scale, or conversely, that localities have become global in 
their consumption and have thus appropriated the international scale (Graham 
et al. 2000: 219). 
One implication of the discipline?s increased awareness of the ?politics of scale? is that those trying to 
understand, participate in or influence spatial politics, need to conceptualise and analyse interconnections 
between scales and the simultaneity of those connections. I further argue that a critical geopolitics that 
engages with the scale politics of power, identity and sustainability offers dispossessed, marginalised and 
disadvantaged people a better framework for political action across and between multiple scales. 
Graham et al. (2000) explain that heritage at the local scale is significantly different in content, function 
and thus management, from nation-state or supra-national heritage. This is important when looking at 
management of Mozambique Island, and considering the various stakeholders at play, including 
UNESCO, the National Government, the District Administration, the Municipal Council, amongst others. In 
this regard, I agree with Graham et al. (2000) that scale itself can be a potent source of heritage 
dissonance, given that depending on which perspective you have and are involved from, your interests 
and management style will change and, with all likelihood, greatly differ with those with another 
perspective.  
So why am I going on about scale? Well, Mozambique Island, an island off the coast of Mozambique, a 
country with the majority of its population living below the poverty line, happens to also be, due to its 
historical context and value, a World Heritage Site. These two realities seem to be strikingly different, 
inherently distant, but in this case, they inhabit one same geographical location. This highlights the 
paradox introduced in the first chapter and is used here to shine a light on the discrepancies that the 
population of the Mozambique Island live: on the one hand so poor, on the other hand residents of a 
World Heritage Site. 
Globalisation may instigate or accelerate change in senses of place leading even 
to the much-feared death of locality but, equally, it may be only the substitution 
 53 
of one place-identity for another at a different scale. The ?global village? remains 
local in one sense if not another. Similarly the attempt of national governments 
to support a sense of local identity may of course lead to a standardisation of 
what is conceived and planned to be local that is itself homogeneous. The local 
becomes global in its reproduction of the same ?local? features, while conversely 
? as is often the case with urban conservation planning, the global may itself be 
a universalisation of what was originally local. (Ashworth and Graham 2005: 
222). 
The concept of scale draws my attention to the difference between the global and local, and to how these 
two blend. Management and conservation of World Heritage differs according to scale. And although the 
island has Universal value, its management still needs to be conducted at a local scale. But what if the 
locality has no power/knowledge/interest/capacity to manage it for the sake of humanity? Who is then 
responsible to make it happen? Or furthermore, who is ultimately responsible for it and for the people that 
inhabit who have a direct impact on its state?  
* 
3.4 Conservation and Management of World Heritage: Theory and Methodologies 
World heritage, as defined above, is heritage that has been declared of benefit for the living humanity and 
all the generations to come. In the case of physical and architectural heritage, to this end, conservation 
and management efforts are of crucial importance. This section explores conservation, restoration and 
maintenance activities on the one hand, and management actions on the other, in the context of World 
Heritage, mostly from a theoretical point of view, looking at issues such as lack of resources and 
designation of responsibilities.  
* 
Conservation, Restoration and Maintenance 
Immovable heritage can only be preserved through conservation, but the 
decision as to what to conserve depends on values attached to that heritage. It 
follows, therefore, that every conservation decision is based on values. A 
problem presents itself, however, due to the nature of these values. Cultural 
heritage is valued in a number of ways and driven by different motives, 
principally economic, political, cultural, social, spiritual and aesthetic. Each of 
these values has varied ideal, ethics and epistemologies. As a result, different 
ways of valuing have led to different approaches to preserving heritage (Ndoro 
and Pwiti 2009: 2-3). 
Conservation entails the act of keeping a thing or an activity in its original state, or close to its original 
form. Conserving is an active and pre-empted activity that originates in the will and intention to maintain 
something. Whether it is a piece of furniture, a ritual, a dress or a moral conduct, the conservation of 
these entails a strategy, conscious or unconscious, individual or communal, formal or informal, visible or 
invisible. It is my argument, that we conserve that which we think benefits us in some way, whether this is 
an emotional, spiritual, economic, political or socially perceived benefit; there is an incentive that induces 
the effort of conservation.  
The concept of restoration, also important within the context of conservation, relates to a conscious act 
towards making a practice or a physical object/building be, sound, look or taste as it did previously to the 
decision of or the event that modified it. Contrary to conservation, where one aims to maintain heritage as 
 54 
is, restoration entails change and modification to what was. In the realm of architectural World Heritage, 
restoration signifies putting effort together to modifying buildings and urban structures to the original state 
according to which these were classified World Heritage. Like conservation this is a technical effort that 
necessitates the input and technical knowledge of trained and dedicated individuals.  
Both conservation and restoration efforts have the general objective of maintaining the significance and 
physical integrity, through time and eventual changes, for the benefit of current and future generations. 
Therefore, adequate protection of heritage places, monuments or sites is required, through all sorts of 
actions, whether they focus on the heritage itself and on its values by their statutory mandate, or they 
have an indirect positive impact on it (ICOMOS 2000: 21).  
During the process of rehabilitation, buildings are endangered by the use of inappropriate methods and 
technologies when properly trained professional and other preservation specialists are not available at all 
or in sufficient numbers and preservation know-how is missing (Michael Petzet; ICOMOS 2000: 10). As it 
can be read further in this research report, the rehabilitation of Mozambique Island, in light of it being a 
city in a global world, is presently living through the challenge of maintaining its authenticity, while 
allowing its residents to feel like that are improving their lifestyle ? which in fact is the driving factor in 
decision making around the conservation and restoration of buildings in Mozambique Island. 
Conservation, or historic preservation as it is also called, deals with current 
conditions of heritage places, monuments and sites in order t0 secure their sage 
transmission to future generations, just as we have received them from our 
ancestors. But, the reason we care for those places or material objects is usually 
the intangible meanings and values they carry. Even if this meaning evolves 
over time, the unchanging physical existence of heritage places, monuments 
and sites is important to the sequence of generations (ICOMOS 2000: 21).  
Maintenance signifies the efforts performed to maintain structures that are already in place and in a good 
state to keep up, especially with regards to the physical environment. Through management strategies 
the physical and cultural heritage can be maintained in a state that continues to uphold the value that 
granted it World Heritage status. Maintenance in its original form, as discussed below, is a complex and 
controversial matter. When it comes to individuals? quality of life, it is not always appropriate to maintain 
certain physical structures, as this does not necessarily bring an increasingly perceived or actual 
betterment of their life in its current form.  
Once again, when referring to the conservation, restoration and maintenance of World Heritage, 
responsibility becomes the most contentious issue. In addition, one should bear in mind that the cost of 
maintenance grows in inverted proportion to the decline in the state of the heritage: the worse the 
condition, the more expensive it becomes to maintain. 
* 
Management 
Actions towards maintaining, conserving or restoring heritage need to be managed by International, 
National, Regional or Local bodies in order to ensure sustainability and effectiveness towards the 
attainment of goals carefully designed and implemented by a groups of technically able individuals. The 
management of a project is not an easy task. Its various facets, actors and networks need the attention of 
different individuals, who are dedicated to different parts according to their expertise.  
 55 
Management is the act of creating recognised systems that can be applied in the running of networks with 
the objective of making sure that these networks operate in a coherent, efficient and integrated way, in 
which each component is responsible for particular contributions. The concept of management has 
developed extraordinarily throughout the last century, according to the varying theoretical stances that 
have determined individuals? understandings and constructions of the world. Management of a World 
Heritage site entails the efficient and integrated running of all components that allow it ? the World 
Heritage Site ? to continue to enjoy this status accordingly to the maintenance, conservation and 
restoration of its heritage.  
When we speak about management of World Heritage, the idea of sustainability springs into mind. 
Maintaining a physical environment in a sustainable manner should be an ideal to pursue, but this too 
exists in the complexity of specific contexts, where resources are not always available. Graham et al add 
that preservation and development are the two dominating strategic ideas in managing heritage, and 
sustainable development is an attempt at reconciling them rather than choosing between them (2000: 
153). 
As mentioned in the section above, it is now a criterion of UNESCO that a site has an approved 
Management Plan for it to be awarded with World Heritage Status. A significant example of this newfound 
rigour was the deferral, in 2000, of the famous archaeological site of Bagan (Myanmar) because there 
was no effective management plan in force (Leask 200). 
Heritage specialists always carry the development of Management Plans. In the case of developing 
countries, it is more often than not, the case that those specialists are not from the country where the 
world heritage is located. Consultants are contracted by UNESCO and by National Governments to 
assess the site and to, generally in a team, develop a management plan with short, medium and long 
term goals and implementation strategies. Given the high cost that involves contracting highly specialised 
experts, trips are cut short, the specialists themselves are often busy and rely on their previous 
experience to draw quick conclusions. Their experience in other places, together with a few days of field 
location assessment, becomes the basis for the strategies that are advised on, and which the competent 
bodies should then work towards implementing. The importation of technical expertise to give answers to 
a local issue is not new, and seeing it undermine the development of that locality is not new either. 
It?s been one and half years. I?m flying to Nampula. Unesco contacted me two weeks 
ago. They have a consultant coming in to Mozambique Island to assess its educational 
needs. They asked to please come as an assistant consultant ? to interpret, translate 
and tour guide. This makes me concerned. We?re going today and coming back in 
three days. He?s never been to the Island. He?s only been to Mozambique three times. 
He doesn?t speak any Portuguese, let alone Macua. He doesn?t seem concerned. In 
three days we?ll have met a few people from the community, visited a few sites, 
sweated while walking up and down, and then a report will be written. While in the 
plane I attempt to start informing him about the island. He?s interested, but we?re not 
working yet. The message is clear. This is just a job. 
 
I speak on the basis of experience, knowing that those who have come to Mozambique Island to develop 
a Management Plan are not islanders. A lot of them are not even Africans, let alone Mozambican. And I 
ask how can an outsider become so aware of the complexities of a World Heritage Site, that upon a week 
of fieldwork he/she is able to go home and write a fine and suitable Management Plan? Did he hear all 
the voices concerned? Is he even aware of all the voices that are concerned?, amongst many questions. 
 56 
It is questionable if a world heritage can be successfully maintained, given the 
absence of an effective governing body to assert the management of dissonance. 
The maintenance of national heritages in diverse societies depends on a fine 
balance of management (Graham et al. 2000: 97). 
I argue that the development of this management plan needs to be informed by the general argument of 
my thesis, which establishes very strongly that even though World Heritage Sites all need Management 
Plans, these need to be developed by individuals who are aware of their complexities ? through long 
fieldwork or through actual living experience. Through this research report, I propose that in order for a 
World Heritage Site to be assessed in terms of its needs for efficient management, restoration and 
renovation one needs to understand how the individuals that are the patrons and keepers of the site 
appropriate it as a World Heritage Site. Furthermore, the extent of appropriation can only be understood 
through the assessment and realisation of the complexities of that location, which I further argue to exist 
within a spectrum of visibility/invisibility.  
It needs to be clear, that what I am proposing is indeed challenging and novel, for various reasons to be 
extensively explored throughout the report. I do put people first; but not any individual. I put those who 
actually live in their everydayness in a specific World Heritage Site first. I argue that without 
understanding and taking into consideration their relationship with the physical and cultural environment 
with which they engage everyday, no Management Plan will be efficient enough, as it will not be 
appropriate for the context it is intended to. I further argue that, in order for those relationships to be 
ascertained, the complexities that are present in that society need to be unveiled, accounted for, 
savoured, acknowledged. There is not one Master Plan that fits all locations, just because they are all 
part of one List ? the World Heritage List. And should there be a Master Plan, then that is to go through a 
lengthy process, combining local and foreign expertise to dive into the social fabric and decipher 
relationships, processes, networks, systems. Furthermore, it should be inclusive of educational initiatives 
to raise public responsibility, and awareness of potential benefits.  
Protection can be legal, physical or moral, and includes preventive measures as 
well as maintaining and appropriate use or developing cultural or education 
activities. It relies on community commitment and, as a result, raising public 
awareness and appreciation of the cultural heritage is a condition of success as 
well as a necessary action to ensure active and sustainable conservation of a 
heritage place. Beyond awareness, conservation requires skills and resources, in 
particular financial; otherwise even the effectiveness of protection mechanisms 
will decline. Legislation might define powers to list a place and control its 
transformation by human activities, but it cannot stop natural processes that 
may damage it. For those, a cultural or programme of active maintenance and 
adequate management is required (ICOMOS 2000: 21). 
But I will not give more at this stage. Let the story unfold. The following section looks at issues of identity 
and place in World Heritage. The World Heritage Convention has developed a range of elements that 
serve as indicators of whether the site is being managed in such a way as to ensure that the values that 
are the reason for being inscribed on the World Heritage List are being maintained, e.g. management 
plan and strategies, appropriate regulation and funding regimes, development of management and 
reporting structures; as well as individual indicators relating to the quality of the site, e.g. visitor numbers, 
maintenance of heritage values (Hall 2006: 23). It is not clearly established who is responsible for what, 
which while on the one hand allows for flexibility and specificity according to the world heritage being 
managed, it also does not guide locations like Mozambique Island in forming a coherent and efficient 
structure to manage World Heritage. 
 57 
 
 
?Each person takes care of what belongs to him or her.? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Atomane Ussaine and Iaquibo Ali 
Imams from Macuti Mosques; 
Photographed in front of their respective mosques 
 
 
 58 
4. Theoretical Proposal: 
Visible and Invisible Complexities in the Appropriation of 
World Heritage 
 
This fourth section introduces the reader to my second theoretical stance. Here I argue that any location 
is made of complex flows and connections between actors and networks. These flows have particular 
rhythms of visibility, which vary according to how visible those involved want to be as well as to the eyes 
of the individuals looking at the situation. I argue that World Heritage Sites have complexities that are 
added to by the virtue of their universal status, yet local context. The section concludes with an 
investigation of the visible and invisible complexities of Mozambique Island as a World Heritage Site ? 
which directly determines and explains the degree of appropriation that the islanders feel towards their 
World Heritage.  
 
The managers of this world situation themselves concede the 
concentration of power in their (or their organisations?) hands; as well 
as their manipulation of peoples, boundaries, and cultures to 
appropriate the local for the global, to admit different cultures into the 
realm of capital only to break them down and to remake them in 
accordance with the requirements of production and consumption, and 
even to reconstitute subjectivities across national boundaries to create 
producers and consumers more responsive to the operations of capital. 
(Dirlik 1996: 32) 
I love my home. That?s natural. My whole life is here, I live here, so I?ve got to like it. If I 
don?t like it, I won?t take care of it, and it will end up becoming a ruin.   
     Momade Gulamo Issufo  
(President of the Association of Sunni Muslims) 
 
* 
4.1 Visible and Invisible Complexities   
 
Complexity Theory: 
The Notion of Interconnectivity and Flows 
?Many of us have learned to want to cleave to an order. This is a modernist 
dream. In one way or another, we are attached to the idea that if our lives, our 
organisations, our social theories or our societies, were ?properly ordered? then 
all would be well. And we take it that such ordering is possible, at least some of 
the time. So when we encounter complexity we tend to treat it as a distraction. 
We treat it as a sign of the limits to order. Or we think if it as evidence of failure? 
(Law, 1994: 4-5 in Barnes 2005: 61). 
Complexity Theory explains that the reality we seek to understand and analyse is made of complex webs, 
which determine and are determined in a constant dance/flow of interconnected relationships between 
actors and networks. When analysing social scenarios, their complexity is of utter importance as well as 
the lenses through which that social scenario will be understood. Complexity theory clearly entails that 
?there is more beyond what the naked eye can see?; it says ?look deeper and closer?. Less clearly, in my 
understanding, it also says, there is no final answer, all is temporary, all changes constantly, what is now 
is not what it will be then, no two individuals are the same, subjectivity is what we have to work with,. And 
very importantly for my work on this report and for my work in general, that there are relationships, 
 59 
systems, actors, flows and networks that become more or less visible accordingly to the viewers 
positioning, according to the access to information we are given/give ourselves in particular 
circumstances, in relation to the social scenarios we live in and investigate.  
I believe that my whole schooling in the social sciences has been growing towards this theoretical stance. 
Unless we acknowledge that social and cultural scenarios are complex ?things?, we cannot even begin to 
theorise about them. That is the starting point, which on the other hand, acknowledges human weakness 
as well as the weakness within social sciences as a vehicle to the interpretation of our reality and source 
of solutions for a better world. In my personal view, complexity theory empowers one ? it empowers me. It 
says ?things cannot be explained so linearly, as they are multi-dimensional?. Temporary, spatial, religious, 
personal, communal, flexible, fluid, specific are just some words that describe social situations. It says 
that ?things are multi-dimensional, human beings are multi-dimensional, and actors engage in various 
dimensions at the same time?. And therefore the phenomenon we analyse is multidimensional, and even 
if specific, it exists within a world of interconnected flows, and complex relationships that determine it, and 
that are determined by each other.  
Flows between actors and networks have particular rhythms through which information, ideas and goods 
are shared, robbed, given, thought, constructed, destroyed, imagined, desired, despised. When in the 
field, the ethnographer?s greatest task is to learn to listen and recognise these rhythms, the rhythms that 
give life to people and things, that go from A to B to Z, carrying M with, destroying C, bothering Q, loving 
V and giving rise to K. And that can be valid for a period of time, or for a day. (Why research is indeed so 
limited and its beauty lies in the capturing and acknowledgement of these, about to die rhythms ? we, as 
ethnographers, are historians of the present.) What matters, is that in recognising that rhythm we can see 
that flow, we can see the actors that are connected, we can understand part of the reasons why the 
connection was born and how it is maintained. In an endlessly poetic form? made of visible and invisible 
complexities.  
* 
Visibility 
Two aspects determine the degree of visibility of a given complexity. Firstly, the subjective eyes: each 
individual is able to capture a varying reality of what he/she witnesses or is part of. Individuals? 
perceptions and understanding change according to their interest, their way of engaging with the dead 
and living worlds, their histories and stories, their gender, class, race, and their ethics and values. In this 
manner, different individuals perceive scenarios and their inherent complexities as more or less visible. 
Secondly, the situations are made to be more or less visible by the actors that sustain them, according to 
whom they want the situation to be visible to. Perhaps a good example is arms trafficking. Although the 
world of arms trafficking is so clear, obvious and visible to those involved in it, for most of us, it is made 
invisible, even when the repercussions it has can be felt in the world that is visible to us. 
Flows and networks are not obviously visible. And while the complexity of some situations is easily 
understood and perceived, the complexity of others can only be achieved through investigation (some 
times this posing danger to the investigator). The onion like research I mention in the first chapter refers 
 60 
to the practice of unveiling more and more details about a locality as one?s experience, knowledge and 
insight into it increases.  
It is my view that any given situation is complex, and that that complexity exists in a long spectrum of 
visibility degrees. And that further to recognising complexity it is fundamental that researchers involved in 
the social sciences, are able to engage and differentiate what is visible and what is not obviously visible. 
In writing the less visible complexities, I have chosen to use a dark shade of grey as symbolic of their 
decreased presence and visibility to the naked eye. 
* 
Complexities of World Heritage Sites 
 
If any place is complex by the virtue of being inhabited by people over time, then World Heritage Sites 
have added complexities, as something in it is valuable to the whole humanity. Issues of management are 
difficult to resolve, especially in what concerns sites in developing countries due to the lack of resources, 
technical staff and equal power footing with institutions such as Unesco.  
Another issue is that International financial and project development corporations use internationally 
trained personnel who interact through global networks. This reduces investment risk by reusing ideas 
and programmes that have proved successful elsewhere, and encourages the selection of the same 
design details (Graham et al. 2000: 237), which overlooks complexities of specific places, and in my 
regard, becomes a recipe for failure. 
ICOMOS report of 2000 enumerates the following Global trends as affecting heritage: changing roles of 
the state towards divesting itself of its responsibilities; changing balance between public values and 
private interests; lack of human, financial and professional resources, domination of global economical 
interest; global trend of standardisation of culture, construction industry, practices, etc.; accelerated rate 
and greater scale of destruction; increase of population and poverty; maintenance deficiency; economic 
and social changes; insufficient conservation standards; tourism-related issues (ICOMOS 2000: 21). 
The power dynamics that come into play in the awarding of a universal status to a local place or 
monument are complex in themselves, bringing residues of colonisation forward (or of post-colonisation 
as a form of globalisation). World Heritage is defined by the citizens of the wealthier regions rather than 
by indigenous peoples (Graham et al. 2000: 239), which as my argument will review, contributes to the 
difficulty in appropriating World Heritage by the residents of Mozambique Island. 
The availability of financial resources to maintain and conserve World Heritage as per the regulation 
established is another serious matter. As it can be read below, Graham et al (2000) indicate that 
UNESCO has put in place a number of strategies to assist with the protection of the World Heritage Sites. 
Nevertheless, this is not enough. World Heritage Sites, especially those in developing countries need 
more support from institutions such as Unesco and ICOMOS. 
Thus a widespread conviction exists that the wealth of millennia of human 
artistic productivity is the responsibility of the whole human community and 
should be freely available for the enrichment of all now and in perpetuity; 
equally, all should contribute to its protection and support. UNESCO, for example, 
 61 
has extended its responsibilities to include both the preservation and stimulation 
of many aspects of cultural, including conserved heritage, and also the means 
whereby such heritage is transmitted. Together with it subsidiary organisations 
such as ICOMOS, it has produced ideal codes of practice, issued conventions on 
the protection of cultural property in times of war and disorder and attempted to 
established a body of international law about ownership of cultural properties 
and international trade in them (Graham et al. 2000: 237). 
The World Heritage Convention is equally mandated to produce a List of World Heritage in Danger in 
order to facilitate emergency assistance, administer a World Heritage Fund in part to help needy 
signatory states protect their World Heritage Sites and later to monitor the conversation of designated 
properties. The emergency role has recently been supplemented by World Monuments Watch, an annual 
list of the world?s 100 most endangered cultural and historic sites, selected with respect to their wider 
significance (Graham et al. 2000). 
Contradictions persist in the application of the WHC between state sovereignty 
and international interests, preservations and the increase of tourism and 
broadening the representations of the WHL while maintaining its credibility. 
Nevertheless, the List continues to grow. They could undoubtedly be 
interpreted as an unseemly, even cynical, jockeying for comparative advantage 
in national prestige and tourism revenue, which often involves expedient 
political compromises (Graham et al. 2000: 243). 
Consequently, I agree with Graham et al. that it would seem that globalisation of heritage is to be resisted 
if heritage, and specifically that of the conserved built environment, is to be consciously used as an 
instrument for asserting the unique identities of places. There may be consensus that the locally unique is 
of global stature and possesses a global market, the satisfactions of which confer significant economic 
advantages to the locality. World Heritage complexities are varied where the boundaries established by 
nations, the power of global institutions, the economic benefits of tourism tend to overshadow the local 
needs of World Heritage Site needs, the networks already established, the difficulties in conserving, and 
how these are the individuals who should be made active in the conservation of World Heritage Sites, as 
without them some of these sites would be lifeless. 
* 
4.2 Appropriation and Its Benefits 
Appropriation of an idea, practice or physical object can be done consciously or unconsciously, as an 
individual or as a group. By appropriation, I mean the acquiring of something that previously did not 
belong to one, which changes one?s world experience or perspective, bringing novelty that is perceived to 
be beneficial. I argue that [1] appropriation transforms something that is conceived as foreign, external or 
global, into something that is understood to be local, part of the individual or the group self; [2] 
appropriation happens when something is perceived to be beneficial to the appropriator, and in the same 
way, appropriation does not happen when something is perceived to be unbeneficial to the appropriator; 
[3] the concept of what is to be appropriated as well as the entailed perceived benefits are socially 
constructed, and therefore influenced and determined by the specificity of each individual or group of 
individuals? context, and in light of this, what might be of benefit for me, could be of no benefit for 
someone else. In this manner, the appropriation is a subjective act with internal and external 
consequences, through which we seek social, political, economic or religious benefits.  
 62 
Even though there are activities, which we undertake that do not obviously seem of benefit to the 
individual, I believe that from the individual?s point of view, within his or her context, he or she is choosing 
the best for them (which could merely be to survive). My argument does not extend to believing that all 
human beings are selfish by virtue of being alive. Selfishness is an emotion totally guided by one?s ego, 
while analysing the benefits of appropriating something can both stem from emotional and rational places 
in oneself, on the basis of one?s moral code and ethics. 
In a community, or communal context, every individual has differing objectives and ways in which they 
think they can benefit. There are several categories in which an individual seeks to benefit, amongst 
which are to physically survive, to help his or her dear ones physically survive, to acquire power in a 
communal setting, to acquire financial gain, to rise up spiritually, to enjoy a more luxurious lifestyle, to 
realise a dream, to enjoy a moment. 
The benefits we seek are directly impacted and informed by our education, the values we uphold, which 
in turn are shaped by the context we live in. In a particular group of people, exchanging gifts might be a 
practice that sustains the links between them and makes them feel generous and loving. For another 
person, giving presents might not be benefitting because he or she sees no gain from it. The benefits we 
perceive are both influenced by the communal understandings of social cohesion and conflict, our 
educational background and the values through which we make sense of social and personal interaction.  
While benefits are ultimately subjective, individuals that share a social, political, economic, cultural and 
religious context, tend to share and agree upon them. I will further argue that, if appropriation depends 
upon perceived benefits, then education and participation are the tools that should be used to induce the 
development of an understanding of World Heritage as a platform for a better quality of life.  
* 
Appropriation of World Heritage 
?My favourite building is the house where I live, which I am rehabilitating now. I am doing 
the reconstructing exactly as it should be done, the old way.? 
Luciano Ant?nio Jos? Chane  
General Secretary of OJM 
?World Heritage is a status that any country would like to have attached to a national place. 
The fact that Mozambique Island is a World Heritage Site is an added value. We haven?t seen 
real outcomes from it though.? Flora Maria de Pinto Magalh?es 
 President of the Tourism Association 
 
The concept of World heritage is particularly appropriate for the recognition of 
themes regarded as significant to humanity as a whole (Graham et al. 2000: 
255).  
World Heritage is, as expressed above, a particular type of heritage, as it recognises the value of a place, 
object or culture for the whole humanity, including the generations to come. In establishing World 
Heritage Sites, UNESCO has the responsibility of evaluating the heritage of a thing, and attributing it 
World heritage status according to its value and the existence of a management plan. Although this may 
all sound rather simple, each site has complexities that are unique and specific to it, and which need to be 
taken into consideration, in an effort to recognise its reality and its context. Additionally, just by virtue of 
 63 
being World Heritage Sites, each locality enjoys further complexities that are a product of the complex 
nature of attributing a universal status to a specific locality. 
With regards to ownership, World Heritage Sites are tricky to understand and manage. While they are 
awarded a global status, they exist in a very localised environment, which is regulated by World Heritage 
standards, ideally appropriated by local government. For a World Heritage Site to work well, being 
sustainable and benefitting the people that inhabit it, its historicity and specificity need to be fully 
acknowledged. In light of this, the Management Plan of the World Heritage of a place needs to be 
produced in acknowledgement of the uniqueness and complexity of each location. 
I argue that, to a great extent, the problematic around World Heritage in Mozambique Island lies in the 
lack of clarity around issues of identity, responsibility, knowledge and appropriation. These are complex 
questions that deserve research funding and dedication, in order for policy makers, government officials, 
NGO staff and private individuals to be able to make informed decisions that concern individuals living in 
the island as well as the heritage of the island. In addition, I believe that the theoretical binary of the 
global and the local does not aid in accomplishing a practical or theoretical understanding of a World 
Heritage Site. The idea of scales, and being able to get perspectives on the same issue through various 
contextualising scales, can be used to offer insight into the complexity of the site.  
The rhetoric is global: the practice is national (Ashworth and van der Aa 2006: 
148). 
Choices are made on the basis of knowledge and power. Choices are made by individuals for 
themselves, by individuals for their community, by individuals for others or by individuals for the greater 
majority ? but they are always made by individuals. These choices are determined by what individuals 
perceive to be beneficial to them. When something is not beneficial, depending on the power individuals 
can exercise (that being financial, political, social or religious) decisions are made against.  
The notion that every individual has agency and is an actor within networks is, as explored before, crucial 
for the thesis I propose. Furthermore, the understanding that individuals, organisations and governments 
make choices that do not benefit others around in an equal form needs to be clear. Individuals, 
organisations and governments use their power to appropriate things. Additionally, the constituted 
networks of appropriation are not always visible ? their visibility varies according to the degree to which 
being known, benefits the network and its actors.  
In the context of appropriation, the particularity of anything global is that it becomes local immediately 
once appropriated by individuals and groups in the world. Global fashions, when appropriated locally, are 
reinterpreted and integrated to an existing way of thinking. The global is appropriated when needed or 
wanted, in bits and pieces. I acknowledge the existence of hegemonic global forces that impose 
themselves on the reality of people, such as the IMF structural adjustment programmes, for instance. In 
terms of World Heritage, one can perhaps say that besides the good intentions behind conserving a 
historical past, the attribution of World Heritage Status to physical and cultural locations around the world, 
also imposes a certain identity, entailing a given value and one would assume, a determined and specific 
management plan, towards the conservation of this location to all coming generations of humanity. 
 64 
It is my hypothesis, that the attribution of World Heritage Status to Mozambique Island imposes a set of 
values that are not necessarily understood, seen as needed or wanted by its very population. While 
Mozambique Island happens to be an island off the coast of a very poor African country, it has been 
granted a World Heritage Status. Locally there is an appropriation of global fashions and modernity in 
some ways, however the universal concept of World Heritage is not being appropriated. Following my 
previous line of thought, global ideas and practices are appropriated by local individuals and groups to 
become local hybridities. My question then is whether Mozambique Island?s World Heritage Status has 
been appropriated by its islanders ? reinterpreted, reinvented, and made their own? My research aims to 
answer this broad question, so as to gain insight into why this island is not being conserved. In this way, I 
will dive into the explorations of the complexities that do not allow for this appropriation, through an 
appreciation of the political, economic, social and religious historical and contemporary context of the 
island. The concept of appropriation, when understood in terms of heritage and scale, allows us to better 
understand and view how the global is manifested in the local.  
When applying my understanding of appropriation to the context of World Heritage, one has to start by 
looking at the manner in which World Heritage is a status attributed by a foreign body to a thing or 
practice, for its value to humanity. This entails that until the status is attributed, that locality, building or 
practice is not perceived in those terms by those who engage with it when using it, living in it, observing it 
or practicing it. When, how and why do those individuals start engaging with it as a World Heritage Site? 
And if they don?t, why is that? Does that change the relationship individuals enjoy with/in it, and if so, 
how?  
One would think that the relationship changes, like an obvious consequence. But that is not necessarily 
the case. I argue that the appropriation of such a new status only takes place when the individual or 
community feel that they (can/will) benefit from it. Otherwise, it goes unnoticed, it does not make sense, 
or it just does not need that status in order to continue to have meaning.  
Appropriation of World Heritage, in this manner, becomes the explanatory concept, which answers my 
research question. I suggest that unless one stops to understand how the complexities of a locality 
determine the perceived benefits individuals have of World Heritage status, we will not grasp how and 
why they engage with it the way they do. The perceived and actual benefits directly determine the extent 
to which individuals conserve and maintain their World Heritage.  
Therefore, I argue that studying the appropriation of World Heritage by the individuals that inhabit it, in 
light of their perceived and actual benefits from it being a World Heritage Site, explains the state a World 
Heritage is in. Furthermore, it is the only way to develop a management plan that is efficient, integrated 
and, hopefully, participatory. The following section looks at the dialectic relationship between identity and 
space and appropriation. Identity and space as demonstrated above, are vital concepts in the 
understanding of World Heritage in a locality. 
* 
 
 65 
 
?I stop many times to observe the entrance to the harbour. It makes 
me feel like I?m in another world, or in another period in history, the 
entrance to the harbour, with the anchor and the two canons. This 
building makes me waste a lot of my time.? 
Cristina Lu?s  
Director of Mozambique Island?s High School 
Photographed in front of the entrance of the Capitania 
 
 66 
Identity, Space and Ownership: 
 A Dialectic Relationship with Appropriation 
 
?We are heritage, the buildings are heritage, the seas are heritage. In the case of Mozambique 
Island, everything that surrounds us is heritage ? the buildings, the monuments, the people 
that live in the buildings, the seas.? Flora Maria de Pinto Magalh?es 
 President of the Tourism Association 
 
Identity and space are concepts that have a direct interaction with the idea of World Heritage and its 
appropriation in a social context. Given that these are socially constructed, when a status such as World 
Heritage is introduced to a locality, one assumes that this will have an impact on the identity of the 
islanders, as well as on their the sense of space and ownership of this. 
I propose that space, identity and ownership have a dialectical relationship with the appropriation of World 
Heritage. On the one hand, the degree of appropriation by the islanders is determined and influenced by 
individuals? sense of identity, space and ownership towards the World Heritage. While on the other hand, 
one?s sense of identity, space and ownership towards World Heritage definitely impacts on how 
appropriation is felt and acted upon. In addition, these three concepts shape and are shaped by one?s 
perception of how appropriation could or not be benefitting, accordingly to one?s subjectiveness. 
?Mozambique Island is like paradise for us. That?s the impression that stays, that marks one, 
that never leaves a person. It doesn?t matter how far you are. When I was in Maputo, I 
dreamt of Mozambique Island often. Sometimes I dreamt of being here in this wall, I would 
jump it and then I would run and start flying and I would fly for a long time. This island 
stays in one?s subconscious.? Flora Maria de Pinto Magalh?es 
 President of the Tourism Association 
 
* 
State of Conservation, Maintenance and Management  
As Indicators of Appropriation 
Given that appropriation makes one take care of one?s space with added care and concern, as the space 
reflects one identity and adorns one with added sense belonging, the state of conservation, maintenance 
and management reflects and indicates the degree of appropriation that individuals, institutions and 
government have of a thing, in this case the World Heritage of Mozambique Island.  
The conservation and maintenance of something will only take place if the individuals are utilising it daily 
and when they have power to decide that that thing is worth their efforts. The level and efficacy of 
management of a World Heritage Site totally depends on the interest and financial resources that these 
institutions dedicate to it. On the other hand, even if buildings are renovated, if the population of the island 
does not appropriate this World Heritage as they own and take responsibility for its conservation and 
maintenance, the renovation will soon start decaying and look like it did not take place. 
As it is further in this paper argued, through education and participation (together with other strategies 
that impact the economy and other aspects of a locality), World Heritage Site inhabitants can begin to 
take pride and become an active part of its maintenance and conservation.  
 
 67 
5. Case Study: World Heritage of Mozambique Island 
* 
 
5.1 A Relevant Timeline 
I approach the fort. 3 boys gather around me. They want to be my guide. They 
want to tell me about it all, who constructed it, when, how, where the slaves 
were kept and killed. They argue amongst themselves about who has the 
most knowledge. They are young, between 8 and 12 years old. I ask them to 
choose who will do the guiding. They choose Satamo. Satamo starts his 
speech: First of all, you should know that Mozambique Island is a World 
Heritage Site, and that the Fort of St. Sebastian is the most important. It?s our 
most important heritage. Do you know how many years it took to construct? 
Do you know where the stone they used for it was gathered? No, I didn?t 
know, so he went on to explain in detail with dates; he showed me each 
division, told me stories about the slaves. He told me everything he knew. He 
was especially proud when speaking about the 120 years it took many many 
people to construct this fort where the Portuguese fought and defended their 
colony to be. 
?Mozambique was born from this island. Mozambique Island is the mother of the whole 
country and people don?t value that. They should value this place more than other places.? 
Ibraimo Muss?  
Imam of the Islamic Council Mosque 
?Mozambique Island is World Heritage because it is a museum-like city. It?s an island with 
very old things. It?s a museum island.?    Mussagi Fakir  
         Imam of first mosque of Mozambique 
Mozambique Island is the only World Heritage site in Mozambique. It has been a cultural World Heritage 
Site since 199016. The application for World Heritage Status was developed by the Friends of 
Mozambique Island17, endorsed by the Government of Mozambique and was accepted by UNESCO. The 
island serves as a historical testimony of the various economic, political and social activities endured in 
East Africa by individuals and groups from various parts of the world from the 15th century to the early 20th 
century (Pereira 1992). Its architectural heritage is of great significance, as it can, to an extent, 
demonstrate how life was lived and the influence of varied cultures. The island?s architecture brings 
feelings of nostalgia to those who visit it, as not only are the buildings old, but they are also in a state of 
mismanagement lending them their popular name ?ruins?. 
Historically, Mozambique Island enjoyed a unique position in the Indian Ocean. Once sought after by 
different European powers, this small piece of land off the coast saw battles between the Portuguese, the 
first to build and consider it their own, and the Dutch, who once resigned that they would not conquer it, 
decided to establish themselves in the Cape of Good Hope, currently the city of Cape Town.  
The slave trade was the first trade that Mozambique Island was used for. Slaves came from the whole 
East African coast and the interior of the current Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe to be taken to India, 
the Far East, South America, Europe and Cape Town. The St. Sebastian Fort was built not only to defend 
                                                
16 Appendix 1 ? Unesco?s Declaration granting Mozambique Island World Heritage Status, December 1990 
17 Association of the Friends of Mozambique Island, created in the late eighties by islanders who sought to protect 
the island, as well as its heritage. The association still exists to this day, running diverse socio-economic projects in 
the island, including pre-schools and the community radio. 
Figures 17 and 18: My friends Momadi 
and Satamo photographed in Stone Town 
 68 
the island from those who wanted to possess it, but also to educate, punish and trade the slaves. This fort 
was one the first buildings to be edified in the island, in 1521.  
Throughout the years, its unique geographical position in the route to and from India, and Europe, gained 
an increased status. The ocean bed allowed ships to come close enough to make the refurbishment of 
goods in long trips. Mozambique Island, as a trading spot, became popular, enjoying a period of 
continuous and successful trade. Trade signified the movement of goods, ideas and people. Not only 
were slaves from Africa taken elsewhere, but also individuals from other parts of the world were arriving 
to work in the development of this city, to explore its various economic opportunities and to, put simply, be 
part of the colonial project. 
The Portuguese arrived in Mozambique Island in the beginning of the 16th century. By then, the Arabs 
had already arrived, and were trading slaves and sea product, without the intention of owning the land. 
Arabs, the Portuguese traders and the slaves from the coast inhabited this Island for five centuries, 
producing a unique architectural style that is witness to that specific context and circumstances (Pereira 
1992).  
Close to the turn of the 19th century, Mozambique Island, capital of Mozambique, saw the arrival of 
Islamic spiritual leaders from the Comoros Islands and Zanzibar Island. The result of this was the 
introduction of Sufi practices to Mozambique Island as well as throughout the east coast of Africa, from 
Kenya to the North of Mozambique. Islamic practices became increasingly popular, becoming part of the 
everyday life of the slaves. Not only did these give richness in terms of religious practices, but they 
offered a moral conduct that was strictly followed, in which hierarchies were respected and spiritual 
leaders were protected ? to a certain extent living parallel to the political and economic life of the island.   
Mozambique Island witnessed a unique blend of people, creating new cultural, economic, religious and 
physical productions. Once there, an individual can feel the weight of time, and can have a glimpse into a 
remarkably busy and urban life, gone with history.  
If Shackley (1998 in van de Aa 2005) is right in affirming that the world heritage list is able to show a 
state?s national identity, as the sites nominated by the state parties are designated as ?national flag 
carriers, symbols in some way of national culture and character? (1998: 6 in van der Aa 2005: 133), then 
interesting questions can be asked of Mozambique Island as the only World Heritage Site of the state of 
Mozambique. Due to the complexity of that question in itself I choose not to immerse myself in exploring 
it, rather leaving it for research to be carried out in the future.18  
?Mozambique Island is considered to be a World Heritage Site because, well the story is a 
bit long.. Because it was here in Mozambique Island that the foreign structures crossed 
paths. This is the first strong reason. They crossed paths in the 14th/15th centuries. At 
that stage Mozambiquehood did not exist, it was the era of the ?discoveries?, when 
Europe was discovering [laughs]! Even in the 18th century their research was directed 
towards colonialism. Here in this island there were many fights between foreign people 
? the Arabs and the Portuguese. The arms that are here were used to defend the island. 
Many Mozambicans and foreigners died here. We have three shipwrecks, some of which 
are being explored by the arqueonautas. The arqueonautas are a group of divers that 
are taking things from the shipwrecks due to the war. This is the principal reason ? the 
crossing of countries, of communities that are not even African. That is the strong 
                                                
18 For a brief history of Mozambique Island refer to Appendix 4 
 69 
reason. With regards to the country, this where the whole country started and where 
the whole slavery market took place. People were brought here. The slaves that we not 
bought were shot dead, as well as all the people who did not perform at work. When we 
start telling people what really happened here, the scenario becomes very shocking. 
This place was like a centre, not like a war stage, more like a killing stage.?  
 Alfredo Matata 
District Administrator 
?Heritage is what we receive as inheritance. We have inherited an inheritance ? a product of 
the crossing of cultures here in Mozambique Island, way before the 17th century. This place 
was a great commercial location, centrally for slavery. Later on, between 1630 and 1670, 
these were years in which slavery was strongly felt here, and this was a very profitable 
business in Asia. First the Arabs arrived, then the Portuguese, then others. And that?s why 
you find here the indo-portuguese, the Portuguese from Portugal, the afro-european, each 
with their own culture. So this mixture of cultures, and the way of living, the way of building, 
all of this gave the island a uniqueness, in terms of its buildings, its installations, and only 
here can you find such things, only here can one come relive the history. There are 
monuments that are real witnesses to the past like the museum, the first mosque, the fort. 
All these elements put together, these particularities, these characteristics, gave the right to 
declare this as a World Heritage Site, because it transcends the culture and the local capacity 
of cultural production, and it goes beyond this place.? 
Silv?rio Naoito  
Director of the Museum of Mozambique Island 
* 
Special Status 
?The government just approved the island?s special status ? last year. So that country 
should give Mozambique Island its deserved attention. One of the components is the fact 
that was the first capital of the country. So from our own regard this place should be 
special in itself, but of course when we speak of World Heritage it evokes from attention.?  
   Alfredo Matata  
District Administrator 
Since it became a World Heritage Site, Mozambique Island has not enjoyed much attention by its 
National Government on the grounds of its World Heritage status. It was only in 2006 that the National 
Government recognised the island?s heritage from a constitutional point of view, awarding it a ?special 
status? [Estatuto Especial]. Under this Act, and according to its name, Mozambique Island enjoys a 
special status in relation to other municipalities in the country. The World Heritage Convention previews 
the existence of a managing body in each World Heritage Site, as discussed earlier in this chapter. As the 
whole city of Mozambique Island is considered a World Heritage Site, constitutionally, institutional 
authority needs to be reviewed and made unique for the circumstances of the Island. The award ?Special 
Status? to Mozambique Island supports the creation of an Office for the Management and Monitoring of 
the World Heritage, which works directly under the National Directory for Heritage Conservation in the 
Ministry of Education and Culture. This office was created partly in response to the lack of management 
of the World Heritage of Mozambique Island. 
 
 
 
 
 70 
 
 
 
 
 
* 
5.2 The Visible and Invisible Complexities of Mozambique Island 
All specificities are in their own ways replays or reworkings of the totality of 
social reality. This is what I mean by the idea of ?globalism?s localisms? ? each 
and every local case is readable as ?symbolic response? to the global (Polan 
1996: 259). 
It is my understanding that every location is unique, given its unique place in the world, which sets up 
specific relationships with those who inhabit it as well as the environment that surrounds it. In this way, 
each location is specific, having a unique historicity and a unique present ? which in turn is composed of 
all sorts of different complexities, determined and influenced by the on-going fluid relationship between 
the networks and the actors of a given location. In order to understand a place, one therefore needs to 
explore the relationships that are established between actors and networks ? how these are created, how 
these develop, their meaning, their consequences, their death. In such an investigation one begins to 
have a glimpse into the rhythm of a place, and tapping into the complexities that surround its existence, 
its everydayness, its ever changing and fluid structure.  
Applying this theoretical framework to the case-study of Mozambique Island, it becomes clear that in 
order to enjoy the understanding of the state of management and conservation of the World Heritage of 
the island, one has to start by investigating the various spheres that are a determining part of how the 
island functions and responds to the management of such a status.  
The conservation and management of World Heritage is informed by the current complexities at political, 
social, religious, geographical and economic levels. World Heritage is a status awarded to locations that 
manifest uniqueness on cultural or natural valuables. Mozambique Island was awarded this status on the 
basis of its cultural heritage, determining that the whole island is a world heritage site. In this manner, one 
can preview that managing such a site is not a simple or easy task as it lies upon existing and ever 
changing complexities which are determined by a myriad of local, regional and global factors.  
* 
Geographical Complexities 
 
Mozambique has had an interesting and, in the context of post-colonial Africa, not unusual trajectory 
through the last quarter of the 20th century. Since signing the peace accords in 1992, declaring peace and 
Figures 19, 20, 21 and 22: Photographs of building facades in Stone Town 
 71 
subsequently opting for a generally capitalist mode of open economy, Mozambique has seen a 
continuous GNP growth. This translates into a better health care system, better roads and bridges and 
less illiteracy, although the gap between the very rich and the majority poor continues to deepen. 
Mozambique is plagued by its choices, namely the structural adjustment programmes its government 
agreed and agrees on in order to be the benefactor of large loans throughout the 1990s, until the present 
day. Many factories have been closed as a result of agreements on the exportation of raw goods, such as 
prawns and cashew nuts. In addition, the wars generated a mass migration to the cities, from the rural 
areas, seeing the rise of extreme urban poverty.  
 
The governmental institutions and bureaucratic 
systems became, in the early nineties, cocoons 
of corruption, from the doctor who was corrupted 
to give better treatment to a patient, to an official 
receiving money to make a passport without the 
individual?s identity documents. Corruption 
became part of a way of working, getting things 
done, accomplishing projects; from the police 
officer to high governmental officials, corruption, 
together with nepotism, for a while became 
trademarks of being a Mozambican. 
Presently, Mozambique has an unparallel GNP ? 
although the poverty felt by the majority of its 
population continues to be extreme, exacerbated 
by the several climate-triggered disasters the 
country experiences all year long (drought, 
floods, cyclones and locusts).  
 
 
In a growing private economy, Mozambique is open to foreign investment, indeed serving as a platform of 
investment to its neighbouring countries. Its long coastal line makes the country a desirable tourist 
destination, as well as a naval and commercial destination in Southern Africa. In terms of its national 
politics of development, the Government of Mozambique has often been criticised of centralising its 
efforts in the province of Maputo, the capital, or generally to the Southern part of the country, as 
historically the north was ruled by Renamo during the civil war.  
?But the government also has some responsibilities, but when they receive money, instead 
of dividing, the money goes to Nampula and it never reaches Mozambique Island. The 
money should be divided by the secretaries of neighbourhood ? they would divide correctly 
according to the real need.?                  Abacar Faqui Amuri,  Momade Abdul Amisse,  
                                                                      Ussaine Ossane, Alfane Pilale,  Abudo Swal? Abudo    
                                                                      Municipality Neighbourhood Secretaries 
 
Figure 23: Map of Mozambique 
 72 
?The Ministries of Commerce, Industry and Tourism should channel investors here. But 
they never do. Everyone ends up just going to the capitals, to Maputo.? 
Momade Gulamo Issufo  
President of Association of Sunni Muslims 
?The government does not help the north where there are severe calamities. They only 
look after the south. All is closed to the north of the country.?  
Abacar Faqui Amuri,  Momade Abdul Amisse, 
Ussaine Ossane, Alfane Pilale,  Abudo Swal? Abudo  
Municipality Neighbourhood Secretaries 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mozambique Island is situated in the District of Mozambique Island, which includes the island as well as 
the continental land surrounding it. This is part of the Province of Nampula, localised in the North of the 
country, bordering the Indian Ocean to the east, Zamb?zia Province to the south, Cabo Delgado and 
Niassa both to the North and Malawi to the West. The two biggest commercial cities of Nampula province 
are Nampula and Nacala, both within 200 km of Mozambique Island. It has an area of 81,606 Km2 and a 
population of 3,767,114 (in 2006). Nampula city is the capital of the province. In the beginning of the 19th 
century, under Portuguese rule this province was named Mo?ambique. The name was then used for the 
entire country and the province renamed after its capital city. 
?Mozambique Island is the cradle of Mozambique.? 
Raul Matano Muss? and Amisse Ussaine  
Traditional Chiefs 
 
?For our Mozambique, this island is very historical. They say that Mozambique was born of 
this island. This was the first Mozambican capital, and it?s a very old city. Really really old, 
so they reached this consensus that the island had to belong to the World Heritage of 
Humanity because it?s a very historical place.? 
Luciano Ant?nio Jos? Chane  
General Secretary of OJM 
 
Nampula?s principle economically profitable activities are fishing, cotton farms and export/import activities 
through the recently upgraded port of Nacala.  In political terms, Nampula province has historically been a 
Renamo province, where most of its voters were still Renamo supporters, at the December 2004 
Presidential and Governmental elections.  
Islam arrived in the north of Mozambique in the late 13th century, through Arab entrepreneurs, mostly 
originally from Yemen and Oman. Presently, the majority of the province is Islamic, with a few hundred 
mosques in its territory. In Nampula, Muslims are both local Macua people, who descend from the Swahili 
Figure 24: Map of Nampula Province 
 73 
people, as well as Indian and Pakistani 2nd and 3rd generation emigrants that have established 
themselves in the Province, running the bulk of its commercial activities.  
Sitting down in the square opposite the museum, the Old Governor?s Palace. The sun 
sets in front of me, as I face west. I can see the sea undulating, and dancing to the 
wind?s breeze. Small boats are still crossing to the continent. I think of the story that 
was accounted to me this afternoon. While interviewing the secretaries of the 
neighbourhood of the Municipal Council, we spoke about their love for this island. 
There sitting in their matted floors, with five men, I listened to the story of how 
Mozambique came to be the name of this island, province, and country, in this order.  
?The Arabs arrived before the Portuguese. By the time the Portuguese arrived in their big 
wooden ships there were Arabs living here already, and the first mosque had been built 
already, a Primeira Mesquita, the first mosque built in Mozambique dates to the 13th 
century. So, when they arrived and came in their ship they encountered a person that was 
sailing in a small artisan?s fishing boat. The Portuguese asked him what the name of this 
place was. This was the first time they were here. And the Arab, who thought they were 
asking what his name was, replied Mussa Al Bique. That Arab had settled here, and they 
say he was a Shehe. So that?s how the name Mo?ambique came into being, from the Arab?s 
name Mussa Al Bique, there is much Arab heritage. But in the Mozambican history books 
this is not accounted, this very important part of our history is not taught to the young 
students, and they forget where they come from. In fact they never come to know the 
truth, and what an important one this is.? 
Abacar Faqui Amuri,  Momade Abdul Amisse, Ussaine 
Ossane, Alfane Pilale,  Abudo Swal? Abudo  
Municipality Neighbourhood Secretaries 
  
I sit here going back and forward in this story, as if I?m listening to their voices 
telling it to me. I think of the intangible heritage they possess, and if not nurtured, 
valued and documented, it will die with them. It saddens me. I look at the sea, the sun 
almost setting, and I see a fisherman in his boat, very close to the shore. Mussa Al-
 Bique becomes alive in my memory of the history of this island, and of this country. 
After all, history can easily be rewritten, at least in one?s own memory of it. 
Mozambique Island, off the coast of Nampula Province, is going through some of its worst years of 
poverty. According to the many individuals I engaged with during my research, never was the situation so 
severe and hopeless. Not only does the island suffer on account of the broader socio-economic choices 
of the government of Mozambique, but also its particular circumstances lead to a desperate situation 
experienced by the majority. This section is dedicated to the exploration of the various factors that 
contribute to the current situation lived in Mozambique Island, of which extreme poverty is a consequence 
and a determining factor in its development. The objective is to unveil the various complexities of this 
geographical location, looking at it from various scales and identifying networks and agents that exist in it.  
 74 
 
 
?The whole island belongs to World Heritage. It?s an island made of the 
island itself. I say that because the majority of the houses in Stone Town 
came out of these neighbourhoods [Macuti Town], and that has a very 
strong meaning, really strong.? 
 
?[My favourite building is] the house where I live, which I am 
rehabilitating now. I am doing the reconstructing exactly as it should 
be done, the old way.? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Luciano Ant?nio Jos? Chane 
General Secretary of OJM 
Photographed in front of his house, under renovations 
 
 75 
In grasping the various complexities, one is in a better position to relate to the World Heritage of the 
island as well as the issues of space, ownership and identity that the residents confront currently. 
Chronologically, when looking at the economic life of Mozambique Island, we remember that this was 
once the capital of Mozambique in the early 20th century, then established as the Provincial capital of 
Nampula (mid 20th century), and presently the district capital of Mozambique Island. The island lived 
through periods of incredible prosperity, together with Ibo Island, mostly based on the trade of slaves from 
East Africa. By the mid 20th century, Mozambique Island was a location in economic ascendance; it 
attracted specialised services, as well as individuals from the surrounding villages and towns, coming to 
work in the city as craftsmen. Its small harbour saw hundreds of boats coming and going, bringing goods 
that would then be taken by train from Lumbo to Nampula, and so on. During this period the population of 
Mozambique Island started growing rapidly, as its development was evident. 
?This island used to be full of beauty. It was a beautiful island. It smelt so well. It was 
luxurious; it was a pleasure to be on.? 
Roquia, Habiba, Ahsha, Lima, Fatima, Anshia, Waquim, 
Zaitouna, Amina Mussaji ,  Habiba, Manaueto, Zaina  
Sufi Khalifas 
 
After Independence was declared in 1975 many Portuguese individuals, who ran the businesses and 
services in Mozambique Island, decided to abandon the country and return to Portugal, or migrate 
elsewhere. This was a turning point in the history of the island ? houses and shops were abandoned, 
some entrusted to local individuals, others closed down, and many simply abandoned. 
I can still hear my father recollecting his childhood on this island. I can?t recall the 
details; just how he came alive in sharing them, and how I desired to visit this place. 
Between then and now so much has changed. The harbour of Mozambique Island no 
longer functions. My grandfather was the harbour?s registrar for many years. 
Following the independence from its colonial power, a civil war in Mozambique started in 1977, lasting 
until 1992. The strongly Renamo north, was often attacked by Frelimo militia, seeing some of the worst 
military confrontations during those years. The towns that surround Mozambique Island suffered hard 
attacks, and small-scale confrontations. Thousands of people took refuge on the island, occupying the 
recently abandoned houses in the Stone Town. From a controlled population of around 9,000, the 
population of Mozambique Island rose to 33,000 during and after the civil war. The infrastructures of the 
island were not prepared to cater for the growing population. In addition, the absence of management, the 
lack of resources and general care during the war gave birth to a very debilitating situation, in which the 
island?s architectural world heritage began to be misunderstood, under cared for and generally abused. 
Many houses in stone town were sacked, including the structural wooden sticks that sustain the walls and 
the ceilings.  
During the civil war, most services closed down. Thousands of people became unemployed. The harbour, 
which accounted for much of the economic activity in the island, was later transferred to Nacala, and 
consequently the railway was closed. The growing population of the island, the lack of resources, the 
limited access to the continental land as well as the lack of management led the island to a poor state, 
both socially and economically. 
?The quality of life on Mozambique Island is: POVERTY! It?s poverty because long 
ago there were companies, the railway, we had working boats ? not those 
 76 
wooden ones, but big ones that transported goods ?, there were companies, the 
customs? There were a lot of things here on Mozambique Island where one 
could spend his time earning money with his own sweat. But today none of these 
things exist here anymore. There are only institutions and hotels. I think this in 
future will be a centre of tourism. But this population is not used to this, so there 
is much poverty and misery.? Imo  
Municipality?s Officer for Finances and Public Works 
 
After the peace accords were signed in 1992, the few factories that restarted manufacturing, as a 
consequence of some of the Structural Adjustment Programmes Mozambique signed up for, closed down 
in the following years. These used to employ alot the male population from the island, therefore providing 
salaries. The lack of employment is currently cited as one of the main problems in Mozambique Island. 
Educated young individuals do not have the possibility of being employed in the island, most becoming 
assistant fishermen. 
?Here the whole population lives from the sea. The factory here is the sea, the ocean.?  
Mussagi Fakir  
Imam of first mosque of Mozambique 
?The biggest reality of the island is hunger, and the lack of jobs.?  
Zainal  
Acting president of the Association of the Friends of Mozambique Island 
 
* 
 
Geographically this island is divided into two distinct areas: 
Macuti Town and Stone Town. Macuti occupies more than 50% 
of the physical area of the island. When the island was being 
constructed, a lot of the stone used for the construction of the 
Stone Town houses was dug from this area, provoking its 
currently lower terrain. The Macuti part of the city was inhabited 
by the servants of Stone Town. They were only allowed to cross 
into Stone Town for the purposes of rendering a service19.  
?The whole island belongs to World Heritage. It?s an island made of the island itself. I say 
that because the majority of the houses in Stone Town came out of these neighbourhoods 
[Macuti Town], and that has a very strong meaning, really strong.? 
Luciano Ant?nio Jos? Chane (General 
Secretary of OJM 
?Even a long time ago there were distinct classes: the poor class, and the noble class. The 
more privileged lived here [Stone Town]. On the other side, you would find the people that 
were serving the interests of the people here. That?s why I think it is important to preserve 
everything.?    Silv?rio Naoito  
Director of the Museum of Mozambique Island 
 
 
 
 
                                                
19 I believe that it would be interesting to conduct a research project around the manner in which the division between 
Macuti and Stone town, in terms of its houses, urban planning, economic status and social denomination has affected 
and affects the islanders? relationship with World Heritage. 
Macuti Town 
Stone Town 
Figure 25: Map of Mozambique Island, showing location of 
Macuti Town and Stone Town 
 77 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Macuti gained its name from the material used for the roofs of the houses, which housed the servants of 
those living in Stone Town as well as harbour and factory workers. This material is taken from the large 
plantations of palm trees that used to exist close to the island on the continent. This was incredibly 
efficient during the rainy season, while also making for a cool ambience during the long summer months. 
Currently, the plantations of these palm trees have begun to decrease, impacting the availability of macuti 
in the island. Optimally the macuti roofs have to be changed every year, but due to the lack of availability 
of this dried palm leaf, prices have escalated making it very difficult for the Macuti residents to keep this 
original roof, and have a good quality of life at the same time.  
?Macuti Town is being forgotten. Macuti itself is finishing. People that have some money 
they put other types of roof. Also the people that are selling macuti are cheating; they don?t 
dry it properly so it lasts for about one year and then it starts to rot. So of course people 
prefer to by corrugated iron.?              Ibraimo Muss?  
 Imam of the Islamic Council Mosque 
 
The division between these two neighbourhoods of the island is visually clear and obvious to the naked 
eye. From a certain point onwards, if walking from the S. Sebastian Fort south, one can see the type of 
houses changing, the population density increasing, as well as a sharp difference in the urban planning. 
In addition, social problems such as sanitary inadequacies, crime through robbery, public health crises, 
amongst others, exist in greater proportion in Macuti than in Stone Town. 
After the hospital it is clear that one is in another part of town. Another world even, it 
seems. It is so clearly divided. The macuti houses are smaller, and close together. 
They exist in what feels like small arteries, through which people walk to and from 
their homes, where children play, women cook, men play ntchuva.  
Drainage is a central problem in Macuti. Recently a new drainage system was elaborated and 
constructed in some of the Macuti neighbourhoods. Nevertheless, due to lack of maintenance, some 
errors in design and the weather conditions, the drainage channels are often congested, flooding into the 
sidewalks. The drainage channels are 60 cm wide and 100 cm deep; these are not protected and run 
between the neighbourhoods? informal sand roads. There have been a few drowning cases reported ? 
small children fall into the flooded drainages at night, only to be found dead the following morning. 
?The way people live here. It really is disgraceful. The neighbourhoods are a source of 
mosquitoes, the water pumps don?t work; the population is alive just because. In matter of 
fact that don?t live, they survive.?       Cristina  
 District Director for Education, Youth and Technology 
Figures 26 and 27: Macuti Town Figures 28 and 29: Stone Town 
 78 
 
The malfunctioning of the drainage systems, and the lack of these in other areas, leaves the water to 
accumulate and stagnate in many areas of Macuti, especially since Macuti is a lower ground level in 
relation to Stone Town. Stagnated water is a perfect environment for diseases to thrive that ravish the 
communities in Mozambique Island. Bursts of the cholera epidemic are common during the rainy season 
(from October to March) and malaria, although present throughout the year, also increases during this 
period, accounting for a few hundred deaths a year20. 
Robbery has more recently become a worry amongst residents of Macuti. Although crime is not violent, it 
exists and people fear for their belongings. Houses are not barred and windows are often non-existent. 
On the other hand, given that many residents of Stone Town have ?high-jacked? houses which need 
maintenance in order to be healthy environments, the condition of many of those who have stone and 
lime houses ends up being lower then those in Macuti. Some of the houses do not have sanitary 
conditions, while being inhabited by more then one family.  
?It?s normal that you, in Mozambique Island, find a house where six families live, although 
there is so much land in the continent.? 
Luciano Ant?nio Jos? Chane  
General Secretary of OJM 
In this context, the use of the beach as a toilet has become a normal practice, a culturally accepted 
practice, and perhaps one that originates from the need for hygiene, which back in the days would be 
otherwise impossible to live with given the lack of available sanitary facilities in the Macuti 
neighbourhoods. Currently, the Municipal Council is carrying social projects to target this problem, 
including the supervision of the beaches, community education and the construction of a few public toilets 
and many home toilets. The last effort responds to the fact that using the beach as a toilet is a great 
public health problem, which also has a negative impact on tourism. All interviewees point out the fact 
that using the beach as a toilet was something that needed to change in order for the island to attract 
more tourists, and for health reasons too.  
The management of this problem seems to be complex. The roots of this activity are deeply rooted in 
historical behaviour, as this side of town did not have toilets built for its residents throughout the 
centuries. Individuals were forced to use the beach out of any other cleaner option. Nevertheless, the lack 
of maintenance of the public toilets, the lack of running water, together with deeply embedded historical 
practices, makes this a complex and difficult problem to solve. In the Islamic tradition, cleanliness is an 
important facet of the religion, so using the beach as a toilet could be seen as cleaner then using a toilet 
that has not been cleaned in weeks, and that does not have running water. 
?This is an island. A coral island. And many years back they did not allow for the 
construction of toilets in the house. There were some public toilets, which are still there to 
this day, but they get full, and sometimes explode ? a terrible smell. Today we have toilets 
in the houses, but where does the sewage go? Directly to the beach. We are prohibiting 
people to use the beach as a toilet, but the ?product? goes to the beach in any event. What are 
we really prohibiting ? to show naked bums or that the poo goes to the beach? I love the 
fact that there are toilets now, but we need to change the sewage system. How are we 
bettering them? Why is it worth it? I also used the beach as a toilet ? I enjoyed. It?s very 
beautiful under the sky. Why the domestic worker didn?t clean the toilets or they were wet, 
                                                
20 Exact numbers not available 
 79 
then I preferred using the beach. It?s not like it?s in culture; there are motives that lead 
people to do it. Even the institutions don?t have toilets. Are we fighting this action? No!? 
Zainal  
Acting president of the Association of the Friends of Mozambique Island 
 
?We have a problem here in Mozambique Island, that 95% of the islanders practice the 
Muslim faith, and almost 5% practice other religions, including Catholicism. We?ve got this 
social component that becomes a problem to public health. Here in Mozambique Island 
people do not respect the beach shore, or the use of public toilets. Instead, they prefer go to 
the beach. So we are working against this, getting police force there, but that might not be 
very practical.?    Alfredo Matata  
 District Administrator 
 
In terms of its geographical positioning in the coast of Mozambique, this island was surrounded by large 
quantities of coral, where thousands of fish inhabited. Furthermore, during the 1990s two previous 
citizens of this Island, who had left upon it became independent from Mozambique, came back and stole 
tons of coral within close proximity of the island. This was then exported to places I am not aware of. I 
saw the remains of this stolen coral during my fieldwork in a warehouse near the bank. One of the most 
negative consequences of this has been the disruption of the marine ecosystem that surrounds the 
island. The decrease in the availability of coral, home for the fish that sustain the islanders? livelihoods, 
has had a direct effect on the amount of available fish. Fisherman complain that fish no longer can be 
found near the island, and that now they have to go to the deep sea to find these, which on the other 
hand entails the availability of appropriate boats that can manage the currents and storms of the deep 
sea.  
Another partly visible action that currently takes place in Mozambique Island, is the fishing of sharks from 
which their fin is cut and illegally exported to China. A few Chinese men currently inhabit the Cinema 
premises and manage this business from there. No one talks about it, myths are built, questions are not 
posed, and these individuals continue to run a business that is in no way profitable for Mozambique 
Island or the country at large, except for the pockets of a few invisible individuals. 
* 
Political Complexities 
 
?The political life on Mozambique Island is a little bit confused at the moment. We have an 
administration whose power depends on the state, governed by Frelimo. And we have a 
municipality run by another party, Renamo. We haven?t managed to achieve the ideal ? 
unify everyone in thinking about Mozambique Island, without political parties in mind. The 
feeling of doing the best for the island does not exist yet. But we are better than last year; at 
least now dialogue is possible. But the level of development of the population does not allow 
for these processes to be filtered in a way that people know when they are representing 
their party, or when they are working for the people.? 
Silv?rio Naoito  
Director of the Museum of Mozambique Island 
 
Ashworth and van der Aa (2006) argue that there is a growing and perhaps inevitable mismatch between 
commitment and resources. I would like to add, that in places like Mozambique the mismatch is not as 
linear. Besides an obvious and grand lack of financial and human resources, the commitment is 
unavailable from the National Government, UNESCO or the Local Government or Municipality.  
 80 
?This is an area where there is an elected Municipal president, and the elected president is 
autonomous. And he obeys to the autarchies laws, which say that his powers have limits. 
But then there is the District Administrator who also says ?I?ve got some power?. The 
powers are mixed. Then there is Unesco with its own laws ? they have the power to 
conserve historical monuments. Then there is the Ministry of Culture that has another 
power, over heritage. Things, like laws and powers, need to be separated.?   
Zainal  
(acting president of Association of Friends of Mozambique Island) 
 
As referred to above, Mozambique Island was never the target of the physicality and brutality of the civil 
war. Nevertheless, it suffered its consequences, becoming a refuge for thousands of individuals from the 
continental surrounding region. The Nampula province has historically been a region with a majority of its 
population supporting Renamo. In 2003, during the second Municipal elections of Mozambique, its 
Renamo candidate won the Presidency of the municipality. His name is Gulamo Mamudo21.  
?We won the elections, but they are the bosses. They never thought that a member of 
Renamo could win the elections. They spent months insulting us in the streets, like mad 
people. They had it in their mind that Renamo could never win. Some people said they 
would move to other municipality, they complained to the governor, said they would take 
poison. And believe me, we have been target of many things from ministers, accountants, 
etc. We will be sons; we are stepsons.? 
Gulamo Mamudo  
President of the Municipal Council 
 
?There aren?t many mature people amongst this population. This thing of making politics 
is a new thing in Mozambique. This thing of multiple parties is new.? 
Alfredo Matata  
District Administrator 
 
Mozambique Island has a Municipality, as well as a District Administration. While the Municipality is 
currently presided by a member of the Renamo Party, the District Administration represents the Central 
Government at district level, presently ruled by Frelimo. The presence of both parties in such a small town 
is filled with tension and conflict at various levels due to different factors. Firstly, due to the fact that, 
historically Renamo and Frelimo are strong rivals; secondly, their respective legislative and constitutional 
rights and duties are not always clearly understood or respected; and thirdly, the fact that Mozambique 
Island, being a World Heritage Site, attracts special attention from international bodies, foreign countries 
and national and provincial governments. The political conflict and tensions are visible and palpable at 
different levels in the island. The following paragraphs aim to touch on these in a descriptive manner, 
while the table that follows summarises the various sources of conflict. 
 
?The Ministry of Culture is here, the government is here, the municipal council is here and 
each wants to know what the other is busy with. That?s why there is so much to do in 
Mozambique Island. We?ve already identified all the problems in Mozambique Island. We 
don?t need to talk anymore.?  Zainal  
  Acting president of the Association of the Friends of Mozambique Island 
 
?In Mozambique Island we?ve got the Municipal Council that is presided by RENAMO Uni?o 
Eleitoral. I feel we?ve got no limitations, because according to the law it is very clear what is 
our responsibility and what is the responsibility of the municipal council.? 
Alfredo Matata  
                                                
21 All my interview material is date of January and February 2007. The following municipal elections happened in 
November 2008, for which Gulamo Mamudo and Alfredo Matata were the candidates for the Presidency of the 
Municipality. In early December 2008, it was confirmed that Matata had won the elections21. Hundreds of people went 
to the streets singing Frelimo songs, waiving flags and celebrating, as this district has historically been strong 
Renamo supported.  
 81 
District Administrator 
 
?Thank God that I came psychologically prepared; otherwise I would get a stroke. The 
situation is very difficult. When we have a problem we go to the police or to count and as 
soon as they know we are coming for the municipality they don?t solve the problem.? 
Gulamo Mamudo  
President of the Municipal Council 
 
?Between the Municipal Council and the District Administration there is dialogue when 
there are problems. When we need we go there, and when they need us they come here. 
Now there is no longer physical fighting. The war now is only verbal. We have good 
conversations, we?ve got good harmony, but each one does their own job, and that?s when 
there are problems. Then it comes to the Activities Plan, instead of them brining their plan 
here to the Municipal Council, no, they just want to implement it without let the Municipal 
Council know.?    Imo  
Municipality?s Officer for Finances and Public Works 
 
 
Level Sub-level Conflict between Summary 
National 
level  RENAMO FRELIMO 
Renamo and Frelimo were involved in a civil war for 17 years, fed and 
determined by neighbouring and other foreign states. The peace accords 
were signed in 1992 between Afonso Dlakhama and Joaquim Chissano, 
the party leaders. Frelimo has own every democratic elections since 
1994. Renamo is the strongest opposing party in Parliament.  
Administrative Municipality Administration 
Administration represents the government at the level of the district; the 
Municipal Council manages the municipality. Mozambique Island is the 
capital of its district, and is a municipality. In the last municipal election 
Renamo own.  
The tension exists at project level, relationship with foreign and partner 
governments and at the level of implementation of activities. Civilians, 
governmental officials, service bureaucrats and the police force often 
feel caught between these political forces, not always sure who to 
please, or what to do. Local level 
Neighbourhood 
2006 
Appointed 
secretaries of 
neighbourhood 
1975 
Frelimo 
appointed 
secretaries of 
neighbourhood 
Frelimo elected secretaries of neighbourhood, according to a hierarchical 
system to maintain stability amongst the population. The Secretaries of 
neighbourhood represented the state at community level. Only a few 
years back was it declared that the new municipalities should elect their 
own representatives at neighbourhood level. Mozambique Island 
continues to have its 1975 elected secretaries, loyal to the administration 
and to Frelimo, as well as the recently appointed secretaries, loyal to the 
municipality and to Renamo. 
 
Frelimo institutionalised, after independence, the secret?rios de bairro, which translates to neighbourhood 
secretaries. These individuals represented the government at neighbourhood levels, having the 
responsibility to mobilise the community, liaise between the district government and the population, and 
resolve community conflicts. As the government was, and has since been, lead by Frelimo, these 
secretaries were members of Frelimo, and one way or another still represent Frelimo to this day. Under a 
new legislative act22, each Municipality has the right to appoint new secret?rios de bairro directly elected 
by the population itself. Clearly, in a recently established democracy this becomes a difficult scenario to 
manage, and also perhaps one in which both parties find themselves having the opportunity to continue 
the social/political conflict.  
                                                
22 Name and number not available  
 82 
?We should integrate our efforts to look after this land, because we share 
the love for it, because it is our place, and that of our grandparents and 
great-grandparents.? 
 
 
 
Raul Matano Muss? and Amisse Ussaine  
Traditional Chiefs 
Photographed in front of Amisse?s house  
 
 83 
?This the real story: the secretaries that were here a long time ago, before they were in this 
autarchy, they were secretaries of Frelimo, they were not legitimated by the population. So, 
this municipal council decided we need our own neighbourhood secretaries to work for the 
government, not for the party. The secretaries were chosen by the population, because they 
are the ones that know who works well, and they invited the Municipal Council to legitimate 
their election. They were chosen by the population, we don?t know if they are Frelimo or 
Renamo, we were only called to legitimate. Given that the majority of the population in the 
district is Renamo, therefore? The district government don?t want to go low, they don?t want 
to lose, and they want to have continuity, because those all secretaries worked here long ago, 
when there was no money. Now they want to claim their salaries. They need to find ways of 
making these people happy, so they give them positions.?  
Imo  
Municipality?s Officer for Finances and Public Works 
 
Recently, in late 2006 the Municipality appointed the secret?rios de bairro elected by the different 
neighbourhoods, and in the same process, delegitimized the former secretaries of the administration. As 
a result, there are small conflicts and internal tensions amongst the population of the island. Individuals 
are not sure who to go to, and how to take care of their business; they are not sure who to listen to, take 
advise from or obey. Consequently, at a practical level, currently, if the municipality is aimed to implement 
a certain environmental programme, whoever is Frelimo might choose not to participate or even boycott 
the programme, which in addition slows down any pursuit to develop the island. 
?The municipality gave us the role of being present when there is a funeral, of 
communicating, of supporting the orphans, the old aged, and other social responsibilities.?  
Abacar Faqui Amuri,  Momade Abdul Amisse, 
Ussaine Ossane, Alfane Pilale,  Abudo Swal? Abudo 
Municipality Neighbourhood Secretaries 
 
?The municipality tries but they don?t manage. We follow according to traditional customs 
and rites. We were introduced in all the neighbourhoods as traditional chiefs, but it was 
the government that gave us a flag and the uniform. Then the municipality started getting 
upset and advising the population to not listen to us. We are respected by the community. 
We are respected by the old secretaries that worked with Frelimo. The recently elected 
secretaries trained by the Municipality are the ones that don?t respect them, because they 
were told that they are the bosses, and that they don?t have to respect us. But the 
community still respects us because they are still following the old traditional ways. 
Traditional chiefs don?t have a party, they work solely for the community.?  
Raul Matano Muss? and Amisse Ussaine  
Traditional Chiefs 
 
?Here there are two different currents. Given that the municipality has its own people, that 
think the island belongs to them, then when the neighbourhood secretary says one thing, 
then the other secretary of the municipality says the opposite. So things don?t go very well. 
They either go in their favour, or in no one?s favour. There is conflict like this ? around the 
party. But not many people know about politics. They only know how to say a few random 
words. Politics is not to play with, it?s not for someone who did not study, it?s for someone 
tough who knows how to stir people.?  
Martinho Carola  and Manuel At?pore  
Secretaries of Neighbourhood 
The Municipality and the Administration work independently on many projects. The Administration has 
been accused by the municipality of not consulting them regarding bigger projects brought to the island 
by international organisations and foreign governments. Furthermore, they accuse them of not always 
participating or legitimising the projects that the municipality wants to implement, intent on their failure.  
The impact of the above mentioned conflicts and political tensions on the island is beyond what can be 
seen. The various layers of conflict makes the management of the World Heritage of Mozambique Island 
difficult to administer, take forward, conceptualise and implement. When the two main administrative and 
 84 
managing bodies in the island engage in permanent conflict, the projects that would benefit the island?s 
development will obviously be severely impacted.  
?There is conflict between Renamo and Frelimo ? there is no union. People 
don?t want to work together, they want to make the other party weak.? 
Abacar Faqui Amuri,  Momade Abdul Amisse, Ussaine 
Ossane, Alfane Pilale,  Abudo Swal? Abudo  
Municipality Neighbourhood Secretaries 
 
?The Administration representing the government are simply policeman. They are here to 
control the Municipal Councils. The government instituted this, because the truth is that 
where there is an autarchy there should not be another ruling institution. So, the 
Municipal Council has its officers and their arenas, and those arenas are included in the 
Administration. What happens is that in those institutions, when we want work we need to 
ask authorisation to the district government ? and it should not work like this. Long ago, 
the Municipal Council was the Municipal Council. There was no Governmental 
representation. This is something instituted by the government. Given that Renamo won 
this autarchy, they work with much strength here. They practically work to disallow the 
Municipal Council?s projects. Act 8/97 clearly says that it is the duty of the Municipality, 
but when we say that we want to work on the beach, and lock someone who was using the 
beach as a toilet, we reach the police quarters and the police doesn?t do anything. And even 
the police that work here, they don?t have a programme to look after the beaches. We have 
civil police and the maritime police, who respond to the government, and they should be 
looking after the beaches ? but they go for a walk and sit down. We are sorry for that. We 
need to work together. More so, the maritime police should be present in the beaches so 
that we could end the use of the beaches at a toilet once and for all. There should be police 
by the rubbish bins so that they would control where the rubbish is placed. The district 
government itself should be educated by the school teaches. We are going to carry on our 
projects and create a municipal police.? 
Imo  
Municipality?s Officer for Finances and Public Works 
The established conflict between these two parties, and their respective offices, added to a general lack 
of understanding of how a functioning democracy works, in which all stakeholders are listened to and 
participate in the decision-making regarding their lives is evident. There is a general lack of participation, 
which derives from the governance style at national to regional levels. This impacts directly on the 
manner in which the islanders relate to their social and political surroundings in terms of their seeking 
better livelihoods and being proactive in making their lives? increase in quality.  
?The big problem of Mozambique Island is a non-participative way of working. If there was 
more participation; there would be more control. Instead now there is no basis to point 
fingers.?    Momade Noor Khan  
Imam of Central Mosque 
The lack of involvement of important stakeholders such as the association and business people that are 
also partly responsible for the development of the island is further indicative of the dismissal of any 
parties outside formal politics.  
?If there are associations that want to do something, they are also blocked. Obstacles are 
created. [?] I feel, and my associations feel, that the Municipality has not yet seen how 
important these associations are and can be for the success and development of this 
island. They see us like rivals, like the opposition. [?] It worries and hurts me a lot, that the 
officials from the municipality have never visited the private business people. Just to know 
how we are doing, not for financial support, but moral support. There is only contact when 
it comes to new rules or taxes. They should thank all the private business people, national 
or foreign, for that what they are doing for the island. But they never did, and development 
is not possible without dialogue, when there is not space to express worries or points of 
view.?                                                         Flora Maria de Pinto Magalh?es 
President of the Tourism Association 
 85 
In less visible realms, there are countless flows and their respective networks that exist and have a real 
impact on the life of individuals of the island. Personal projects and gains get in the way of the 
development of the island, from national to local level. The administration of personal goals takes 
precedent over that of community goals. I believe that the added value and attention that Mozambique 
Island receives in relation to other districts in Mozambique due to its World Heritage Status, brings further 
interests from those who govern it, in a country where corruption, lying and obscure manoeuvres have 
become the unfortunate norm.   
I just came back from interviewing Imo. Once the recording device was off he goes on 
to tell me juicy confidences. He tells me he?s not like the others who are here in the 
municipality. He?s got a vision. He?s benefiting from being here ?big time?. He?s not 
wasting his time. Imo goes on to tell me how he has made loads of contacts with 
foreign investors ?that?s what he?s gaining from being in the Municipal Council ? 
networking for his own tourism investments in the mainland. He just bought land to 
make a small landing strip for an airport in Lumbo. He?s planning to open three 
resorts. Not just any time of resort! ?Cause now he knows what type of thing big people 
want, he knows what type of luxury people are after. I walked all the way home 
sweating more than usual. This is real after all. This way of thinking; this entitlement; I 
worry. 
* 
Economic Complexities 
 
Heritage is an economic activity in itself, an industry commodifying past 
structures, associations and cultural productivity and trading these for 
an economic return that can be measured in jobs, profits or incomes? 
(Graham et al. 2000: 157).  
?Do you think Mozambique Island should need donations? I say it doesn?t. What we needed 
was a push at government level. Without tourism, the development of the island will be a 
very arduous and slow process. Now they say they will open the millennium village. I say 
?OK and so what??. You take population from here to there and then ? what about work? 
What is the factory or jobs we have available in Mozambique Island? Where is it? Do we 
have any factory? We could say that the factory we have is fishing ? everyone is linked to 
fishing one way of another. We?ve got 30000 inhabitants ? surviving on what? There is no 
work! How many institutions do we have here? How many construction companies? Let?s 
say that Mozambique Island has 2000 employed individuals, and what about the rest? What 
do those people live off? Where have you seen a country that has developed itself out of 
fishing? Fishing has never developed anything! Here there should be enough production 
to export and make a profit.?             Zainal  
              Acting president of the Association of the Friends of Mozambique Island 
 
Currently, according to all my interviewees, the island is going through a dramatic phase of lack of 
employment, which severely decreases the quality of life that the islanders enjoy. The closed down 
cotton, oil, soap and cashew nut factories have had a great impact on the islanders, as they used to 
employ a great number of male population. As earlier described, the closure of businesses and their 
warehouses, as well as government services also had a negative impact on the economic status of the 
islanders.  
?The quality of life in Mozambique life is not that good. The majority of the population 
depends on fishing. The majority of the women don?t do anything. So when fish doesn?t die 
there are many difficulties. There are only a few fishermen that have a more economically 
stable project. This doesn?t even come to be considered a medium economy ? but people are 
able to survive. It could even seem that people here live well, because they have fish. But 
the truth is that the cost of life here is very high. People don?t have food in their homes. 
And they don?t have some food reserved in the house; they don?t have an organised 
kitchen. People have an old system, because they don?t have such a thing as agriculture. 
They don?t worry about having to organise their kitchen needs ? there isn?t that culture of 
 86 
thinking of tomorrow. If you give 20 kilos of maize to someone here they will think it?s too 
much. There isn?t any management. And this is the way people live here ? it?s highly 
complicated. Once we were training some women about household management, and the 
teachers from the University were teaching that we need to know how many kilos of maize 
we need per month, per year. If you buy every day, bit by bit, you end up spending much 
more. That?s another problem. Here in Mozambique Island, we?ve done an average, people 
spend US$1 a day. People here is the island have one meal a day ? besides that only small 
meals, like tea and some cookies.?    Alfredo Matata  
District Administrator 
 
The economic difficulties faced by the majority of the population of Mozambique Island has a series of 
consequences at social level, impacting on facets of education and public health, amongst others. The 
fact that the island was once the capital of the country, later becoming the capital of the province, and 
currently just being a town and district capital, influences the economic investment that it receives. Its 
coastal resources, including its harbour, previously attracted investment; nowadays, world heritage status 
seems to be the biggest resource that Mozambique Island could possibly benefit from, if this were well 
conserved, restored and managed by the appropriate institutions and the residents of this island. 
Currently, the state of poverty in which most individuals are living Mozambique Island is worrying from a 
human point of view, and has a definitive negative impact on the present state of the World Heritage of 
Mozambique Island. 
?Here we always live in very tight circumstances. We live here because we are used to it now.?
      Mussagi Fakir  
Imam of first mosque of Mozambique 
 ?I think that the level of life here is static ? there is no development whatsoever.?  
Cristina Lu?s 
Director of Mozambique Island?s High School 
 ?We are living just because.?  Iaquibo Ali and Atomane Ussaine 
 Imams from Macuti Mosques 
 
?A majority of our population has a farm, but that farm is the sea.? 
Luciano Ant?nio Jos? Chane  
General Secretary of OJM 
?We are living in very bad conditions here, very isolated. Dawn comes and we don?t have 
anything to eat, and we don?t know what we will get to eat during the day. And life, in a way, 
is about eating.?   Momade Mussaji ,  Atomanhe Amad, Ahamada 
Ahamada, Assane Abudu, Issufu Muaji ,  Momade Shali ,  
Abdula Sale  
Sufi Sheikhs 
 
?We depend on the continent. Here we only have fish. But we lack other products, like 
cassava, rice. All those have to come form elsewhere. And those products have the 
tendency to be expensive. [At the same time] cooked food here is very cheap. You can buy 
a meal for 5MTS. So many people don?t worry, they go to the nocturnal market and eat 
there. It?s normal that a meal you buy for 10MTS to be eaten for a whole family in a house. 
Luciano Ant?nio Jos? Chane  
General Secretary of OJM 
?I am living here, because I don?t have anywhere else to go. It?s difficult to be here., but I 
have to bear with it. I have to stay, I?ve got family here also. The people whose livelihoods 
are based on fishing, and those women that sell beads and little biscuits are ok, but the rest 
just stay like that, with nothing. For money to come in here it means that the boats brought 
fish. Then there are people here that buy fish to go sell in Nampula, in Monapo, to resell. 
But when there is no fish everyone crosses their arms ? without fish one can?t cook.?  
Cariba Abubacar Abdala Mante, Abdul-Remane Sahide 
Sheikh Ame, Jo?o Faquir, Ali Muss?, Abdal Momade  
Cultural Groups 
 87 
?There is not employment in Mozambique Island. The kids go to school, but then 
they don?t have a job, they become fisherman.?  
Cariba Abubacar Abdala Mante, Abdul-Remane Sahide 
Sheikh Ame, Jo?o Faquir, Ali Muss?, Abdal Momade  
Cultural Groups 
 
The existence of such businesses such as the coral and shark fin exportation are examples of economic 
activities in Mozambique Island which are less visible and definitely not part of the formal economy of the 
region, although they do have an impact on decision-making regarding its future, as well an effect on the 
future state of its social, economic and environmental aspects. Prostitution of minors and paedophilia are 
also spoken about by a few, as direct consequences of tourism.  
?Here we don?t have a doctor that operates. We have to go from here to Monapo, from 
Monapo to Nacala, from there to Nampula ? the person arrives dead. We need a doctor that 
can operate on people. For just a small thing they tell us to go to Monapo, they say ?no, that 
one needs to go to Nacala?. In Nacala they say ?we can?t treat that one, he?s got to go to 
Nampula?. He arrives there dead already ? dies along the way.? 
Martinho Carola  and Manuel At?pore  
Secretaries of Neighbourhood 
?It?s normal for a tourist to arrive here and walk around with a gang of children behind his 
back. Those children sustain their families. They live off the money they gather in the 
streets.?    Gulamo Mamudo  
 President of the Municipal Council 
 
The exploration of under water archaeological sites by the Arqueonautas is not a transparent exercise. It 
is said that 50% of all requested by their teams is theirs to sell or merchandise as they please. The other 
50% should belong to the Government of Mozambique. In addition, there is next to no monitoring making 
sure what is brought to the surface is shared between the Government and the Arqueonautas in all 
fairness.  
The group of people responsible for much of this destruction has many of 
the characteristics of a distinct subculture, with its own division of 
labour, oral traditions, folklore, and worldview. It lies outside the sphere 
of the state amateur archaeological organisations. Some members, 
particularly the large collectors, are active participants in the larger 
society. [?] Methods for gaining access to archaeological sites vary, and 
reflect a wide range of attitudes regarding landowners, the concept of 
private property and the justification for digging. [?] There are diggers 
whose primary goal is money. [?] The second group in this subculture is 
dealers who buy and sell artefacts on both the wholesale and retain level. 
(Early 1999: 43) 
Without sufficient protection the criminal scene operating in the 
background of the international art market can develop further. Many 
archaeological sites continue to be plundered by illegal excavations, and 
the illicit traffic of works of art represents a continuous loss of cultural 
goods that from a preservation perspective should be preserved on their 
original site (Michael Petzet; ICOMOS 2000: 10).  
Two things must happen to effectively deal with antiquities trafficking. 
The opportunity to destroy sites must be limited, and the public 
atmosphere that sanctions grave robbing must be changed. (Early 1999: 
46) 
In what concerns the economy of the island, I should also mention the lack of capacity that is evident in 
the management of funds made available to local managing institutions. The allocation of funds does not 
always have the benefit of the population of the island as the goal. This mismanagement of funds should 
be looked at more in-depth, with the aim of creating ways of training and monitoring the spending that  
 88 
 
?We need a doctor that can operate people. For just a small thing they tell 
us to go to Monapo, then they say ?no, that one needs to go to Nacala?. In 
Nacala they say ?we can?t treat that one, he?s got to go to Nampula?. He 
arrives there dead already ? dies along the way.? 
 
 
Martinho Carola and Manuel At?pore  
Secretaries of Neighbourhood; 
Photographed together in Esteu, Macuti Town and in front of their respective favourite buildings, the hospital and the church 
 
 89 
happens at municipal and district levels. Another issue that became evident from some of my interviews 
was the involvement and control of certain businesses by foreign individuals, with the effect of pushing 
local, less rich business people, away from lucrative opportunities. 
?If a foreigner comes to live here, it is to explore, he doesn?t come to teach. The Tanzanians 
came for money. They came to establish transport companies ? and the government is 
permitting it.?   Zainal  
 Acting president of the Association of the Friends of Mozambique Island 
* 
Social Complexities 
 
Mozambique Island is inhabited by an unknown number of individuals. It is estimated that about 30 000 
individuals reside in this island. Throughout the years, the population moves in and out of the island, 
together with the religious practices and beliefs, the level of economic empowerment, the political ruling 
and the state of political affairs in the country, have determined and influenced the social context of the 
island. 
?A free life, without worries. Children here go to the streets on their own, to the beach even 
on their own, and the parents are not worried about accidents, robberies or drowning.? 
Here one grows up with freedom. Flora Maria de Pinto Magalh?es 
 President of the Tourism Association 
 
The island is known to have a laid back ambience. Residents greet each other in the streets, with 
greeting of peace ? Assalam Waleikum, to which others reply Waleikum Salaam; children can be very 
affable towards tourists; throughout the day men sit playing ntchuva; women sit down outside their 
houses chatting with each other, washing clothes, tending to their children, chatting to each other, 
observing the passers-by, praying, and gossiping. The lack of employment means that one sees many 
people on the side of the street, outside their homes, in what sometimes seems to be waiting.  
?There is one more detail:, even when someone is able to get a job, he will have difficulty in 
working with discipline. I wouldn?t say they are lazy, but as a habit it seems they have the 
tendency to run away from work. They don?t take maximum advantage of the 
opportunities that come their way.?  Silv?rio Naoito  
(Director of the Museum of Mozambique Island) 
 
?Not even 4 km. People prefer to sit down from morning to evening ? I respect and like 
women ? but to spend their lives brushing their hair, till 21h/22h they are brushing? And 
if a woman is married, if she works, at the end of month, if she is a teacher or working for 
the government, she?s got to have a new capulana (cloth). Every month she?s got to have a 
new one. If she doesn?t have a new one for three month in a row, that?s a strong motive to 
ask for a divorce.?   Alfredo Matata  
(District?s Administrator) 
 
I am greeted by my neighbours as I exit the building where I am staying in the early 
morning. They are outside their houses. One fixes her daughter?s hair, the other 
washes clothes aided by her elder daughter, another breastfeeds her small child. 
Later in the day, at 15h I arrive back to rest. It?s been a long day of walking and 
interviewing. Mr. Issufo walks me back. We have a small discussion regarding what 
we did, and tomorrow?s day. As he leaves, I notice my neighbours are sitting down on 
a straw mat, all chatting, all sitting elegantly with their legs stretched out fatly on the 
ground. 
 
 
 90 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
They are talking about the children they have left behind, almost as though they 
speak of a past live. They all have children that presently don?t live with them ? some 
are with their mothers, others with sisters or aunties. It seems to be normal practice, 
and I am the only one looking puzzled. I take a picture of them, as the camera was 
still around my neck from a previous interview. They smile shyly and complain they 
are not beautified enough. I smile back and put the camera down. Then one of them, 
a voluptuous and beautiful woman in her early 30s, confesses to an old dream of 
being a model, ever since she saw a modelling contest on TV in the late nineties. I 
ended up taking more than 100 snap shots of her, including her sitting, and walking, 
as though the streets of this island were a catwalk. I went up to rest, after a while, and 
my neighbours remained there, talking, until the sunset.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mozambique Island is known for a specific type of ?dance? called tufo. This was initially associated with 
religious praise, perhaps manifesting the long tradition of dancing in rites of passage and other 
ceremonies in a profoundly Islamic environment. In this light, tofu was practice by women, of a certain 
age, who publicly praised the prophet Muhammad, and his companions. The dance was performed in a 
group, where women, sitting down would sway at the sound of their chanting. The only instruments 
accompanying the singing were drums, both played by men and/or women. The swaying would entail the 
movement of the shoulders back and forth, in a rather elegant, gentle and slow rhythm. The women 
alternated from sitting on their knees to standing on their knees. Their dress code was composed of a 
long sleeved top, a long wrap skirt and a headscarf ? all elements matching.  
This morning I heard that the governor of Nampula Province is arriving later in the 
day. My neighbour mentioned that there would be Tofu dancing in commemoration. 
The whole day I tried to investigate where this would take place. Someone said it 
would be on the Nautical Club, around the corner from my place. After sunset I could 
start hear people moving towards there, I covered myself in mosquito repellent, 
organised my camera and lenses and left my house accompanied by a few 
neighbouring children. When we arrived the governor?s wife was making a small 
thank you speech. And, after a few minutes, the tufo groups started dancing, one by 
one, in colours, patterns and sounds, taking me high into another rhythm of the 
night. 
?We dance when the government comes, like the president, or a minister, we 
receive something, and we perform until the day they leave.? 
Cariba Abubacar Abdala Mante, Abdul-Remane Sahide 
Sheikh Ame, Jo?o Faquir, Ali Muss?, Abdal Momade  
Cultural Groups  
Figures 30 and 31: My neighbours and their children 
Figures 32, 33, 34 and 35: One of my neighbours modelling for the camera 
 91 
Nowadays, tufo dancing has somewhat changed in varied ways, including the rhythm, the purpose, the 
dancing choreography, the clothes, and its social and religious meanings. After independence, the new 
government of Frelimo prohibited religious practices, given its atheist status. Tufo chanting and singing 
was modified to praise the government and its officials instead. Currently, the various tufo dance groups 
in Mozambique Island perform on demand, mostly to welcome high profile politicians, both Frelimo and 
Renamo. They are paid to perform, so that the costs of buying new cloths for the entire group can be 
covered, as women do not like to perform too many times with the same cloths (capulanas). All tufo 
groups function under an organised social group, with a hierarchy, most often presided by a man. Each 
group has a rehearsal location, where women gather once to twice a week to practice, finances are 
discussed, new memberships deliberated and choreographies rehearsed. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In terms of its rhythm and choreography, tufo dancing continues to be based on singing and drumming, 
but now also includes standing and jumping. The rhythm has become faster, resembling the traditional 
music of the south, marrabenta. In light of the above described, the social and religious meaning the tufo 
(is it tufo or tofu?) dancing holds presently in the island, has changed since before independence. Tufo 
dancing has come to represent the principal cultural practice of Mozambique Island, on a national scale. 
Locally, it does not hold a coherent religious meaning; its piety has been replaced with nationalism, even 
being open to new rhythms and ways of moving the body. 
?I have noticed that in the Macuti neighbourhood the Macuti roofed houses are 
disappearing. A lot of people do another type of construction, and that is not going to help 
identifying the island with before. Another thing that is disappearing are the utensils that 
are also part of the island?s heritage. Even tufo is disappearing, because the tufo of before is 
not life the tufo of now. Now it seems more like marrabenta [dance from the south of 
Mozambique, with a quicker rhythm]. Before the songs were slow and Islamic. Now they 
dance it like modern music. Everything is becoming modern. Those tufo groups are 
disappearing.?    Cristina Lu?s  
 Director of Mozambique Island?s High School 
 ?I think firstly it?s important to rehabilitate the ruins. There are ruins in Mozambique 
Island where four or five families live. Each family with children. Promiscuity starts there 
? when one is making love, the other is listening. Everything is shared. Some of the rooms 
are divided by hanging cloth. Many times children watch their parents making love.? 
Silv?rio Naoito  
Director of the Museum of Mozambique Island 
 
Given the religious presence in the island, and due to a well preserved and managed set of hierarchical 
social classes, the island enjoyed the understanding that good social values were practiced and shared. 
During the colonial period the houses in Stone Town and Macuti Town were taken care of according to a 
pre-established schedule, which gave a sense of care and rhythm to the public life regarding the 
Figures 36, 37 and 38: Cultural group performing tufo for the governor of Nampula 
 92 
conservation of public and private propriety. Social values were kept through this social and religious 
hierarchy. Nevertheless, in more recent years, elders have started complaining about the lack of social 
values that the youth manifest socially and in their relationships with their parents and elders in general. 
The lack of respect to the environment is also mentioned as a problem. Individuals mention that the youth 
and the children are growing up too loose and without proper education from their parents, being able to 
do as they please. 
In addition, looking from a national perspective, the introduction of a compulsory educational curriculum, 
which all citizens are obliged to take part in, opened a new way of being, which in fact is not as regulated 
by social and religious values as the madrasas were and continue to be. The introduction of TV (including 
DVD players) has added a new layer of reality, acting as a catalyst to modernity in the island. Hip-hop 
music and style of dressing is nowadays not foreign to much of the youth. Clothes are bought in the 
second hand markets, and some of youth are careful to imitate their favourite music stars, using big 
sneakers and rapper hats. In addition, the introduction of Wahabism (more on this sect of Islam below) 
also brought open conflict into the religious realm, challenging many of the practices and the beliefs that 
for my generations sustained the social life of the residents of Mozambique Island.  
?A while back, people here in the island didn?t want to study. If we look at numbers of 
students and their origin, there are only a few that are from here. The majority comes from 
Nampula, and stay in the residency. Only at junior school level is the culture of studying 
starting. They used to say that studying doesn?t give happiness to anyone.?  
Cristina Lu?s 
Director of Mozambique Island?s High School 
 
I am sitting down near my house. Kids play around me as the sun sets and the 
mosquitoes invade the air. Abacar walks by with a girl, he greets me with a big smile. 
His baggy basketball t-shirt hangs close to his knees, meeting his very baggy 
basketball shorts which hang under his calve muscles, and some massive white, very 
white trainers, unlaced, on his feet. ?Waleikum salaam? I tell him in reply. He quickly 
indicates his just walking his cousin home, and will be at the mosque for ?ishah 
prayer soon inshAllah? I smile, while the kids stroke and braid my hair. 
Sex work is talked about, although taboo. It is not something that the islanders were used to from before. 
They speak about it with low voices, as if talking about a secret. Others simply do not know about its 
existence. It is believed that tourism has accelerated the growth of the market, and not only are some 
tourists engaged in illicit activities such as sex with teenagers, but that small boys are also being victims 
of paedophilic networks. None of this has yet been proven, but some people spoke of it with absolute 
certainty, in informal conversations. The worry is that such occurrences in spaces of severe poverty are 
more allowed by the families involved as they have a trade off that could benefit a whole family. My other 
worry is that I do not think that either the administration or municipality are prepared or keen to tackle 
such problematic situations. These tend to involve high power individuals who, in places like 
Mozambique, tend to have their needs heard, and their actions guarded, in exchange for some money, a 
ruin, a plot, a child?s education, a motorbike. 
?There are 12 year-old children prostituting themselves. There is a girl name Maria Puta 
(Mary Whore), without breasts, just 10 years old. The school director tried to see who her 
parents were, to learn about the kid?s problems, but she had no success. There is a group of 
them! They want bread. They prostitute themselves fro 50 MTS or 20 MTS. Do you think this 
is normal? I don?t think it is correct. It irritates me to see it. I?ve got daughter the same age. 
Where is the code, the education? There isn?t. But I speak about Mozambique Island as I 
 93 
could speak about Maputo.  It?s a life of survival There is no law in Mozambique against sex 
or sex workers ? there isn?t one.?  Zainal  
 Acting president of the Association of the Friends of Mozambique Island 
 
 
* 
 
Religious Complexities 
 
Presently, Mozambique Island is a very religious city, with the majority its population adhering to Islamic 
practices and beliefs. In its small area, the island houses five mosques, eight zawias, four churches and 
one Hindu temple. Throughout history, this island became increasingly known and proud of the religious 
tolerance in which its residents live. Notwithstanding, when looking closely one identifies complexities that 
are constantly changing ? being shaped and shaping the social tissue of this island in positive and 
challenging ways. The following paragraphs explore the main events regarding the religious life of 
Mozambique Island, followed by an identification and exploration of the religious complexities that the 
island currently lives with. 
Prior to the arrival of the first Arabs on Mozambique Island and the surrounding area, in the 13th century, it 
is believed its inhabitants practiced pagan religions, where the world of the living and that of the dead 
intercepted greatly and where one gave meaning to the other. The first Arabs to arrive had business 
intentions, not making efforts to colonise or appropriate the land. With time, their religious practices and 
beliefs became accepted by the Swahili/Macua population, who largely became Muslim.  
By the time the Portuguese sailors arrived in the late 15th century, most of the continental population was 
Muslim, and remain until today. It seems that the construction of churches and nunneries did not attract or 
change the adherence to Islam. In the contrary, when, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, 
prominent Islamic leaders ? sheikhs ? arrived in Mozambique Island from the Comoros, Zanzibar and 
Yemen, introducing a new facet of Islam, one which concentrates on Sufi practices and beliefs, the 
adherence and spirit of Islam grew to previously unseen dimensions. Sufi Brotherhoods or Orders23 were 
formed, attracting large numbers of women and men from both the island and its continental 
surroundings. These new practices included large festivities for the commemoration of Eid24, and the 
Prophet?s birthday. Various orders were created in the island associated with different sheikhs (for e.g. 
the Cadaria Sadate, the Chadulia, amongst others). The orders consist of social groups that meet weekly 
to perform dhikr25 (remembrance of Allah) through chatting and body swaying. They follow a specific 
Shehe, who is considered to be the spiritual leader of its followers. These Sufi orders were very strong 
social groups until the late eighties, when the political and religious spheres changed significantly as a 
result of international and national influences.  
 
 
                                                
23 Brotherhood, or tariqa (in Arabic),  
24 Eid means celebration in Arabic, and is commonly used for the two main celebrations in the Islamic calendar. 
25 Dhikr means remembrance in Arabic and is used to refer to the gathering of people on a specific day with the 
intention of remembering Allah, through poetry reading, chatting and swaying of the body. Furthermore, it is linking to 
Sufi (exoteric) practices of Islam, in which the brotherhood meets and makes dhikr. Both women and men participate 
and it is usually led by a sheikh and/or a khalifa. 
 94 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In the early nineties, a new stream of Islam came to the Island called wahabism26, founded by ? ibn Abd-
 al-Wahhab. This new stream, originating from Saudi-Arabia is openly different and sometimes against the 
existing Sufi27 practices and tendencies Muslims in the island held dear until its arrival. Upon arrival, the 
representatives of wahabism set up a mosque next to the central mosque of the island, starting a conflict 
that exists until today. Wahabism is against the brotherhoods, the performance of dhikr, the visits to the 
graveyards, and any other cultural practices appropriated from their Swahili heritage. In addition, 
wahabism privileges the men against the women, which Sufism does not, always having a sheikh28 and a 
Khalifa29 for every tariqa.  
Eid day is established through the sight of the new moon. It is meant to be as close to 
nature as possible, guided through the moon cycle. Khalid and I have recently 
arrived on the island, being somewhat unaware of the divergences between the two 
mosques, and what they represented. As Eid approaches we are told by different 
people when it will be. We find it strange as normally one same location shares the 
commemoration, given that the sight of the moon should be the same. As we want to 
be at the Morning Prayer, and we are unsure which faction to follow, we end up 
going on the 31st of December to one mosque and on the first day of the year to the 
other. I am worried about the leaders of the mosques linking me to one of the Islamic 
practices, as they are both to become by interviewees and informants. Throughout 
our stay it becomes clearer to me that it is ok for me to choose what Islam I practice 
and believe in. 
With time, since the early nineties, wahabism started attracting more and more men, and the tariqa 
practices started decreasing in popularity, except for those practiced by women. This internal politics are 
very real, and individuals often talk about the pre and post- wahabi phases of the island, with deep 
                                                
26 Wahabism is a conservative form of Sunni Islam that follows the teaching of Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhad, an 
18th century scholar from what is today known as Saudi Arabia, who advocated a return to the practices of the first 
three generations of Islamic History. 
27 Sufism refers to the facet of Islam that turns inwards to the spirit; each student of Sufism (murid) needs a sheikh 
who guides him or her through the struggle to fight the ego (nuffs). Followers of Sufism seek to closer personal 
relationship with God through special spiritual disciplines. 
28 Sheikh refers to the male individual that guides students through their inner journey to conquer their ego; sheikhs 
receive permission to teach and guide through their own sheikhs in a given brotherhood. 
29 Khalifa in Mozambique Island is the woman who leads the female part of the tariqa or brotherhood; like the sheikh, 
she has students who she guides, she leads the dhikr and it the spiritual leader for her group 
Figures 39, 49, 41 and 42: 
First mosque of Mozambique, 
A Mesquita da Ru?na 
 95 
longing for the strongly tight social systems that the brotherhoods developed and sustained. Interestingly, 
the men are now drawn to wahabism, while the women are the ones maintaining the Sufi practices in the 
island and the continental surroundings. They have maintained their zawias30, taking care of them, using 
them as a communal prayer facility, as well as performing dhikr twice every week ? once for rehearsal 
and another time as the practice itself. 
?We did have rivalry. But now we are almost OK. The only thing that has been left, is Eid. 
We always have it on different days. This is quite difficult because a while ago we used to 
observe the moon from here and from Mussoril or Monapo [in the mainland]. There is 
communication. Now there is no communication. They follow Mecca. Because they have 
their own brotherhood, their own community. While we still wait for the moon, or for 
information from our headquarters in Maputo or Nampula.? 
Abdul Rahim Ali Momade  
Director of Madrasa Babu Salaam 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
?There have been many problems between the community and ourselves; we have had 
divergences. There were problems, and there will always be problems. Our doctrine is 
different, and some people accept that and others don?t. In Mozambique we follow Mecca 
and that presents difficulties. Each party has its reasoning.? 
Ibraimo Muss?  
Imam of the Islamic Council Mosque 
 
?The Wahabi are cutting us, they don?t respect us. When we want to read the Koran when 
someone dies, they say it?s prohibited. When we have a ceremony and cook rice, they say 
it?s illicit. They don?t us to have maulide, and that dhikir is prohibited; in the month of 
Ramadan they want to introduce their own calendar, they don?t follow the lunar month. 
When we say Eid is tomorrow, they commemorate it today.?  
Momade Mussaji ,  Atomanhe Amad, Ahamada 
Ahamada, Assane Abudu, Issufu Muaji ,  
Momade Shali ,  Abdula Sale  
Sufi Sheikhs  
 
                                                
30 Zawyia refers to the house where the brotherhood meets to practice dhikr. Each brotherhood has their own zawyia 
in Mozambique Island, some brotherhoods having one for males and another for females. 
Figures 42, 43, 44, 45, and 46: Central mosque (green) and the wahabi mosque (red) next to it. 
 96 
Regarding the other religions practices in Mozambique Island, Catholicism continues to have a somewhat 
steady following. It is estimated that 4% of the population is Catholic. The island has one priest that gives 
mass everyday and on Sunday mornings. While the priests were previously Italian and Portuguese, 
currently there is a Mozambican priest. The Hindu Temple occupies a large area of the island, close to 
the central market; one Hindu family that remains on the island for the sole purpose of maintaining this 
temple. 
My young friends tell me stories of the Hindu temple. While we have an afternoon 
fanta anan?s, they speak amongst themselves and with me, suggesting how brave 
they have been in the past, and how they ventured into the Hindu temple. ?But my 
mom doesn?t know, uhhh if she knew?isshhhee?. I ask why she would be upset and 
he explains that the Hindu temple has spirits living in it, in the trees, and quickly 
adds, that the trees also have delicious fruits. They speak with gestures and loud 
voices, from standing to sitting, they swear on Allah they are telling true stories 
about how they went in and saw a snake, and how they sneaked in and saw ghosts. 
I?m rather curious myself. 
Although from a first view there seemed to be strict rules of engagement in religious practices, I observed 
and spoke with a few individuals who are not really Muslim or Christian, and yet are allowed to practice 
both, and to create their own path. In-depth research on the religious lives of the men and women of this 
island would be an invaluable project that I recommend be taken forward immediately. Oral histories, 
biographical narratives, the intersection between different religious practices, between Islamic 
understanding, and Macua rites of passages are important resources that tell of the unique manner 
individuals from this island have construct and continue to construct their worlds. 
 ?When I came to the island I inserted myself in an Islamic group, in the Islamic culture. I 
even go to the mosque, but I am Catholic. But because I did not want to feel like an outsider, 
I didn?t want to feel out of place. Because people could look at me like, ?oh look there goes 
the director, she doesn?t know how to speak Macua, she wears shoes, wears pants?, but I 
didn?t want that. I wanted them to look at me like a woman. Like a person who has come 
from the local culture from here and I have managed that.? 
Cristina Lu?s  
Director of Mozambique Island?s High School 
 
The continuous rivalry between the two Islamic groups above-mentioned continues to have more and less 
visible manifestations. New social forms, which are not yet visible, are being formed; where brotherhoods 
were previously the basis for the formation of social and religious networks, their absence will certainly 
give way to new networks. 
* 
World Heritage Complexities of Mozambique Island 
 
World Heritage Site inscription can be the impetus for cooperation and 
collaboration among key stakeholders, but also the complexities and 
animosities can lead to atrophy and inaction (Millar 2006: 44). 
The complexity of heritage lies in the fact that it links the past, the present and the future together in such 
a clear and practical manner. It evokes everything that people want to save now from the past, so that it 
carries on existing in the future, from material culture to nature.  In addition, identities are made of public 
and private heritages (Howard 2003: 1), the city we live, the monuments we relate to, the special earrings 
 97 
we inherited from a grandmother, the language we speak, certain cultural rituals we perform, amongst 
others.  
In Mozambique Island, there are added complexities, in comparison with other Mozambican districts, due 
to the fact it is a World Heritage Site. This section aims to explore the complexities regarding the 
management and conservation of Mozambique Island, by firstly looking at the way the World Heritage of 
the island is conserved and managed at a practical level, and secondly, by focusing on the complexities 
described in the above sections that mostly impact the state of the World Heritage of Mozambique Island. 
As described in the Political Complexities, Mozambique Island does not have a clear power hierarchy, or 
a strong body to filter decision-making regarding the restoration, maintenance or conservation of the 
ruins, houses, public spaces such as parks, schools and other physical heritage. GACIM was created in 
2007, instituted by the National Ministry of Education and Culture. This office aims to give technical 
advise to the Municipal Council on the conservation and restoration of the World Heritage of Mozambique 
Island. The advisory responsibilities do not include the implementation of rules and regulations, which is 
the duty of the Municipal Council according to the current national legislation31. GACIM meets fortnightly; 
its technical committee consists of the director of the Museum, the technical staff of GACIM, the architect 
that represents UNESCO on the island, a representative of the Municipal Council, a representative of the 
District Administration and another representative of the Association of the Friends of Mozambique 
Island.  
?The World Heritage of Mozambique Island is managed by the Ministry of Education and 
Culture. Within that Ministry there is the Division of Culture which is full-time dedicated to 
heritage.?    Alfredo Matata  
 District Administrator 
 
Although GACIM gives technical advice, and the Municipal Council has legislative power to act upon 
GACIM?s advice regarding the conservation and restoration activities that private and public bodies wish 
to take forward in the island, the power of 30 000 individuals seems to me to be bigger then that of the 
Municipal Council and their decision-making, especially in a place where the duties, rights and 
responsibilities of the managing institutions is not functional.  
?I seem to think that GACIM will have a monitoring role, so that all reconstructions are done 
according to the World Heritage principles, so that the original context of each building is 
kept, and to guarantee that buildings are rehabilitated in the old fashion, so that the visual 
aspect of the island is not changed, because this is what awarded the island its status. This 
World Heritage Site has its own style and we need to preserve it. I think that GACIM is 
responsible for that, perhaps also to determine which buildings should be prioritised. The 
people that should do this should be technicians, engineers, architects. And only UNESCO 
can be responsible for that, because locally we do not have that capacity.?  
Silv?rio Naoito  
Director of the Museum of Mozambique Island 
 
?There are certain things that are not being followed, because of that thing called 
modernity or globalisation, I don?t know. But that depends on ourselves, of course, the 
islanders. We used to see the majority of the houses here in Macuti, with Macuti roofs, but 
today other materials are used. Stone town is better controlled then Macuti Town, because 
of a certain aesthetic that needs to be maintained.? 
Luciano Ant?nio Jos? Chane  
General Secretary of OJM 
 
                                                
31 For extract on relevant acts from the City Council Code, refer to Appendix 5 
 98 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ?Before they were using lime and clay, stone, and today they are using cement. Why? Let?s 
see where there is lime? Where there is stone? Where can we get that stone and that lime? 
Who is that builder who knows how to make a house like before. It?s very difficult.? 
Abdul Rahim Ali Momade  
Director of Madrasa Babu Salaam 
  
?We need a municipal law that when someone gets a plot he or she is obliged to start 
building within a short amount of time, otherwise risking the loss of ownership. Because 
the truth is that a lot of these ruins belong to people well placed in the social and political 
hierarchy of Maputo.?   Silv?rio Naoito  
 Director of the Museum of Mozambique Island 
 
?Another component is that Mozambique Island is World Heritage, proposed by UNESCO 
and accepted by the national government. There are rules that are not district?s rules, but 
that are universal. And those are not dynamic ? they are conceptualised from afar. I agree 
with the existence of those rules, but they have to be flexible. You cannot referee a game 
that you are not watching! And I think that the central government has realised this 
already, but because they are in Maputo, and we are the only ones here, we are the ones 
feeling it. If we say that the architecture of these houses has to obey to their old sense of 
architecture, I agree, but it is true that that architecture will be respected in all these 
houses? Why don?t we maintain that old architecture in the historical buildings? What is 
going happen in 10 or 20 years with this new youth? That old architecture entails that 
even to reconstruct you have to use lime, and not cement.  To put it water over a period of 
six months, so that the lime can become gluey. Our youth will not be able to carry that type 
of construction in Mozambique Island. Where are we going like this? This needs an 
intervention from UNESCO ? this needs money, this kind of rehabilitation is not cheap. It is 
not practical in terms of costs, and what?s going to happen is that some of the houses are 
going to start falling.?    Alfredo Matata  
District Administrator 
 
On Mozambique Island, physical heritage can be divided into the following types of ownership: [1] houses 
bought by foreigners who are restoring them to use as profitable and non-profitable ventures; [2] houses 
bought by foreigners waiting to be restored, currently inhabited by local individuals, without appropriate 
housing conditions such as working toilets or running water; [3] houses owned by local individuals who 
have been able to restore them and are maintaining them; [4] houses owned by local individuals who 
cannot restore them and who await a good offer to sell to Mozambican nationals or foreigners, [5] houses 
that belong to the city council, most of which are not restored or maintained, [6] buildings that are public 
property that are being restored through the funding of foreign organisations and countries, [7] buildings 
that are public property that have been restored but are not being adequately maintained, [8] buildings 
that are public property that have not been restored, and [9] buildings and houses that have collapsed 
Figures 47 and 48: Two semidetached houses, where one has been restored 
and other remains as a ?ruin? 
 99 
and are not restorable or liveable. I believe that within the management plan, it is key to make an 
assessments of how many buildings fall into what categories, and where these are located on the island.  
?Every ruin is someone?s property. You won?t find a ruin without an owner. But it should 
be that either the owner chooses to rehabilitate or he?ll have to abandon and give 
opportunity to someone else. This place is full of ruins, but they are all occupied, but they 
don?t do anything of them, so why not give the opportunity to someone who has the 
resources to do so? I don?t know.? Momade Gulamo Issufo  
 President of Association of Sunni Muslims 
 ?I complained about Cam?es house ? we asked the government ?please don?t sell that 
house?. The restaurant Escondidinho was the place where slaves were traded. ?Don?t sell 
those buildings; they are important buildings for us?. No one moves an inch. I wrote a letter 
? there is a foreigner here buying houses, changing them. Today I see the law and I start 
laughing: will they implement that law?? 
Zainal  
Acting president of the Association of the Friends of Mozambique Island 
 
?They have been rehabilitating. But when the building is old, it?s difficult to recuperate 
until it gets young again. That?s what I think. No one can fix me to look like you do now 
[speaking to me]. But something can be done.? 
Martinho Carola  and Manuel At?pore  
Secretaries of Neighbourhood 
?There are people here that have the capacity of fixing the facades of their houses and just 
don?t do it. Because ultimately there is no pressure.? 
Flora Maria de Pinto Magalh?es 
President of the Tourism Association 
 
In all of this, the intangible heritage of Mozambique Island is barely recognised, mostly forgotten, not 
mentioned by UNESCO or the local authorities. The individuals that inhabit this island, those who live in a 
state of poverty, but who at the end of day, hold the history of this island in their memory and its future in 
their actions, are not protected or taken care of. Oral history projects are not heard of, the artisans are 
dying with their art; modern ways come to substitute the old ones without archiving them. In addition, 
religious and cultural practices are not being studied in their depth and greater contribution to our society. 
?There are those very old people ? for example, my father in law. In those times, many 
people that came to the island would come to him, to ask questions ? so we can say that he 
was also heritage ? like a museum? Luciano Ant?nio Jos? Chane  
   General Secretary of OJM 
 
?Sometimes I think of telling UNESCO, ?You are looking at buildings, but inside those 
buildings there are people?. So we have to start looking at the human fabric at the same 
time.?    Flora Maria de Pinto Magalh?es 
 President of the Tourism Association 
 
The following factors were the main determinants for the current state of conservation and management 
of the World Heritage of Mozambique Island. Firstly, within the political climate described above, the lack 
of clear political hierarchy regarding the management of world heritage counts as the most important 
factor which should be in place so that those working on this field could clearly understand their 
responsibilities, rights, roles and place in the decision-making and implementation hierarchy. Due to the 
lack of communication between central government, district administration, UNESCO and Municipal 
Council, it is unclear which body is responsible for managing the world heritage of Mozambique Island.  
?Here there is no Unesco, there is no heritage, because there is nothing UNESCO has done 
to demonstrate that they are here. What did Unesco do? They only came here two or three 
years ago.?    Zainal  
Acting president of the Association of the Friends of Mozambique Island 
 
 100 
 
Duties, Responsibilities and Activities 
 
District and Municipal Level World Heritage Level Not Complied with, and why 
District 
Administration 
Responsible for the provision of 
services such as agricultural and 
industrial growth, district health and 
education, 
Responsibilities were not clear at the 
time of fieldwork. There was no heritage 
office. The District Administration does 
not have any legislative or punitive 
power. 
 
Municipal 
Council 
Responsible towards the Municipality 
for the provision of public services: 
water, electricity, health, education 
and public words (e.g. roads).  
Responsible for the approval or rejection 
of project proposals for 
renovation/restoration of the immobile 
tangible heritage of Mozambique Island, 
based on GACIM?s recommendation and 
technical advise.  In a nutshell, the 
Municipal Council is the only body in 
position to control the compliance with 
the World Heritage and Municipality 
Regulations on the physical heritage of 
Mozambique Island.  
Responsibility to close down 
constructing sites when not complying 
with imposed and existing regulations.  
The process of reception of project 
proposals, receiving the recommendation 
and technical advise from GACIM, making a 
decision, and acting upon it, is not efficient. 
This takes longer then it should, due to the 
lack of professional and equipped staff, and 
a whole implementing and punitive system 
that supports the renovation/restoration 
regulations. In terms of the responsibilities 
towards the municipality itself, health and 
education, are amongst development areas 
that used to be under the District 
Administration?s jurisdiction. Therefore, there 
is a fair amount of learning, adjusting, 
internal fighting over control, inefficiency, 
mismanagement of funds, lack of technical 
staff, lack of financial resources. 
While in Mozambique Island, I saw a few 
houses being renovated/restored which, in 
the naked eye, did not seem to comply with 
the basic regulation of World Heritage Sites, 
which says that the fa?ade of houses cannot 
be changed. Furthermore, in Macuti town, 
the number of houses whose roof has been 
changed from macuti to corrugated iron, is 
countless, it being a clear demonstration that 
regulations are not being adhered to, nor are 
they being implemented by the Municipal 
Council. 
GACIM 
Does not have any responsibilities 
towards the district. Given its close 
relationship with the Municipal Council, 
its main responsibility is in giving 
technically sound advise about the 
renovation/restoration of the immobile 
tangible heritage of Mozambique 
Island. In this way, although GACIM?s 
relationship with the Municipal Council 
concerns World Heritage exclusively, 
by giving advise on its reconstruction, 
this body is indirectly linked to the 
development of the municipality of the 
island. 
Responsible for the assessment of each 
and every project proposal for the 
renovation of immobile tangible heritage 
within the Municipality of Mozambique 
Island. The project proposals are 
handed-in to the Municipal Council, who 
seeks GACIM?s technical advise. Gacim 
comments on whether the 
renovation/restoration project complies 
with the World Heritage Regulations, as 
well as the Municipal Council specific 
regulations. It then advises the Municipal 
Council to approve or reject the 
proposal. 
It is my opinion that GACIM does not have 
enough technical staff giving thorough 
advise, recommendations and comments on 
the project proposals for the 
renovation/restoration of public and private 
infrastructures in the island. Their team lacks 
in experience with World Heritage sites. The 
fact that they do not have punitive or 
implementing power, does restrict their 
potential success in controlling the 
construction that goes in Mozambique 
Island, in both the Macuti and the Stone 
neighbourhoods. 
UNESCO 
Does not have any responsibilities 
towards the development of the district 
of Mozambique Island, or the 
Municipality, except if it is an activity 
that would have an impact on the 
management of the World Heritage of 
Mozambique in which case they could 
work on securing funding from partner 
countries and international bodies. 
Responsible for liaising with partner 
countries and international bodies, with 
the intention of raising funds for the 
renovation/restoration of the world 
heritage of Mozambique Island.  
It is difficult to judge whether UNESCO is 
sticking to their responsibilities regarding the 
World Heritage of Mozambique Island. Fund 
raising is not a simple, straight-forward task. 
Throughout the years, staff working for 
UNESCO has mistakenly made promises to 
residents of Mozambique Island. This has 
brought upon this UN agency a low public 
image in the island. 
Civil Society 
 Does not have any formal responsibility. 
As members of the public, every citizen 
should have the duty of caring for the 
physical environment in which they 
inhabit.  
Citizens of Mozambique Island do not take 
care of World Heritage. Restoration and 
renovation is being taken forward by a 
majority of foreign individuals as well as 
Mozambicans from Maputo. The islanders 
lack in a sense of ownership towards the 
physical environment in which they inhabit. 
The lack of education and the economic 
poverty experienced by them, together with 
poor governance, low institutional capacity, 
lack of technical expertise, and an overall 
very low appropriation of the concept and 
status of Mozambique Island as a World 
Heritage Site. 
 
 101 
?At this moment in time, I cannot understand well what are the responsibilities of the 
National Direction of Culture. We are under them. But their financial responsibility 
towards us is not felt yet because after all they don?t have resources either. At this stage 
the role of the Direction of Culture is limited to writing funding proposals for the museum.? 
Silv?rio Naoito  
Director of the Museum of Mozambique Island 
 
?In terms of World Heritage status, here in the field it?s only symbolic. If they gave that 
status then they should invest. If this were somewhere else it wouldn?t be in the present 
conditions.?    Momade Noor Khan  
 Imam of Central Mosque 
 
?The problem is that UNESCO is here only in name. They are not based here, present [?] 
here to be able to control the people. To be able to maintain the Heritage. There is a need for 
education, otherwise people grow without learning anything, without knowing that these 
houses are heritage, so that they are maintained.?  
Imo  
Municipality?s Officer for Finances and Public Works 
The existence of GACIM is invaluable for the future World Heritage of Mozambique Island. Nonetheless, 
on its own it cannot provide a strong and complete foundation for the management of this heritage. 
Unless the management plan is implemented and each institutional body knows their duties and 
responsibilities and there is capacity-building for the implementation of these, I foresee difficulties and 
continuous political conflicts, the lack of clarity where each institution stands makes for lack of efficiency 
and implementation.  
Secondly, within the political sphere, the existing political conflicts and tension between the 
Administration and the Municipal Council do not help the situation. Fighting over power of decision-
 making and the lack of clarity in who does what, brings any sort of effort backwards. In addition, when this 
conflict is looked at neighbourhood level, the activities that are taken forward by members of one body 
towards the implementation of the municipal guidelines are often disregarded by members of other 
bodies, simply as a manner of maintaining the political difference, as a way of boycotting. 
?The Ministry of Culture is here, the government is here, the municipal council is here and 
each wants to know what the other is busy with. That?s why there is so much to do in 
Mozambique Island. We?ve already identified all the problems in Mozambique Island. We 
don?t need to talk anymore.? Didn?t you use this quote already? Zainal  
Acting president of the Association of the Friends of Mozambique Island 
 
?I think that the administration and the municipality should be working with the population, and 
with the fisherman, and the tourism officials, with the merchants, and that does not happen yet. 
There should be specific meetings to discuss development in these areas.?  
Flora Maria de Pinto Magalh?es 
President of the Tourism Association 
 
?The municipality and the administration should work in parallel with each other, as they determine the 
destiny of the island. There is always rivalry between the two.? 
Momade Gulamo Issufo  
President of Association of Sunni Muslims 
?I think that the Municipality in coordination with the District Administration should be 
responsible for the rehabilitation of the island. First because the municipality has its own 
responsibilities at city level. They should collaborate with the state and attribute tasks 
?From here we do, until there you do?.? 
Cristina Lu?s  
Director of Mozambique Island?s High School 
 
There [is another reason that explains] why heritage intended to 
enhance local identity, can in reality, lead to its diminutions: tendency 
 102 
towards a standardisation of professional practice. Such 
standardisation may even have an international dimension as ?best 
practice? examples are propagated and skills and ideas diffused through 
intergovernmental and professional bodies such as UNESCO, ICOMOS 
(International Council on Monuments and Sites) and the Council of 
Europe; urban development project are increasingly executed and 
financed by globally active companies, which tend to minimise risk by 
repeating exemplars already successful elsewhere [?]. (Graham et al. 
2000: 218). 
Thirdly, the lack of technical staff with authority to make decisions and implement guidelines is 
another factor that indicates the failure of managing this world heritage site. According to a UNESCO 
official of culture, working directly with Mozambique Island, UNESCO?s role is that of ?liaising with 
member states and fund raising for existing projects? (Of?lia 2008). Nonetheless, perhaps because of a 
post-war culture of dependency32, and given the promises that accompanied several UNESCO?s trips to 
Mozambique Island, varied interviewees complained that UNESCO is not following through with their 
responsibilities, with their promises, and that they have abandoned the island after giving it its status. 
During the nineties, UNESCO carried out an assessment exercise, identifying 50 priority projects. The 
UNESCO contracted technicians, including engineers and architects, left the island with promises that 
these would receive immediate attention by UNESCO. To this day, only one project has been completed 
? the old Municipal Council part of the partnership between Mozambique Island and Bergen33, in Norway, 
and another one is underway ? the Fort of S. Sebastian.  
?The changes we managed because the island is World Heritage have not yet been 
implemented. [?] There was a project here that identified 50 projects, presented by 
UNESCO ? none of which was rehabilitated. The first will be the fort.?    
Flora Maria de Pinto Magalh?es 
President of the Tourism Association 
?We have a lack of staff with capacity to perform. That?s a huge limitation ? a team that is 
properly constituted, that can work efficiently, with dynamism.?  
Silv?rio Naoito  
Director of the Museum of Mozambique Island 
 
?I had written many letters to the Direction of Heritage; two letters that I wrote 
complaining, or maybe, should I say demanding a right, and I had no response. I become 
more upset. I think that is all a big theatre piece.? 
Zainal  
Acting president of the Association of the Friends of Mozambique Island 
 
                                                
32 Towards the end of the 80s, as the resources that sustained the civil war between FRELIMO and RENAMO started 
to dry out, and after Samora had been assassinated, Mozambique started to drift towards the support of international 
bodies such as the IMF and the World Bank, for financial assistance. This shift, from a communist political idealism, 
pressured the country into neoliberalism while putting it into severe debt. During the 90s, Structural Adjustment 
Programmes were put into place, changing the industrial and agricultural landscape of Mozambique. In addition, in a 
period called Reconstruction and Peace, Mozambique was flooded by UN agencies and other international NGOs 
which injected the economy with money at different levels, from the national, to community. In this manner, it is my 
opinion that currently, Mozambique suffers from a culture of post-war dependency, by which expression I mean that 
the relationship that Mozambique has developed with aid agencies, at all levels, becoming one of dependency, which 
at the local level transpires into a culture in which Mozambicans expect foreigner to give them things, from money, to 
food, clothes, amongst others. 
33 The city of Bergen and the city of Mozambique Island had a development partnership based on their status as 
World Heritage cities. During its duration, this partnership saw many positive and constructive projects as a result, 
including photographic exhibitions and the renovation of the former Municipal Council building, currently owned by the 
Municipal Council and rent out as a conference rooms as well as the offices of GACIM. 
 
 103 
 
?We already had the 50 projects ? done by UNESCO ? published in a book, and until today 
none of them was renovated, not even the rehabilitation of one door, nothing was 
maintained, nothing was done.? Imo  
Municipality?s Officer for Finances and Public Works 
 
 
?UNESCO does not value this place enough. It?s like they have a son 
to call by the name. But they don?t clothe, or feed him. He grows like 
a goat. Roaming. Nothing is ever done here.? 
Gulamo Mamudo  
President of the Municipal Council 
Photographed at the entrance of the Municipal Council of Mozambique Island 
 104 
 
The state can reduce its role to one of being no more that a protector of 
the public interest through measures to limit or mitigate the negative 
external effects of private restoration investment (Graham et al. 2000: 
138). 
The restoration of the Fort has taken a prolonged time. Since the money was secured from the 
Governments of Japan and Portugal, many obstacles, including the lack of technical expertise, paused 
the project not allowing it to start within the previewed schedule. Once an architect representing UNESCO 
was found, a construction company was identified, as well as the main architect and person responsible 
for the restoration. Currently, the first phase of the project is almost finished. The head Architect Jos? 
Forjaz34, has been working together with a field architect responsible for the site, as well as UNESCO?s 
architect. Architect Francisco oversees the project and liaises with the donor bodies in terms of report 
writing and follow-up for the up-coming second and third phases of the projects. 
?From what I know, in the concrete example of the Fort, the government of Japan gave an 
amount and the Portuguese government also did ? 1,5 million dollars. From our point of 
view, as national government, UNESCO was responsible to assist with the management of 
tenders, the identification of team to start working, and for the management of the 
construction site. They would employ whoever they wanted to supervise the site. This 
should have been clear. In parallel, we must to a management plan for the island.?  
Silv?rio Naoito  
Director of the Museum of Mozambique Island 
 
?We criticise UNESCO because they have a meeting but never come again. They promise to 
come with new projects to implement, but nothing until today. They promise to start the 
roads in January, and the 5 billion dollars that has been received ? where is that money?? 
Abacar Faqui Amuri,  Momade Abdul Amisse, 
Ussaine Ossane, Alfane Pilale,  Abudo Swal? Abudo  
Municipality Neighbourhood Secretaries 
 
?I sometimes hear that they are going to start working on the roads. I?ve been hearing that 
for three years.?   Mussagi Fakir  
Imam of first mosque of Mozambique 
 
?We need to recognise that we can go forward, from the conferences to actual concrete 
actions. Even the international organisation, if they really want to do something, then they 
have to dive into more concrete happenings. A lot of the time we could go ahead without 
the need to have as many meetings, because those meetings entail costs, and the truth is 
that a lot of the time that money is not even Mozambique?s money, but if that money could 
at least be applied to health, social action, that?s money that could be well applied.?  
Alfredo Matata  
District Administrator 
 
?If there were flexibility? we have the fort there, which could be almost be complete, but to 
this day it hasn?t started. Because it all depends on international rules of the game, and for 
such a small district that is totally not practical. The journey is too long. If at least we could 
have UNESCO representatives here, but not even that we have. They have an office, but no 
decision-making power. There is a technician, a trusting person. There is only a person 
that coordinates when they come here, their accommodation, etc. [laughs]. On the field, 
there is nothing. They have done workshops, but they are of no use. The minister is here, 
and I said ?Look, this think of UNESCO??, to which he replied ?We don?t have the possibility 
of doing things differently now, because that?s how they are already, but we are going to 
really try to protect the built environment?. So let?s go forward to rehabilitating, but not 
only the houses, but also the people. UNESCO is rehabilitating the houses, but the people 
stay behind, forgotten. I talk about rehabilitating people in the sense of educating, having 
                                                
34 Jos? Forjaz is an award winning Mozambican architect who, since the independence of Mozambique, has been 
invested in the development of this country?s infrastructures from an architectural point of view. Building with local 
materials and working with the natural conditions of a location are high in his professional priorities. Furthermore, he 
has been involved in various restoration projects, some of which took place in Mozambique Island. 
 105 
good access to public health ? that we don?t have. So it is all questionable. I?m a member of 
government, so maybe I shouldn?t be talking like this, but I do feel that at UNESCO?s level, 
they should become more flexible, so that we can start resolving the problem, because we 
are in a struggle to develop the island, and we are thankful for UNESCO?s help and other 
international institutions. But there is the need to be more flexible. A project should not 
take longer than 5 years. The fort has taken 3 and it hasn?t started yet. There is a 
conference coming up, but that doesn?t mean that the fort will start to be rehabilitated 
straight away. There will be phase, then another phase, and then another, following by 
another phase and another??  
Alfredo Matata  
District Administrator 
 
Faced with quite different national and local economic priorities, government 
procrastination and the sovereignty of the nation-state over ?its heritage?, 
international sympathy, expertise and financial resources may be largely 
powerless to do more than renovate a few buildings (Graham et al. 2000: 239). 
The level of poverty is the fourth factor. When the majority of the population of a location lives in severe 
poverty, engaging with activities, which do not obviously contribute towards the direct betterment of their 
lives is not a priority. Furthermore, the lack of available financial resources as a determinant impact on 
the reconstruction of public and private heritage.  
 ?We will at some point look at the technical aspects of the museum itself. But my focus is 
now on stopping the total destruction of the building itself. We don?t have available 
resources at the moment, and therefore we feel that it really is a long process.?  
Silv?rio Naoito  
Director of the Museum of Mozambique Island 
 
?If it wasn?t for the sea the situation here would be very bad. People fish for the curry of the 
day. It?s an eternal survival without any perspective to better the situation. In terms of 
heritage, tourism cannot live side by side with this situation of poverty.? 
Flora Maria de Pinto Magalh?es 
President of the Tourism Association 
 
Fifthly, the level of illiteracy contributes to the difficulty of introducing the notion of world heritage in a 
way that makes sense to the reality of the residents of the island.  
In addition to the obstacles that are induced by the existing complexities of Mozambique Island, comes 
the lack of appropriation felt by the islanders towards this concept and status. When exploring scales, and 
the idea that global trends, ideas, movements or practices, become local when appropriated by any 
individual or group of individuals, it becomes clear that the idea and status of World Heritage has not 
been appropriated by the islanders.  
 
 
 106 
CASE STUDY OF ZANZIBAR 
 
from Shinuna Karume?s ?An Evalution of the Strengths and Limitations of the 
Implementation and Enforcement of the Stone Town Conservation Legistation: 
Zanzibar? in Legal Frameworks for the Protections of Immovable Cultural Heritage in 
Africa by Ndore and Pwiti(Eds.), 2009  
 
In 1990, the Government of Zanzibar created the Stone Town Conservation and Development Authority 
(STCDA) as the custodians of the Stone Town Conservation Area. This came in the wake of the derelict state 
of most of the buildings and their rapid rate of deterioration. The Stone Town Act No. 3 of 1994 was passed 
shortly after, giving STCDA all legal rights of conservation and development activities within the Stone 
Town Conservation Area.  The Act granted STCDA exclusive legal powers, including the authority, 
independence strength and means to operate effectively. Despite the merits and intrinsic value of the Act of 
1994, however, several weaknesses have been identified with regards to the enforcement and 
implementation of the law. Several examples are discussed in this paper that clearly expose these 
weaknesses and problems. Ultimately, what was learnt from the Stone Town experience was that 
overcoming the problems of conservation of heritage sites will not be achieved by merely drafting and 
enacting laws to safeguard the heritage sites, but rather developing strategies and approaches that tackle 
the problem holistically.  
Zanzibar was originally taken over by the Portuguese over three centuries ago in order to safeguard their 
interests in the Indian Ocean. In 1840, however, Zanzibar fell under Arab control when the Sultanate of 
Oman effortlessly took over control from the Portuguese (Sheriff 1995). In the years to come, the Arabs 
constructed several houses in typical Arab style. They were simple in character but grand and extravagant 
in space and taste, with high ceilings, huge rooms overlooking the Indian Ocean and intricate doors. As the 
Arab architecture became the predominant feature of the town, it was then names ?Stone Town? to describe 
its character. In many ways Stone Town was a rare and unique phenomenon of Africa, given that most 
houses were constructed with pole and mud.  
As Stone Town, developed, a segregated settlement pattern grew, with the Africans settled on one side of the 
town in the area known as Ng?ambo, permitted only to cross Creek Road that separated the tow different 
worlds when they came to work for those in the Stone Town area, whether Arabs or rich Indian merchants.  
STCDA?s primary responsibility is to control and monitor the development of the conservation area, which is 
now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. STCDA?s objectives include: to ensure the continuity of effort and 
sustained commitment and to plan and manage the complex historic area over the long term by preparation 
and supervision of the Master Plan and Regulation of the Stone Town. The principal takes of the STCDA 
include issuing, building permits and restoration notices, monitoring of construction works and prosecution 
of illegal building activities. It also advises, coordinates and monitors other government agencies and 
department and is responsible for coordination between the varied government agencies and external aid 
organisations. As clearly stated in the Act, the Authority?s main function is to ?initiate, plan, prepare, co-
 ordinate and control all maters related to the conservation of the Stone Town? (Stone Town act 1994). 
Financial limitations for the effective implementation and enforcement of legislation; lack of professional 
and competent personnel, bureaucratic ignorance of the laws, political interests and interference, 
centralisation of operations, need to review the Master Plan and the Legislation, embeddedness of the 
society. 
Elimination of conflict between different institutions can be achieved through decentralising the decision-
 making process, enhancing the level of communication between institutions and elaborating clearly defined 
jurisdictions of institutions. This last solution entails each of the different but related institutions being 
conversant with the legislation that governs the u of the others. The realisation of some of these solutions 
 107 
should see each institution executing its assigned tasks more efficiently in line with the legislation relating 
to its operations. The above suggestions could be achieved through: 
- Providing educational programmes or seminars where the concerned bureaucrats are obliged to attend; 
- Disseminating information on the laws and regulations to bureaucrats of the concerned institutions as well 
as to others; 
- Encouraging inter-departmental dialogue and communications; 
- Reducing bureaucracy in order to eliminate confusion and loopholes; 
- Educating the community on the laws and regulations and the importance of respecting them. 
Legislation is an integral part of the effective protection preservation and development of immovable 
cultural heritages sites. Legislation alone is not enough, however. In the developing world where 
government infrastructure is weakly developed, funds are hard to come by, corruption is prevalent and 
poverty is the order of the day, there is need for a more holistic approach. These factors whether tackled 
simultaneously or individually, need to be addressed with caution and prudence. There is a need to invest in 
educated, enthusiastic, well-informed and experience bureaucrats, secure funds, reduce the interference of 
political interests and foster political well and government commitment. It is imperative to inform and 
involve the communities concerned in order to legitimise the operations of the STCDA, encourage state-
 society synergies that complement wider stakeholder involvement in the governing of the conservation 
area, and increase communication and harmonisation of operations between institutions. 
The framework of the Africa 2009 Programme, the 3rd Regional Thematic Seminar: Legal Frameworks for 
the Protection of Immovable Cultural Heritage was organised from 21-25 October 2002 in Mutare, 
Zimbabwe. Fundamental concepts: Legislation should be for the people and by the people, reflecting the 
values of all the different segments of society. These values should be documented and well defined within 
the heritage legislation. To achieve this, the law must provide for community values, customary rights, and 
traditional practices including those that relate to ownership and the right to use cultural landscapes. 
Legislation should cover the interrelationship of tangible/intangible, and movable/immovable heritage. 
Legislation needs to provide for a variety of diverse methods of conservation in keeping with different 
situations and types of heritage (e.g. conservation areas, inventories, landscapes and community-based 
systems). There is a need to move beyond monuments, taking a broader view of cultural heritage and its 
relevance in a variety of contexts. 
 108 
 
 
 
 
?We prefer the hospital. No one 
can like that which does not 
belong to him or her. How could 
we like the house of a person, if 
the house does not belong to us?? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cariba Abubacar Abdala Mante, Abdul-Remane 
Sahide Sheikh Ame, Jo?o Faquir, Ali Muss?, 
Abdal Momade  
Cultural Groups  
Photographed in front and inside one the associations and in 
front of the hospital 
 
 109 
6. The Case of Non-Appropriation of World Heritage on 
Mozambique Island 
This section aims to apply the theoretical proposals to the case study as explored in the previous 
sections, having as my framework my literature review. Here I argue that the islanders interviewed do not 
appropriate the concept or the status of World Heritage as attributed to the island by UNESCO. Further 
complexities and enabling tools are looked at, as well as potential benefits that the population could 
experience, from the appropriation and maintenance of their World Heritage.  
* 
6.1 Non-Appropriation of World Heritage 
In line with the theoretical proposal I offer, my conclusion is that the World Heritage of Mozambique Island 
is in its present state because of the non-appropriation felt/exercised by the individuals and institutions 
who have direct and indirect impact on it. Furthermore, I propose that the non-appropriation is explained 
through the complexities described in the previous chapter, which shape the manner individuals behave 
and think of World Heritage and reason the potential benefits stemming from the effective management of 
this. This section analyses how this non-appropriation comes across through the rhetoric individuals use 
about World Heritage, as well as their actions towards the island.  
* 
Rhetoric / Place Identity 
Have these by default been declared ?identity poor? or even ?identity-
 less?? Do the inhabitants feel no sense of place or only that their place 
has an identity that is less easily recognisable or less valuable than 
somewhere else? (Ashworth and Graham 2005: 223). 
?I understand that heritage is a good, that has value, social value. I understand that when I 
relate it to my family?s heritage. Maybe Mozambique Island is considered World Heritage 
because of that, because it has so many things that identify its ancestors, and the history of 
Mozambique.?   Cristina Lu?s  
 Director of Mozambique Island?s High School 
A rhetorical analysis of the way in which the islanders I interviewed relate to Mozambique Island?s world 
heritage points to the fact that, Mozambique Island is generally not regarded by its islanders as a World 
Heritage Site, and that therefore the idea and status of World Heritage has not been appropriated by the 
interviewees. As described above, the individuals interviewed occupied existing positions of hierarchical 
power, recognised publicly for their authority. Whether in the political, economic or social realm, these 
individuals demonstrated a rather limited understanding of what World Heritage means. 
?We should integrate our efforts to look after this land, because we share the love for it, 
because it is our place, and that of our grandparents and great-grandparents.?  
Raul Matano Muss? and Amisse Ussaine  
Traditional Chiefs 
 
During the interviews35, individuals were asked to engage with the idea of Heritage. Firstly, from a 
conceptual point of view (definition and understanding), secondly in relation to Mozambique Island (was 
the island a World Heritage site, and if so since when), thirdly from a analytical point of view (whether 
                                                
35 Appendix 2: Structure used for in-depth individual and group interviews 
 110 
they believed the status had contributed to the betterment of the island or of the islanders? lives) and 
fourthly, from a participatory point of view (did individuals physically contribute towards the up-keeping of 
the island?s heritage).  
When asked if individuals have ever heard of World Heritage, the majority answered that they had heard 
these two words before, although there were substantial who had never heard of it. A few individuals, 
older in age, told me that the day of the interview it was the very first time they were encountering the 
expression world heritage. World Heritage does not have a direct translation to Macua language, which 
shows its novelty in the daily language in the island. The expression has not been appropriated into the 
local dialect.  
?Never heard of World Heritage. It?s beginning to hear it now. Even if I hear before, I didn?t 
know what it was. Maybe I heard it, but because I don?t know the meaning? I was never 
taught.?    Iaquibo Ali and Atomane Ussaine 
 Imams from Macuti Mosques 
 
The individuals who did know that Mozambique Island is a World Heritage Site often had interesting 
definitions for this status, which can be read throughout this report in the direct quotes as per the 
transcribed interviews. The conclusion that I take from this is that the knowledge manifested in these 
answers is informed by sporadic workshops run by NGOs and UNESCO36, as well as radio programmes 
run by the Friends of Mozambique Island Association. The very few individuals that did attend such 
workshops do not recall what they learnt or what the aims and objectives of the workshop were. I further 
believe that some individuals have been made more aware of the World Heritage Status of the island due 
to their contact with government and council documents that refer to the island?s status. Overall, most 
individuals interviewed did not have a minimum understanding of World Heritage, as per UNESCO?s 
definition. Some associated this with the fact that Mozambique Island was the first capital of Mozambique, 
and others with the fact that Mozambique was born there, or with the fact the Mozambique Island has 
visitors from all over the world, and therefore is World Heritage. 
?World Heritage is important because it is known all over the world that Mozambique 
Island is World Heritage. And therefore, people can come here and help.? 
Martinho Carola  and Manuel At?pore  
Secretaries of Neighbourhood 
?What I feel is that in terms of the population, no one really knows about World Heritage 
and its importance. And those who know, including ourselves, need to make sure that 
there are concrete situations to resolve and to make this a different district.?  
Alfredo Matata  
District Administrator 
 
In terms of the factual understanding of whether the island is World Heritage, most individuals answered 
affirmatively (except those who had never heard of it), although there was no consensus on the date in 
which the status was attributed. From an analytical point of view, my interviewees agreed that not much 
had bettered through the island becoming a World Heritage Site. 
                                                
36 UNESCO has been running a series of workshops on the meaning and importance of World Heritage since the late 
nineties. The participants did not seem to retain much knowledge from these, by. In addition, UNESCO does not 
seem to have a strong methodology developed to be implemented in such workshops, in terms of the participants, 
methods of teaching and learning or content taught. These seem to vary according to the person who is responsible 
for putting workshops together.  
 111 
In conclusion, those interviewed in their majority know that Mozambique Island is a World Heritage Site, 
but do not know why. Of 40 interviewees only five knew what World Heritage means and why 
Mozambique Island had been granted this status. This signifies that the large majority did not know what 
it means for the island to be a World Heritage Site, which consequently directly determines the 
relationship that individuals establish and maintain with the physical, spiritual and cultural aspects of their 
heritage. I tried to gain insight into the value attributed to World Heritage ? so as to ascertain the potential 
understanding of benefit, the consequent appropriation, which would explain the present relationship with 
the heritage. 
?This is World Heritage because of its value, and to be valued. Which does not happen. Worst 
of all in this last few years ? there is no value given to World Heritage.?  
Imo  
Municipality?s Officer for Finances and Public Works 
 
As explored previously, appropriation comes with a potential benefit, whether physical, emotional, 
individual, social, group, financial, visible, invisible, the idea is that individuals, on the one hand act 
according to their needs, wants and desires. We appropriate concepts that help us understand the world; 
we appropriate land where we want to live; we appropriate a style of dress because it helps us integrate 
in a society or to express a lifestyle; we appropriate a language because we are curious about it, or 
because we need to use it to communicate ? but certainly we do not freely appropriate things without 
having a vested interest in them. And this interest is directly determined by our understanding of our 
reality, by the access to exercising one?s sense of agency, by the hope we have, or the fear we feel. 
?What we have here in Mozambique Island is that people are considered to be important 
because they live here, not beyond the bridge in the continent. If you sleep here you?ve got 
some status. At the end of the day, amongst men and women there isn?t a work culture. If 
there were work culture people would work more, they would produce more.? 
Alfredo Matata  
District Administrator 
 
Although it is clear that the islanders do not wish or plan to leave Mozambique Island, although many 
wish it for their children and grandchildren, this sense of belonging in this place does not seem to be 
connected to it being a World Heritage Site. Instead the sense of belonging comes from it being an island, 
where people feel part of an urban fabric they do not wish to abandon in favour of the rural benefits of 
owning a farm. Living in the city is valuable, gives individuals status and allows people to continue to 
survive in an established social network that solidifies their everyday existence. The only benefit that is 
talked about from it being a World Heritage Site is potential economic gain, which I gathered through 
listening to rhetoric of dependency deeply engrained on post-civil war Mozambicans. But even that 
benefit has fallen off the wagon, after Unesco and the governmental institution have countless times 
failed the islanders in developing the infrastructures of the island, creating jobs and redeeming the 
population from a state of severe poverty.  
?I know that it is a worldwide phenomenon ? islanders don?t like to leave their islands. 
Islanders are just like that.?  Martinho Carola  and Manuel At?pore  
Secretaries of Neighbourhood 
*  
 
 112 
Ownership 
  
?Each person takes care of what belongs to him or her.? 
Iaquibo Ali and Atomane Ussaine 
Imams from Macuti Mosques 
 
There is a clear division between the Macuti and Stone sides of Mozambique Island. Although this 
division was in the past somewhat clear in terms of class and social status within the city, it has now 
become more blurred, since individuals have appropriated some of the ruins, which have subsequently 
been sold to foreigners and wealthy Mozambican individuals, perhaps again bringing that social division 
into the current reality of the island. My research does not answer whether the city is equally utilised by 
everyone. Nonetheless, it offers insight into what individuals consider their own, the most useful, the most 
beautiful, that which should be prioritised in terms of the renovation and that which they identify the most 
with.  
The islanders appreciate the island?s heritage because it has special meaning to them as individuals, they 
relate experiences to it, not because they were taught a specific history about the making and use of 
them, nor because they benefit from tourists visiting them, or them being universally considered as 
buildings worth maintaining. 
When asked which building they thought should be restored first, most individuals answered either their 
own home, or the hospital, which serves a function in their quality of life. For me, this highlights that the 
government is not meeting the basic needs of the islanders. Only once these needs are secure, I wonder 
if the population of Mozambique Island will start looking beyond them to a World Heritage that they can 
and wish to conserve for added benefits potentially stemming from tourism. 
?We prefer the hospital. No one can like that which does not belong to him or her. How 
could we like the house of a person, if the house does not belong to us?? 
Cariba Abubacar Abdala Mante, Abdul-Remane Sahide 
Sheikh Ame, Jo?o Faquir, Ali Muss?, Abdal Momade  
Cultural Groups  
 
 ?Our favourite building is hospital because we all go there, we are all treated there, 
although they lack many things. It?s beautiful, at the same as it is not. The people that built 
that hospital were people that came here contracted to build it. That was a building done by 
people that were not from here. Not even in Maputo you can find something like it.? 
Martinho Carola  and Manuel At?pore  
Secretaries of Neighbourhood 
?Each person has to like where he or she is. For example, I like the madrasa the best, because 
that where I spend all my time.?        Abdul Rahim Ali Momade  
Director of Madrasa Babu Salaam 
 
Looking at the level of participation in the creation, implementation and decision-making is another way of 
understanding that the islanders are far removed from the management and responsibility of taking care 
of the World Heritage. As I maintain in the theoretical proposal, I argue that there is a dialectic 
relationship between the level at which individuals are able to make decisions about their space, and how 
they appropriate it, and therefore maintain it. Feeding of each other in a dialectic form, the islanders are 
removed from decision-making actions. An example is a conference about the future of the World 
 113 
Heritage of Mozambique Island, held in the island, in which of a total of 42 participants only six were 
islanders, and of those six there was only one that officially represented the civil society37. 
?Where Unesco works hard is in writing letters ? they write many letters to us. It?s very 
beautiful, but concrete actions, implementation, there is none of that. I?m quite sad that I 
won?t be attending that meeting, because I would be one of the individuals that would 
screw that meeting up. I would tell them ?This meeting is only for you to justify the money, 
or are you here just to throw sand in the eyes of the islanders?? 
There has been much work; many people came here and helped in some reconstructions. 
The main problem is that it should be the Technical Office who controls the houses and 
their rehabilitation. The state has sold everything. Not to foreigners, but to Mozambicans, 
who have foreigners behind them, as the real owners. We are the ones that have to change 
our own mentality, and oblige people to work. There should be a technical office to take 
care of all of this.?   Imo  
Municipality?s Officer for Finances and Public Works 
When asked if they had actively participated in the conservation of the World Heritage, all individuals, 
except for the Director of the Museum, answered negatively. The rehabilitation of their own properties 
does not count to them as being active in conserving the World Heritage, as it is difficult to make sense of 
the fact that even their own houses are World Heritage. Furthermore, although many individuals speak of 
how beautiful the fort and the museum are, their conservation does not show me a sense of appreciation 
for the World Heritage of the island. Two exceptions are the following comments from the director of the 
school, who was not born on the island, and the director of the Tourism Association, who for many years 
lived in Maputo having returned recently. The sense of poverty and general lack of quality of life has 
tainted individuals? perceptions and their hope for a future.  
?I stop many times to observe the entrance to the harbour. It makes me feel like I?m in 
another world, or in another period in history. The entrance to the harbour, with the 
anchor and the two canons. This building makes me waste a lot of time.? 
Cristina Lu?s  
Director of Mozambique Island?s High School 
 
?Mozambique Island is like paradise for us. That?s the impression that stays, that marks 
one, that never leaves a person. It doesn?t matter how far you are. When I was in Maputo, I 
dreamt of Mozambique Island often. Sometimes I dreamt of being here in this wall, I would 
jump it and then I would run and start flying and I would fly for a long time. This island 
stays in one?s subconscious.? Flora Maria de Pinto Magalh?es 
 President of the Tourism Association 
* 
6.2 Why is the World Heritage of Mozambique Island in its present state? 
We are back where I started: my key research question. Why is the World Heritage of Mozambique in its 
present state? Well, to start off, I?ll say, That?s a complex question. From the data gathered in the field 
and through desk research the paradox of awarded universal status versus present state of poverty has 
become clearer. The complexities of societal networks that are present on the island exist as push and 
pull factors in the conservation and management of this island. It is unfortunate that up until my field 
                                                
37 Afiz does not actually represent the population needs and opinions; neither does he report back ? he is busy and used to engage 
at a higher level with national departments and international NGOs. In fact, when asked to give me time for an interview, he 
rescheduled a few times and I left the field without having spoken to him on the issues of his research, even though he would have 
been a great source of information.   
 
 114 
research took place, the push factors were stronger, pushing sustainable management away as a 
possibility. These factors are namely the lack of employment, the lack of education, the non-participative 
democracy, bad governance, poor institutional support and hierarchical system, dependency on outside 
states and institutions and poor technical expertise.  
Without a comprehensive system of pull factors the state of the island will not change for the better, which 
will threaten the universal state that the island benefits from currently. Creating employment without 
putting educational programmes together, or cleaning the beaches without creating a political system that 
does not strive in practicing good governance will not work. Efforts need to be taken in all directions, 
which entails the full attention from UNESCO Mozambique as well as the National Office for Heritage at 
the Ministry of Education and Culture.  
The present state of the island is due to a varied number of factors carefully established throughout this 
report. These factors lead to the non-appropriation of the concept and value of World Heritage to the 
degree it would need in order to ensure its upkeep. This non-appropriation exists at all levels, from 
UNESCO to the national government, to local government to the civil society38. Even if some of these 
stakeholders are making efforts and attempting to manage the World Heritage of Mozambique Island, this 
is not enough, as it is not effective or holistic. 
This research report clearly pushes the thesis that in order to maintain a World Heritage Site in a 
condition worthy of its award, the site needs to be carefully researched and understood, so that a 
management plan can be drawn with the participation of people who can both technical knowhow and 
knowledge of the local networks and rhythms, as it considers the several players that have a passive 
and/or active existence in the site. The following section looks at further complexities that need 
consideration in order to ensure that the World Heritage of Mozambique Island is safeguarded for the 
benefit of the whole humanity.  
?We do inform the people that we need to take care of our beaches, we need to conserve our 
homes, they need to be conserved and painted. But when a poor person wants to do so, he 
can?t. He?s got other worries. He can?t even get a crumb to eat, let?s not even talk about 
painting his house. And also there is the need for civic education ? because there are those 
who have the money, but who don?t paint their houses because they don?t know they 
should.?    Martinho Carola  and Manuel At?pore  
 Secretaries of Neighbourhood 
Heritage remains a critical component in the construction of identity at a 
variety of scales and across a number of social axes, while, simultaneously, it is 
a ubiquitous economic good, sold without compunction by an increasingly 
globalised tourism industry that cares little for its socio-political role (Graham 
et al. 2000: 257). 
* 
                                                
38 Note that this research report only looks at the appropriation of World Heritage by the residents of Mozambique 
Island 
 115 
 
?I love my home. That?s natural. My whole life is here, I live here, so I?ve 
got to like it. If I don?t like it, I won?t take care of it, and it will end up 
becoming a ruin.? 
Momade Gulamo Issufo  
President of Association of Suni Muslims; 
Photographed inside his shop 
 116 
6.2 Future complexities to consider 
Enabling Tools for Appropriation 
Embracing the status from all levels as a positive and unique opportunity for development of a severely 
poverty stricken location, would be essential to overcome its present state of heritage. Towards this, 
education seems to be crucial, as a means for individuals to understand the value of their island as well 
as the potential benefits that could come with taking better care of it.  
The idea would be to work with the benefits of World Heritage, and then allowing the islanders to decide 
to appropriate the concept of World heritage, as well as the identity change that comes with it, regarding a 
sense of ownership and participation. On the other hand, the obstacles that currently exist that would not 
allow the appropriation to occur in a smooth manner need to be looked at, as these are basic problems 
that induce a poor quality of life for the islanders. 
I think that there are a variety of benefits that can be pointed out to the community, as briefly described in 
the previous section. A World Heritage Site carries historical importance that brings about social 
empowerment. The constant interest from UNESCO, as well as foreign governments and other 
institutions grant the island a higher political status, from the point of view of learning opportunities, while 
at the same time, this municipality is the target of more funding and financial resources. 
* 
Education & Participation 
Education and participation are the way forward in Mozambique Island. I believe that these two tools, if 
adequately performed, can enable appropriation of the world heritage of Mozambique Island by its 
residents. Through increased awareness of their rights and responsibilities towards their peers and the 
physical and built environment, as well as their potential benefits from taking care of this World Heritage 
Site, I believe that individuals can start looking after their heritage in a way that makes them proud. 
 ?The thing about education ? although that is arguable ? is that people can change their 
way of facing situations, their work culture, and learn to take care of their household. 
People that didn?t work do not have that mentality. Education doesn?t even have to be 
tertiary education. Basic education would resolve the problem. Education would be 
fundamental.?   Alfredo Matata  
 District?s Administrator 
 
The central government needs to take a more central role in educating and managing the World Heritage 
Site of Mozambique Island. Education of the islanders about the importance of World Heritage is 
fundamental. Although most of the adult population of this island is illiterate, educational programmes can 
easily be structured in beneficial ways, taking advantage of the social structures already existing in the 
island. Education should be at every level: school, community, city council, madrasa, Sunday school, 
church, tariqa, mosque. 
In addition, there is the issue of how to educate. There are different approaches, strategies and intended 
outcomes of educational programmes ? and, these change on the basis of the context. When looking at 
Mozambique Island one must take into account the specificity of its socio-political environment, and 
 117 
design programmes that allow for the individuals to learn regardless of their learning capacities. 
Education is a means of changing and enlarging individuals? views of their world; it introduces concepts, 
facts and perhaps even solutions to ongoing problems; in addition, educational programmes should 
create a platform for the generation of knowledge, in which those being taught are able to, in a dialectic 
form, add and appropriate the knowledge, engage with the educator in a free and equal basis, and be 
given the possibility of learning through acquiring, rather than being imposed on. 
In order to avoid the danger of a bland homogenising culture there has 
to be a role for educative facilities which will permit people to come to 
terms with the richness of variety that can be found in different places. 
Crucial to such awareness must be the appreciation of home places 
developed through time and how the past is always contingent upon 
the present (Walsh 1992:147). 
Many natural and cultural World Heritage Sites are highly valued by the 
local community who identify with the character and qualities of these 
places. As committed stakeholders local people combine as understanding 
and appreciation of the heritage assets and willingness to communicate 
this sensibility and knowledge to others (Millar 2006: 50). 
?We need to conserve this World Heritage Site so that people can ask ?but what is this for?? 
?why is this here??, ?when was it done??, ?who did it??, ?why was it done??. Slowly this 
experience is transmitted from generation to generation. Everything that exist here needs 
to be conserved as was.?   Silv?rio Naoito  
(Director of the Museum of Mozambique Island) 
 
?This was a question presented by the local communities. When we started speaking about 
the fort, there were voices who said ?why rehabilitate the fort and not other social places??, 
?why such a big worry with rehabilitating a monument while there are people starving to 
death??, ?why not raise the quality of life of people here instead?? What happens is that a lot 
of the times we have to curve in order to achieve an objective. The ultimate end is to 
increase the quality of life of everyone here. But first we have to curve, around the World 
heritage ? which attracts people. It?s easier to show a building than a cultural group. All of 
these are a group of elements. We cannot separate them really but it?s necessary to start 
somewhere.?   Silv?rio Naoito  
(Director of the Museum of Mozambique Island) 
 
Participation ? towards active citizenship ? needs to be considered as a strategy of intervention and 
management of World Heritage. If the Status is to remain awarded to Mozambique Island, then UNESCO 
and the National Government need to have this in mind, so as to include this in their research, planning of 
the way forward and implementation of management plan. Although technical expertise is crucial for the 
development of research and management plans, without the participation of local individuals local 
interpretation, appropriation and knowledge are not included, neglecting the context, in turn lessening the 
potential for appropriation and the taking of ownership over world heritage. In this manner, including 
individuals that have local knowledge in the design of a plan is of extreme importance, and should not be 
neglected for logistical or financial reasons. A lot has been written about participation, and bottom-up 
projects.  
?I need to get to know exactly how the World Heritage Law works ? including the rehabilitation 
and conservation rules.?  Silv?rio Naoito  
 Director of the Museum of Mozambique Island 
 
?It?s important to educate these people. It?s not only about the Municipal Council locking 
people up. We need more interventions. The government, the police force, the maritime 
police, the institutions, the schools all have to explain and educate the people. It?s not going 
 118 
to be the Municipality or the Administration alone, because they have their other 
responsibilities too.?   Imo  
Municipality?s Officer for Finances and Public Works 
 
?I think that we need rules and norms, but rules and norms are for those who know how to 
develop. Civic education is important and it should start at junior level at school.? 
Silv?rio Naoito  
Director of the Museum of Mozambique Island 
 
?I am trying to educate the people here not to see the tourist as an object, as a source of 
money. We have to do this, so as to contribute towards the development of a new mentality.? 
Silv?rio Naoito  
Director of the Museum of Mozambique Island 
* 
Sustainable Development 
?The majority of the population is unemployed and that brings about other problems such as 
the lack of appreciation of what is being bettered, because people?s preoccupations are about 
what to eat today. Maybe within a rural setting one would not feel the harsh differences. But 
because the island is heritage and there are people from varied economic backgrounds that 
visit it, there is a shocking contrast between the possibility of those who visit us and the 
population itself. So we need to look at this situation a bit, so that jobs are created and the 
quality of life improved, so that people can start taking care and maintaining this World 
Heritage Site.?   Flora Maria de Pinto Magalh?es 
President of the Tourism Association 
 
A beautiful building will not survive as a home with no bread, let alone no paint or cane to fix it annually as 
it used to be done before the war. The World Heritage of Mozambique Island will not be renovated and 
maintained while the islanders live in severe poverty, as they do presently. For me that is a fact.  
My recommendation is that a plan for the sustainable development of the island is put in place looking at 
the architectonic fabric, but with stronger emphasis on the human fabric, without which the island has no 
life, no tourism. The tourism industry, as I will briefly touch in the following section, has the power, if run 
effectively, to generate employment as well as revenue for middle and small scales businesses, as long 
as the opportunities are given to islanders who come from poorer and previously disadvantaged 
communities.  
?I?m a part of Mozambique Island. When they say that Mozambique Island is Cultural World 
Heritage ? there is no history without people. It is people who make history.?  
     Issufo Buanami  
Former District Administrator; my Interpreter for this project 
 
When asked what would be the three priority actions that would better the life in Mozambique Island, 
there were only three people, Flora (director of the Tourism Association), Cristina (director of the High 
School), and Silv?rio (director of the Museum) who included the renovation of the ruins as a priority. I 
believe this to be telling of the state the island is in, and the needs the islanders have to conjure a better 
life for themselves and their children. 
?To better the lifestyle in Mozambique Island, they need to create jobs, and also to decrease the 
population in the island, in one house you can get 2, 3, 4 families. [?] Then of course, they 
should rehabilitate the island.?   Cristina Lu?s  
(Director of Mozambique Island?s High School) 
 
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?I imagine an island with better roads. I imagine an island with the ideal number of 
residents and with resorts and hotels better than the ones we?ve got now. An island with 
monuments fully kitted, being efficiently utilised.? 
Silv?rio Naoito  
(Director of the Museum of Mozambique Island) 
* 
Responsibilities 
After understanding that the system of identifying and taking up duties and responsibilities in terms of the 
World Heritage of Mozambique Island is not functional, I am left thinking that the clarity in achieving this is 
absolutely fundamental for the management of this valuable site to be successful. Who is responsible for 
what? Who does the team consist of? Where are they based? Do they know the island? There is a need 
to create a strong team of individuals that have a background in heritage studies, from architectural, 
anthropological and managerial perspectives, and who are prepared to be based on the island, in order to 
get insight into its workings, so that the management and renovations of this World Heritage Site can be 
efficient and according to the rules established by the Municipal Council and by UNESCO, and ensure 
that educational programmes are comprehensive and on-going.  
Furthermore, there is a need to identify who is, in practical terms, responsible for financing this World 
Heritage project. Should it be UNESCO? Or the central government? Is the budget Mozambique Island is 
getting as a Municipal Council enough? Once all these are established, then each needs to be kept to 
their responsibilities. It is my opinion that UNESCO needs to take a wider responsibility for this World 
Heritage Site. If they want to solely have a fundraising role, then it needs to be established that they need 
to secure a certain amount by a certain time, so that projects to conserve the tangible and intangible 
heritage of Mozambique Island that can be taken forward.  
There are certain responsibilities. The definition, recognition and listing of 
national heritage is the paramount national responsibility. This includes 
inventorisation, the establishment of criteria for inclusion, the conferring of 
heritage designations and consequent legal protection (Graham et al. 2000: 
201). 
 ?I think that UNESCO should do some sort of project to preserve these things, the 
language, those old cultural groups. They should do some research project, so that at least 
there is a document for the future.?  Cristina Lu?s  
Director of Mozambique Island?s High School 
 
If the idea of world heritage is a set of rights and obligations of humanity as a 
whole towards what it regards as its heritage, there should be a redefinition, or 
at least restatement of these international rights and duties. The rights can be 
translated into a series of demands of humanity upon this heritage. These may 
be only the knowledge that the heritage continues to exist to satisfy an 
unspecified and possibly never exercised future demand (option demands); 
recognising the right to bequeath to futures (bequest demands), and direct 
participation or consumption demands (Ashworth 1998: 12 in Ashworth and 
van der Aa 2006: 153). 
Rights are necessarily accompanied by obligation and thus the world is 
presumably responsible in some way for its own heritage. Such responsibilities 
may be exercised through concern, monitoring, and the donation of expertise 
and financial subsidy. First, the protection of the site by national legislation has 
to be assured before it can be listed as World heritage. Furthermore, the 
acceptance of international concern, expertise and aid implies the acceptance 
of international priorities, values, methods and behaviours, which are not 
 120 
inevitably the same as national or local ones. Indeed it is likely in many poorer 
State Parties that national economic priorites may take precedence over global 
priorities for heritage protection (Ashworth and van der Aa 2006: 154). 
It has even been mooted (World Heritage Newsletter, 2001/2) that demand to 
World Heritage could become a legally indictable ?crime against culture? that 
ought to be prosecuted by some international tribunal. However, threats of 
sanctions, de-listing and even inscription on the ?List of World Heritage in 
Danger? are unlikely to be politically acceptable within the present states 
dominated structure of UNESCO (van de Aa and Ashworth, 2002: 8). World 
heritage depends upon a ?consensual approach? (Kind, 2001) but the political 
reality is that this consensus is between State Parties, which ultimately 
explains the powerlessness of the international agencies (Ashworth and van 
der Aa 2006:156). 
?Even your work it won?t go anywhere [speaking to me]. It will only be an example. Even 
the blue book, it was never implemented, or used.  That was work that should have been 
utilised that was not. If I do an awareness programme, it doesn?t bring any advantages. 
Why spend that money making people aware, if you are not practicing what you are 
teaching? Of, why is it worthy for me to be part of the awareness programme if my belly is 
hungry? Why go to a workshop? I know that I?ll go there and eat, but my family is hungry 
at home. There is not way ? but we have to start somewhere.? 
Zainal  
Acting president of the Association of the Friends of Mozambique Island 
 
?The World Heritage is very important. We value it a lot. But UNESCO is not valuing it. 
Because the island was declared World Heritage 15 years ago and they haven?t yet done 
anything as a result of the declaration. In 2001 there was a huge team that came here with 
specialists in the environment, tourism, geography, cultural and many others, to see how 
this island could be fixed. They stayed one week and then left, wrote a report where they 
said they had 50 priority projects for the island. They sent a letter and the five most 
priority projects were chosen ? the bridge, the fort, the sewage pipes, the teachers 
residency, until today nothing has come of it. UNESCO does not value this place enough. 
They have a son to call by the name. they don?t clothe, they don?t feed. He grows like a goat. 
Roaming. Nothing is ever done here.? 
Gulamo Mamudo  
President of the Municipal Council 
 
?Nothing has changed since the island became World Heritage. Nothing whatsoever.? 
Flora Maria de Pinto Magalh?es 
President of the Tourism Association 
 
At the same time, in line with my theoretical proposal regarding the concept of appropriation, there is a 
need to instil a sense of responsibility in each islander, which I believe will be easier to create and feed 
once people understand the value of conserving it, and how they can ultimately benefit from responsible 
behaviour. 
?This city is very small. Each one of us should feel responsible. That would be a way of 
protecting the World Heritage. There are civic education programmes, but people don?t 
want to absorb the information.? Gulamo Mamudo  
 President of the Municipal Council 
 
?We should work together. When it comes to a problem of the people, we should work 
together to serve the people. Collaborate ? cleaning the city together. As it is we are only 
messing up. At the end of the day, this belongs to the people, and we can follow what the 
people want. We should educate the people about the laws. But, here each person has a 
different way of thinking, and things don?t work out very well.? 
Martinho Carola  and Manuel At?pore  
Secretaries of Neighbourhood 
 
 
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* 
Legislation 
No matter how powerful, legislation will remain ineffective unless accepted and 
understood by the people. It is implicit here that such legislation should be 
formulated in a participatory way. In particular, and especially at the design 
stage, the process should involve those it concerns most and not those to whom it 
may concern (Ndoro and Pwiti 2009: 4). 
The purposes of legislation is to promote good management of the nation estate 
and to enable and encourage communities to nurture and conserve their legacy? 
as part of their well-being?.  (Ndoro and Pwiti 2009: 3) 
Legislation is another key aspect in the management of Mozambique Island, given that its conservation 
has to follow specific rules (such as the renovation of the fa?ades per the initial construction techniques) 
in order for the World Heritage status to be maintained. In this manner, I believe it to be fundamental that 
this legislation becomes itself appropriated by the islanders, and in order for that to happen I believe that 
the present state of affairs in the island ? poverty and modernisation ? need to be considered. The current 
legislation needs to consider the real economic possibilities individuals have, and make rules that can 
actually be met by the owners of these houses.  
The state and the community based legal systems must be brought into a 
relationship of complementarity and symbiosis, rather than antagonism and 
competition (Ndoro and Pwiti 2009). 
* 
Research 
 ?I believe there should be an in-depth study about what each body should be responsible 
for, so that we avoid party politics, and start developing this island.? 
Flora Maria de Pinto Magalh?es 
(President of the Tourism Association) 
In-depth research and understanding of the context allows one to gain perspective into what World 
Heritage can potential mean to a specific location. In terms of achieving sustainable and inclusive 
management, beside in-depth research, participation and education are the other pillars that I believe 
should be highly considered in order for a World Heritage Site to have a successful existence and benefit 
its inhabitants.  
In general, research needs to come from a more informed reading of places and people and, in this 
manner, participatory design constitutes interaction between various groups in order to achieve a 
common goal. A model of political engagement has to be chosen where constant consultation between all 
groups is maintained. Or work with a small group of representative people, modelled on the ?local office? 
approach, where a small number of people shape the answers and plant the strategic moves (Jones et al, 
2005: 261). 
 
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?Sometimes I think of telling UNESCO: ?You are looking at buildings, 
but inside those buildings there are people?. So we have to start 
looking at the human fabric at the same time.? 
Flora Maria de Pinto Magalh?es 
President of the Tourism Association; 
Photographed in the front stoop of her house 
 123 
?One of the things that I consider to be important and that UNESCO should understand is 
that in parallel with the rehabilitation of the buildings, people should rehabilitated too.? 
Flora Maria de Pinto Magalh?es 
(President of the Tourism Association) 
* 
Potential Benefits of Appropriation 
?What we are trying to do is to mobilise, sensitise to see if the population can participate in 
a more active manner, by visiting the museum. Through dialogue, explaining the 
importance of visiting the museum, so that they start internalising bit by bit that the 
museum belongs to them.?   Silv?rio Naoito  
Director of the Museum of Mozambique Island 
 
?Mozambique Island is a World Heritage site due to its architecture, to its culture, the 
crossing of cultures from the past. I think that anyone that visits this island feels embraced 
by the people. That is a particularity of a place. Also it has the uniqueness of having a big 
difference between Stone town and Macuti town. Even in Macuti town, where people live in 
bad conditions, if you go visit there, they will invite you in their homes, and offer some tea. 
It?s a different culture. There are tourists that come here and fall in love with that type of 
thing, and so that?s one of the things we are trying to do ? to finance three or four house so 
that the tourist can live amongst the people, as the whole island is heritage.? 
Flora Maria de Pinto Magalh?es 
President of the Tourism Association 
 
The appropriation of the concept of Mozambique Island as a World Heritage, would have been easier, 
and perhaps faster, if the direct, indirect, short, medium and long term benefits had been made explicit to 
the island?s residents, from 1990, when the status was awarded to the island. In light of the existing 
complexities, understanding the possible benefits the population could have from the island being a World 
Heritage is key for the transformation regarding the sense of ownership the islanders feel towards the 
World Heritage, and therefore the manner in which they maintain and conserve the built and cultural 
heritages.  
How does the World Heritage of Mozambique Island benefit its islanders? And in future, what kind of 
empowerment could the islanders seek towards when appropriating the island?s status and what is its 
wider meaning? It is my stance that the World Heritage status of Mozambique Island does not bring out 
many obvious benefits to the residents of this locality. In their rhetoric, the interviewed subjects, firstly, did 
not talk about its World Heritage Status being an important feature/characteristic of the island. In contrary, 
although the majority had heard about the expression world heritage, they did not understand its 
meaning. Secondly, when asked why they thought Mozambique Island had been awarded this status, 
their understanding was not clear nor was it based on historical facts (as accounted by UNESCO, and 
declared in their confirmation of the island?s status); explanations used simple historical understandings, 
not informed by information around the importance of the architecture and urban form of the island in the 
context of the ?discoveries? era, placing it at the origin of their culture and of their country. Thirdly and 
finally, the subjects clearly placed World Heritage as a concept that has been attributed by an external 
body, without their own consent, participation or understanding. The following sections explore potential 
benefits of appropriating the World Heritage of Mozambique Island. 
We have already seen that the costs and benefits of heritage accrue much 
more widely than merely to those who own or occupy it (Graham et al. 
2000: 134). 
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?Without its heritage, Mozambique Island is nothing. 
Without its heritage, foreign people would forget Mozambique Island.? 
Abdul Rahim Ali Momade  
Director of Madrasa Babu Salaam 
 
When the potential appropriation of an external/global idea might bring economic benefits to the individual 
and/or to the community to which the individuals belongs to, this is taken into consideration in a more 
forward and practical manner. Depending on whether the economic benefits are direct, indirect, short 
term or long term, the individuals and/or the community might act differently towards the appropriation of 
such a thing, varying the degree of interest, appropriation itself, and benefit. 
My own viewpoint is that different types of perceived economic benefit determine the action and attitude 
towards the new thing. While the economic empowerment might not be direct in any way, it could entail 
the increase in someone?s perceived economic status in a community. For example, the appropriation of 
an American dress code for the youth of Mozambique Island brings upon the appropriator the look of 
being well-off, and belong to the community of rappers and musicians who have big cars and gold 
jewellery, without bringing any actual economic benefit.  
Listing a site in the World Heritage List increases its visitors? numbers many times over, as it legitimises 
the universal value of a place or a culture. Therefore, there is a need for close collaboration with the 
tourism bodies so as to create a sustainable management plan for the site, considering what the visitor to 
World Heritage Sites will need (Leask 2006). 
 ?Every party should be able to explain to the population that parties do not exist so that 
they can have small conflicts. [?] If we had to deal with an informed population we would 
have no problems whatsoever. But the problem of having a vulnerable population ? people 
take advantage to attain a certain objective.? 
Alfredo Matata  
(District?s Administrator) 
 
Political empowerment can be individual and/or for the community; an individual might increase his/her 
status, personal power and gains that come with that, and/or the community can become politically more 
powerful, regarding its state of democracy, ability to raise funds for public services, participation in the 
political life of the nation, or the region, amongst others.  
At first sight it may seem curious that heritage would have any role to 
play at all in the shaping of place images designed to encourage 
economic development. After all heritage is composed of aspects of the 
remembered, preserved and imagined past, while development is 
essentially planning and investment for a future that is different from, 
and presumably better than, any such past. It seems more logical for a 
place wishing to appear eager to change, and to this end shaping a local 
consensus favouring development, to actively disavow, or just passively 
forget, its past from which it wishes to escape into a brighter future. 
Thus in seeking a rapid transition from a rejected past to a desired 
future, many revolutions at least begin with a deliberate iconoclasm, or 
state-sponsored amnesia, that removes the cultural accoutrements of 
the past so that development into the future can proceed unfettered. 
Given this, why goes heritage have such an active role in shaping 
contemporary place images, especially those deliberately designed to 
encourage development? (Graham et al. 2000: 162). 
Social benefits exist at various levels, and of course it can all be seen as an individual and/or communal 
gain. To be socially empowered can be described as an activity or idea that brings to its appropriator the 
 125 
actual or perceived sense that there is social upliftment, regarding the social state of individuals and 
communities. Given that the social sector of a society incorporates the level of poverty, the social 
condition regarding the access to public services, the state of public health as well as the general well 
being of the society, it can be assumed that, when a idea or practice seems to enrich the social life of an 
individual and/or community, through social empowerment, this will be sought after and appropriated. 
Although individuals and communities are attached to their social perceptions, their practices and their 
beliefs, they are also able to change voluntarily, so long as that change comes in their interest, and for 
their best. In addition change can also be imposed forcefully or not, where the individual and community 
choose how to adapt, whether to resist, how to appropriate and to what degree (again, depending on the 
benefits that it might bring). Globalised movements, which seek to change people throughout the world 
for the benefit of a few, present themselves as opportunities for empowerment, as well as personal and 
communal gain.  
Change in the practice of new practices and beliefs can bring increased spiritual upliftment and 
empowerment for an individual and/or a community. While such spiritual benefit might be direct and 
obvious, more than often individuals? spiritual growth is something complex to experience and to evaluate. 
I believe that as individuals come into contact with new practices and beliefs that they might see the 
benefit in appropriating, changes are made towards this. Benefits might include spiritual strengthening, 
social cohesion, and increased social status by association.  
* 
Tourism 
Tourism is an industry with much potential in World Heritage Sites. With an eased access to travel around 
the world and a stronger than ever sense of time-space compression, people enjoy exploring less 
travelled countries. Such is the case of Mozambique, which in the last decade has seen its tourism 
industry blossom enormously and become a great source of profit for those directly and indirectly 
involved. Additionally, people enjoy travelling to sites that carry historical meaning, in which one can 
witness ?how things were done before? and to an extent, how we came to be how we are now. 
Mozambique Island is one of those sites, as its role in the Spice Route from Western Europe to Asia was 
critical, as well as in the establishment of the slavery trade.   
The claim of a space as a World Heritage Site in the current post-modern neo-liberal space-time 
compression world automatically increases the interest in this space, it becoming the target of leisure and 
heritage tourism. Mozambique Island, as a World Heritage Site, receives particular attention, as this 
status legitimises a special offering this place holds to the rest of humanity. The World Heritage status 
bestowed upon the island has a direct and clear impact on the tourism industry of Mozambique Island, 
clearly intensifying it. Who benefits from Mozambique Island being a World Heritage Site? There are two 
main population groups that benefit from this, but within these two, individuals benefit in a heterogeneous 
way. Firstly, there is the population of Mozambique Island, who, through the tourism industry, could 
benefit economically and socially. Secondly, there are the visitors, who benefit from the historical 
knowledge they absorb as well as the physical and emotional experiences lived while visiting 
Mozambique Island. Going back to the first population group, on one island of approximately 30 000 
 126 
individuals, everyone has a different relationship with the tourism industry; individuals benefit from it 
differently, according to the way they appropriate the idea of it, how they explore it, and where they stand 
in relation to it. The benefactors could be anyone that consciously decided to explore the tourism industry 
that is currently blossoming due to the World Heritage Status of the island, and those who indirectly 
benefit from it (children of business owners, amongst others). Additionally, it is worth keeping in mind that 
the loss of the World Heritage Status as well as the continuing degradation of the island, will contribute 
very negatively towards the growth of the tourism industry in this locality. 
?This one is also his. And that one, all the way to the end of the road. The whole block 
in fact. But he?s not around. He was here to buy them about 18 months ago.? Momadi 
tells me this as matter of fact this morning. I am shocked a foreigner has been able to 
buy such a large plot, and its adjacent plots too. I am even more shocked that the 
property is not being looked after. At all. There are roofs falling down, and I could see 
that people have tried to steal the wooden frames. What makes one eligible to own 
World Heritage? Should one?s intentions be considered, or is it merely a matter of 
financial capacity and dealings with the ?right? people who are willing to facilitate 
such endeavour for a little bonus. 
Nonetheless, as Hall (2006) reminds one, there are potential implications of increased tourism for World 
Heritage Sites, which need to be carefully taken into consideration, in relation to the existing complexities 
of these sites. Hall (2006) remarks that these implications entail extra tourists, more government and 
agency support, changed access and use of the site, new regulatory structures, and changed economic 
flows (Hall 2006: 21). I recommend that the National government of Mozambique as well as UNESCO 
take extra care and pay attention to the impact that tourism will have on this island, from its visible to the 
less visible impacts. The tourism industry in Mozambique Island needs to be closely monitored, and 
organised to allow for the islanders to benefit from it.  
Only by developing a positive, dynamic interface between local people and 
tourist as key stakeholders will it be possible to continue to provide a 
distinctive cultural tourism experience celebrating cultural diversity at each 
World Heritage Site as well as improved visitor management (Millar 2006: 50). 
 ?I think it?s very good that foreigners visit the island. Those who have something to sell, 
when there are some visitors they can make some business. Without the support of foreign 
people we are not known.?  Abdul Rahim Ali Momade  
Director of Madrasa Babu Salaam 
 
?If there was more tourism, if there were conditions to receive more tourists that would be 
great. Tourists bring good things, because when we have something to sell they buy it. It?s 
another way for the population to benefit. When they come in here they buy everything: 
cakes, beads, cookies. Everything!? Martinho Carola and Manuel At?pore  
Secretaries of Neighbourhood 
?I think that the future of the island goes through three fundamental development areas: 
the fishing industry, the tourism industry and the production of salt.? 
Flora Maria de Pinto Magalh?es 
President of the Tourism Association 
 
?Leaders must have sensibility in what comes to tourism, heritage, and economy.?  
Flora Maria de Pinto Magalh?es 
President of the Tourism Association 
 
?We?ve got a project entitled ?OPEN YOUR EYES? ? it?s a development project to exchange 
experiences about tourism at national level. So we have chosen Niassa where there is 
cheap sustainable tourism. We intend to take a few tourism operators and two community 
leaders so that they can see the connection between tourism and community in those 
places.?    Flora Maria de Pinto Magalh?es 
 127 
President of the Tourism Association 
 
?Tourism. The future of the island is only tourism. I think it will happen because we are 
walking towards it, we are getting ready for it.? 
Imo  
Municipality?s Officer for Finances and Public Works 
 
?I want to believe that once the condition of the buildings has been bettered then that will 
mean a greater attraction of tourists, of investors. With more tourists and interested 
investors, there will be a bigger profit which will mean more employment, which will mean 
more families with bread, which means a better quality of life.?  
Silv?rio Naoito  
Director of the Museum of Mozambique Island 
 
* 
6.4 Conclusive thoughts: The Field of World Heritage 
?We are not static, but we should maintain that which is our heritage, accepting those 
values that make this a World Heritage Site. So that other people when they come here can 
say: ?These people here they know that this really is Mother of the World?.? 
Cristina  
(District Director for Education, Youth and Technology) 
World heritage is a status awarded to specific places that have outstanding value to humanity based on 
their physical and/or cultural qualities. On the other hand, it is also a concept that, if not appropriated and 
understood, does not reflect the status, and its value to humanity. This is where the notion of scale, the 
global, the local, and the in-between, comes in handy, helping bring light to the gap between the concept 
and status, and its materialisation on the ground. I suggest and argue for [1.] the need of closing the gap 
between the global and the local, [2] thinking of appropriation as a means to fill up that gap. World 
Heritage is a global concept and status. It is given by a world-recognised body, and managed by the 
national government (and determined national/regional agencies). In local terms, the place to which the 
award is attributed, exists in a specific context, with particular issues and strategies ? which are 
themselves informed and determined by issues at local, regional and global levels. I suggest [3] that 
thinking of global and local as binaries does not help understand the issues at hand in World Heritage 
sites. One needs to ?measure? and question the level of appropriation of the global concept and status, so 
as to understand how this has been made into a local one, with uniquely blended characteristics. Perhaps 
then, everything is local, or everything is global, and ideas and notions travel the word aided by new 
media technologies, political alliances and economic policies.  
It is no accident that the Regional Development Agencies see the 
benefits of World Heritage status as an opportunity to being people 
living in adjacent communities together, to develop a sense of self-worth 
and civic pride (Millar 2006: 52-3). 
Graham et al. maintain ?heritage is simply an assertion of ownership of the past and until that ownership 
can be collectivised on a world scale, rather than nationalised, localised or individualised, than heritage 
will more usually be a cause of national and local conflict than global reconciliation? (2000: 240). My belief 
is that Graham et al.?s argument will not apply in the spirit in which globalisation together with nationalism 
are the driving global forces behind identity creation. At the same time, I am interested in observing, in the 
decades to come, whether World Heritage Sites will be able to create a sense of belonging to all those 
 128 
who visit them. UNESCO, by giving the maintenance responsibility to the state in which the site lays, is 
not supporting their collectivisation. 
* 
The complex worlds of sites that are awarded Heritage Status cannot be undermined, ignored or simply 
unquestioned. Locations are specific, having contemporary and historical characteristics that determine 
particular relationships to the local, regional and the global, as well as relationships with power, 
geography, economy and culture. As shown throughout this research report, the manner in which 
individuals appropriate the status of World Heritage attributed by an external body to the locality they 
inhabit, changes according to the complexities of the social, political, economic and religious environment 
of that locality, as well as according to the benefits that individuals receive or perceive as receiving.  
World Heritage is, like other concepts, subjective, ever-changing, determined by the context in which 
people understand it and use it, existing in a particular network of social, economic and political 
relationships, and impacting on the networks and rhythms of the locality that has been attributed this 
status. The specificity and fluid nature of this concept should influence the specificity and fluidity of the 
status itself, in which the World Heritage Site, in practice, should be fashioned according to its context, 
rather than aiming at imposing new, different, over-arching, proved-somewhere-else theories and 
development practices in a World Heritage Site. It is my argument that World Heritage Sites need to be 
managed in a way that is participative, inclusive of its context and that in itself, allows for change, allows 
for it to be appropriated and become localised.  
So, how can the concept of World Heritage be challenged? Although, world heritage sites exist in relation 
to the rest of the world and according to the significance that they possess for generations to come, they 
are also localised. In light of this, the concept and therefore the management of it has to be localised too; 
allowing for the participation of its management by local individuals, demonstrating how its appropriation 
could benefit these individuals. If this important fact of World Heritage is ignored, misunderstood or 
undermined, the process of a site being attributed such important status does not develop appropriately 
or have the development products that it could, especially when we look at developing rural settings. 
 
 129 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
?I?m a part of Mozambique Island. When they say that Mozambique 
Island is Cultural World Heritage ? there is no history without people. 
It is people who make history.? 
 
 
 
 
 
Issufo Buanami 
Former District Administrator; my Interpreter for this project; 
Photographed in front of the ;old bridge? 
 
 130 
7. Conclusion 
 
This section aims to bring this research report to a closure through the presentation of the argument that 
threads it, demonstrating the novelties manifested by the author both at a theoretical and a practical level 
within the context of World Heritage.  
Although my research only involved individuals that live on the island, from the informal conversation I 
had with regional and national government officials, as well as with Unesco staff, I conclude that their 
appropriation of Mozambique Island is itself poor and does not prescribe it total commitment, of either 
financial, technical or managerial resources. The responsibility is passed on from institution to institution, 
demonstrating a lack of interest in taking the human development and conservation of this island forward, 
into another level of sustainability in which tourism could play a great role in the betterment of the lives of 
the islanders of this World Heritage Site.  
The conservation of the heritage of Mozambique Island, given that the whole island has been nominated 
World Heritage, needs to be the result of a communal effort, managed by a recognised body that has 
technical knowledge of how to conserve, and in the case of Mozambique Island, also restore. So, in other 
words, although the effort of conservation of Mozambique Island needs to be administered and overseen 
by a technically recognised and institutionalised body, that should not mean that individuals loose their 
sense of responsibility. Individual responsibility towards the conservation of their heritage should be 
instigated, encouraged and claimed by the influence in the perception of the how individuals and groups 
could benefit from the conservation of the World Heritage of Mozambique Island.  
Mozambique Island was declared a World Heritage Site, by UNESCO, in 1991. Since then, in 2008, it 
was threatened with the possibility of losing its status, and falling into the list of Endangered World 
Heritage Sites. I started this research with the intention of unravelling the paradox behind why 
Mozambique Island is in such a poor conservation and management state, while its universal value 
recognised. What I went to find out was less technical and practical then I expected. What the 
investigation gifted me with was a new and, for me, vital way of understanding World Heritage in which 
individuals inhabit. 
The answer to my research question: Why is the World Heritage of Mozambique Island in its present 
state? is weaved in the concept of appropriation and that of complexities of a locality. I argue that the 
complexities of Mozambique Island determine the perception the islanders have of how World Heritage 
could potential benefit them, which in turn, directly informs conservation, maintenance and management 
strategies (at community, city council, regional and national levels).  
In other words, the appropriation of the identity and space of Mozambique Island as a World Heritage is 
fundamental for its conservation, maintenance and management. Appropriation only happens when the 
individual or group concerned think that he/she/they would benefit them at whatever level they think to be 
positive for their own lives. In the case study of Mozambique Island, through qualitative research, I came 
to the understanding that most subjects interviewed do not know what World Heritage is. They do not 
know what it signifies, how they could benefit from potential tourism associate with it and therefore why 
they should be putting extra effort in conserving it.  
 131 
I argue that on Mozambique Island there is a non-appropriation of its World Heritage due to its 
complexities, the main being: severe poverty, short goal orientation, lack of education, overpopulation, 
bad governance, inadequate political structuring of organisations and their responsibilities and poor 
support from the National Government.  
So could this state of non-appropriation be rectified? My suggestions include education, research and 
participation as the enabling tools. Through education individuals will understand the value and 
significance of World Heritage, for all other human beings, and for themselves and their children. 
Educational strategies would highlight the various ways individuals could benefit from the conservation 
and maintenance of their World Heritage.  
Research is fundamental in the development of a management plan. The various complexities, those that 
are visible and those that are invisible, need to be further explored and considered when developing 
strategies for the conservation and maintenance of this World Heritage Site. I argue that research needs 
to be done for extended periods of time, with vast contribution by local individuals who have been able to 
see complexities outsiders are unable to. Through in-depth research strategies the appropriation of World 
Heritage through participation, educational projects can be drawn and implemented. 
Participation in the development of a management plan and in the implementation of this is fundamental 
for the appropriation of World Heritage as something in which the islanders are involved and are 
consulted. Should integrated participation fail, the implementation of a management plan will not succeed 
even if the strategies are technically sound. 
This research question is complex on its own. Questions of the relevance of World Heritage in light of the 
poverty of the island emerge. I do believe in the importance of World Heritage, given its value as a 
witness of history. But I also believe in the importance of a locality and how Mozambique Island needs to 
be understood for what it is before we jump into making it a World Heritage site according to case-studies 
and world tested management plans.  
In this manner, my research report contributes in new, dynamic and exciting ways to the disciplinary fields 
of space studies, human geography and developmental anthropology. It links theory into practice, further 
contributing to the field of World Heritage and Management studies. The concept of appropriation and its 
benefits is central when attempting to look at the relationship between space and individuals.  
As for Mozambique Island, I trust that I have contributed in problematising World Heritage in relation to 
the island?s complexities. This report challenges development and management strategies currently 
employed in Mozambique; it challenges the idea that foreign technicians have the authority to write 
management reports; it challenges the way organisations liaise with each other and the values they act 
upon; it offers a fresh view into how individuals have the right to not take care of something others think of 
as important; it gives each individual value, making them equally important to World Heritage itself; it says 
?let?s stop, reflect, and act according to the actual reality of Mozambique Island?; and finally, it suggests 
that there is a positive and constructive way forward, through deeper knowledge of the island, through 
educating its inhabitants and through including them in its development, so that they do feel that the 
efforts put into the conservation and maintenance of their World Heritage will benefit them and their 
families, and will make them proud as the custodians of a space of universal value.  
 132 
 
 
?My favourite building is the hospital where I was born. [?] 
This is my land, I?m more free, more tranquil here.? 
 
Imo  
Municipality?s Officer for Finances and Public Works; 
Photographer in front of the hospital 
 
 133 
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9. Appendixes 
Appendix 1: UNESCO?s Declaration of World Heritage Status 
awarded to Mozambique Island 
 
 137 
 138 
Appendix 2: Skeleton of Individual and Group In-depth Interviews 
Part I - Personal Information 
1. Full name 
2. Place of birth 
3. If not born in Ilha, when did you move here? 
4. If not born in Ilha, do you know why you moved here? 
5. Date of birth 
6. Where do you presently? 
7. Did you ever move inside the island?  
8. If you ever moved, did you move from one neighbourhood to another? 
9. When and why? 
10. Currently, do you own the house where you live? 
 
Part II ? Citizenship in Mozambique Island 
11. Do you feel you are an active citizen in the life of Mozambique Island? 
12. In what ways do you participate in the social life of Ilha? 
13. What are you contributions to the social life of Ilha? 
14. Do you belong to any association in Ilha? 
15. If yes, which association? 
16. If yes, what position to you hold? 
17. If you could do more what would you do? 
18. Do you feel you have the opportunity of participating in the public life of Ilha? 
19. Is your participation limited in any way? 
20. If yes, by whom? 
21. If yes, in what way? 
22. If yes, how do you feel about this? 
 
Part III ? Level of Life in Mozambique Island 
23. Describe the level of life in Mozambique Island according to you. 
24. What causes this level as you describe? 
25. What do you think that could / should happen so that the life in Ilha betters? Give me your three priorities. 
26. Which institutions should be responsible for the execution of those priorities? 
 
Part IV ? Future of Mozambique Island 
27. Do you like living in Mozambique Island? Explain why. 
28. Do you want to continue living in Mozambique Island for the rest of your life? Explain why. 
29. Do you ever think of moving to the continent? Explain why. 
30. Would you life your children and grandchildren to live here? Explain why. 
31. According to you, realistically, how do you see the future of Mozambique Island? 
32. Ideally, what is the future you wish for Ilha? 
 
Part V ? Perceptions and Value given to World Heritage 
33. Is Mozambique Island a World Heritage site? 
34. Since when? 
35. Why is Ilha a World Heritage site? 
36. What geographical area is considered World Heritage? 
37. What is World Heritage? Please give me a definition. 
38. Who attributed that status to the island? 
39. Does this status hold any significance? Explain. 
40. Has there been any change due to this status? 
41. If yes, what were the positive changes? 
42. If yes, what were the negative changes? 
 
Part VI ? Participation in the Conservation / Protection of World Heritage 
43. Do you participate or have you ever participated in the protection of the World Heritage? 
44. If yes, in what way? 
45. If yes, where exactly? 
46. If yes, when exactly? 
 139 
47. Do you participate or have you ever participated in the reconstruction of the World Heritage? 
48. If yes, in what way? 
49. If yes, where exactly? 
50. If yes, when exactly? 
51. Do you have the opportunity of participating in the reconstruction or protection of the World Heritage? 
52. Would you like to participate more? 
53. If yes, what would you do, if you could? 
54. If yes, explain why you do not participate more. 
55. Is your participation limited in any way? 
56. If yes, by whom? 
57. If yes, in what way? 
58. If yes, how do you feel about this? 
59. If you could, if there was a Local Committee for World Heritage would you like to be part of it? 
60. Do you think that those who worked for it should be remunerated? 
61. If you could, would you like to participate in the design of programmes for the protection of World Heritage? 
62. If you could, would you like to participate in the implementation of programmes for the protection of World 
Heritage? 
63. Which institution is currently responsible for the management of Mozambique Island?s World Heritage? 
64. Is this institution performing well? Explain why. 
65. How could this better? 
 
Part VII ? Education about World Heritage 
66. Have you ever been educated or informed about World Heritage? 
67. If yes, by whom? 
68. If yes, when exactly? 
69. What information do you remember receiving? 
70. Have you ever educated our informed someone about World Heritage? 
71. If yes, whom? 
72. If yes, when exactly? 
73. What information do you remember transmitting? 
 
Part VIII ? Personal Perspective on World Heritage / Mozambique Island 
74. If you could better a component of Mozambique Island?s World Heritage, what would that be? 
75. What geographical area of the island needs for work? Explain why. 
76. According to you, which building has the highest value? Explain. 
77. Which is your favourite building in the Island? Explain. 
78. If you could choose a building to be recovered which one would that be? Explain. 
 
Part IX ? World Heritage in the World 
79. Are there other World Heritage sites in the world? 
80. If yes, do you know some of these? [give me three examples] 
81. From the ones you mention, do you know why they are considered World Heritage? 
82. Have you ever visited another World Heritage site? 
83. If yes, when and why? 
84. If yes, did you like it? Explain why. 
 140 
Appendix 3: List of Interviewed Institutions  
 
Municipal Council 
District Administration 
Mosques 
Secretaries of Neighbourhood 
Traditional Chiefs 
Religious Leaders 
Cultural Groups 
Association of the Friends of Mozambique Island 
NUSA Association 
Department of Culture, Education and Technology 
Association of Tourism 
High School 
Museum 
 
 141 
Appendix 4: Brief History of Mozambique Island  
MOZAMBIQUE ISLAND: WHERE CULTURES CONVERGE 
By LUIS FILIPE PEREIRA, 
VICE PRESIDENT of the Association of the Friends of Mozambique Island 
6th of June 1992 
Spanning the contrary effects of the Indian Ocean on side and close relationship with the nearby mainland its other 
side, Mozambique Island has a longstanding tradition of being able to assimilate foreign influences and foment an 
enormous wealth and variety of interchange between cultures. Over the centuries these influences have been both 
absorbed into the inhabitants? daily life and at the same time have been adapted to the specific characteristics of the 
local surroundings. 
Special demographic, biological, cultural, social and economic phenomena have converged in the island, creating a 
unique from of urban settlement with a homogeneous cultural unity all of its own. 
Owing to its convenient location close to the Northern mainland of Mozambique and at the crossroads of many Indian 
Ocean routes, as well as its safe bay, the island has had a crucial role as a trading centre along this part of the 
African coast. 
The vastness of the Indian Ocean favoured maritime communications. The climate, with its rotating monsoons and 
relative absence of storms, permitted safe and regular crossings by sailing boat. Communications by sea were more 
economical than other forms, as long as it was possible to build boats able to carry merchandise efficiently and 
safely. With such ocean going ships, the seas and tides brought people together instead of separating them.  
The Indian Ocean this became a cultural continuum from the first centuries of our era until almost the 15th Century.  
The result of these contacts between Arab and Bantu peoples was the development of a unique cultural amongst the 
Islamised peoples of the coast, known as the Swahili culture. The Islamic people who came to Mozambique Island 
were probably from Zanzibar, Kilwa and the Comoros. Naharra, the Macua dialect spoken here, is a linguistic group 
inherited from this Swahili culture. 
Land communications between sub-Saharan African and the rest of the world were tenuous. Accessible harbours for 
the ocean going sailing boats were thus a vital means of transporting goods, and hence also for transmitting cultural 
influences. 
Goods for export were brought to the towns and to the coast, thus favouring closer relations among the various 
coastal people rather than between them and the peoples living in the interior. 
The Arabs were the navigational pioneers in the Indian Ocean. They were in contact with the Mozambican coast from 
the 8th century onwards, and their commercial activities resulted in the appearance of the first trading posts. 
During this period of Island expansion, the Arabs monopolised the maritime trade between East and West. India was 
forced to accept Arab seamen as the sole intermediaries for their goods. For several centuries, spices and other 
Eastern exports could only arrive in European markets through Arab intermediaries. 
The Islamic sultanate of Gujarat was the main centre of commercial activity of the East.  
The prosperity of some Indian Ocean towns and ports derived from their strategic location as points of transit for 
merchandise from the East. 
Indian traders, some of the Muslims, began to appear in East African ports. They reached a tacit understanding with 
the Arabs, whereby the latter and the Islamised or Swahili population retained the links with the interior. 
Competition between Arabs and Indians, and in particular between Arabs and Chinese on the seas, illustrated the 
importance of the spice route and the trade in luxury merchandise. 
The trading profits of the Arabs, Indians, Chinese and Indonesians, the easterners secrecy as to their commercial 
circuits and the spice route, combined with myths of wealth and abundance, precious stones, beautiful cloth, exotic 
perfumes, valuable timber, delicious fruit, the renowned pepper, and the unknown and wonderful world located 
somewhere, out there beyond the near-East, made Westerners envious and keen to penetrate that world, dominate 
the routes and control the wealth. 
Consequently, with their unique combination of a well-developed middle class and considerable sea going 
experience, the Portuguese tried to link the main shipping routes and gain a monopoly over commercial exchange 
between East and West. 
 142 
Vasco da Gama arrived at Mozambique Island in 1498 and sought out information on the route to India. However, he 
only managed to get there with the help of an Arab pilot recruited much further North in the port of Melinde. 
From the 16th century onwards, the Mediterranean gave way to the Atlantic, and Lisbon and Seville replaced Venice, 
Genoa and Marseille, as the centre of attention. 
The Portuguese were interested in Mozambique Island as a safe harbours enroute to India, and also as the outlet for 
the gold from Monomatapa, which was exchanged from the Asian spices. 
In later centuries, ivory and the slave trade became important as an easy source of wealth. 
But the project did not advance as the Portuguese had planned. The Islamised communities, which were already 
organised into political communities, sheikhdoms and sultanates ? in particular Sancul and Quintangonha ? and 
which had close though subordinate relations with Zanzibar and the Comores, put up strong resistance. They did not 
wish to loose their privileges, particularly in the export of slaves and the control of some commercial circuits. 
In addition to the Portuguese, there were other European competitors in the race to control the trade routes. The 
Dutch tried to occupy Mozambique Island in the 17th century, the French managed to become the main intermediaries 
in the slave trade to the Indian Ocean Islands, and the British increased their control over the region?s navigational 
routes. 
In the face of all this activity, Portuguese colonial occupation was no easy task, and it was only achieved in the 20th 
century. 
Mozambique Island as it exists today, is the result of this historical process. Its architectural and lifestyle reflect the 
successive Arab, Swahili, Indian and Portuguese cultural influences it has assimilated over the centuries. 
The Indian Ocean islands and coastal cities, such as Mogadishu, Mombasa, Lamu, Zanzibar, Comoros, Ibo and 
Mozambique Island clearly have many similar features, as a result of their common cultural influences, commercial 
functions, and building materials and techniques. 
Mozambique Island, the old colonial capital, has buildings dating from the 16th to the 19th century. Stone, white-wash 
and macuti (palm fronds) are the most common building materials in the coral based Indian ocean coastal towns. 
The clearest signs of the Portuguese occupation can be seen in the fortress, St. Paul?s Palace, the 16th century 
Manualine Chapel filled with motifs relating to the ?discoveries?, the facades and interiors of the Catholic churches, the 
paved streets, and the style of some of the houses and monuments. 
The Indians, who settled on the Island in large numbers from the 17th century onwards, became the main distributors 
of cloth in the interior in exchange from local goods.  Trading posts, warehouses, doors, verandas, porches, indo-
 Portuguese style furniture, and a Hindu Temple attest to this influence. 
The Swahili culture predominated to this day, in the people?s lifestyle. It is visible in the music, dancing (tufo, ntsope 
and mualide), food, trading practices and houses (both stone and macuti) and also in the Muslim religions which 
governs all aspects of daily life.  
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Appendix 5: Relevant Extracts from the City Council Code  
MOZAMBIQUE ISLAND CITY COUNCIL 
CITY COUNCIL CODE 
2006 Edition 
Page 3: 
 2.1 This City Council Code is a gathering of municipal rules and norms destined to regulated the cohabitation 
amongst the residents, regulate the code of the city council residents with regards to the environment, regulate the 
exercise of their economic and socio-cultural activities, as well as the constructing of new buildings, the preservations 
and restoring of the immovable, historic and archaeological heritage of Mozambique Island. 
2.2 The norms and regulations presented in this Code are compulsory for all citizens and bodies based or with 
activities in Mozambique Island City Council. 
Page 4:  
4.1 Mozambique Island?s city council has, especially its insular city, a secular historic reservoir, where people of 
various places in the world crossed paths and fused, with especial emphasises for the Macua, Ajawas merchant, 
Indonesians, Persians, Arabs, Chinese, Indian and Portuguese, the latter having occupied the territory by gun force.  
4.2 The cohabitation between the owners of this land and all those that came to stay in this strategic territory, created 
e consolidated cultural values that enrooted itself in the islanders? lives, as it can be felt in their humility and 
hospitability, in their eating and dressing habits, in the architectural characteristics of their buildings and the materials 
used in the traditional and conventional buildings. 
5. BUILDING LICENSING 
The building of new building and the reconstruction of degraded existing one in the interior of Mozambique Island, will 
obey, always and compulsory, to the previous technical approval of the Office for Conservation of Mozambique 
Island, where the licensing and other administrative proceedings are the responsibility of the Municipal Council. 
Page 6: 
6. HISTORICAL IMMOVABLE HERITAGE 
The conservation, restoring, rehabilitation and maintenance of immovable heritage will be done considering the 
original architectural characteristics, specially with regards to the terraces and facades, including the original 
materials used, such as stone and lime, macuti and others, it being compulsory that the use of other materials rather 
than the originals as well as the introduction of strange elements be approved by the Office for the Conservation of 
Mozambique Island. 
Page 9: 
Chapter II ? CODE ABOUT SANEAMENTO, ENVIRONMENT AND GRAVEYARDS 
Section I ? ABOUT HYGIENE AND CLEANLINESS 
Article 1 ? (COUNCIL?S RESPONSBILITIES) 
It is Mozambique Island?s Municipal Council?s responsibility to care for the public hygiene in the whole city, Lumbo 
Village and beaches, providing cleanliness and garbage collection e the positioning of mobile garbage depositories in 
all public streets, parks, sidewalks and squares, beaches and municipal graveyards. 
PAGE 67 
Chapter VII ? CODE ABOUT CONSERVATION AND RESTORING OF IMMOVABLE HERITAGE 
Article 102 (Previous facts) 
1. Mozambique Island is part of World Heritage List since 1991, with this declaration: ?The City and the forts in 
Mozambique Island and in the Island of St Lourenco are an excellent example of architecture with local traditions, 
and Portuguese and to an extent, Indian and Arab influences, all entangled?. Furthermore, ?Mozambique Island is an 
important witness to the establishment and development of the Portuguese maritime routes between West Europe 
and the Indian sub-continent and towards the rest of Asia. 
2. The authenticity of the Island is considered to be original because its architectural unity is noteworthy due to the 
consistent use, since the 16th century, of the same construction technique and the same construction materials, 
especially stone and lime, as well as the decorative principles. 
3. It is important to note that the whole island has been inscribed as World Heritage, with it s Stone Town and Macuti 
Town and all its buildings, forts, streets, open air locations, harbours, other construction and the seashore, as well as 
the Island of St. Lourenco. 
Article 103 (Normative Principles) 
1. In the name of the Mozambican state, the National Direction for Cultural Heritage (DNPC ? Direc??o Nacional do 
Patrim?nio Cultural), represented by the Office for the Conservation of Mozambique Island, is responsible for the 
administration and monitoring of this World Heritage Site, while the Municipal Council in its quality as Government of 
Autarchy, has the responsibility of everyday administration of the World Heritage of Mozambique Island. 
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2. In principle, all buildings of Mozambique Island, are listed are historical monuments and are dealt in this way. 
3. The global objective of this code is to bestow authenticity to the buildings and of the City for the coming 
generations. 
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Section II HISTORICAL and CULTURAL WORLD HERITAGE 
Article 108 (Of Classification) 
1. The City of Mozambique Island is classified Historical and Cultural World Heritage due to: 
a. Its history; 
b. Its immovable heritage and secular monuments; 
c. Its architectural patterns and urban unities; 
d. Its movable and immovable cultural goods; 
e. Its localities and places of historical and archaeological interest. 
2. The Law of Protection of Cultural Heritage currently in place is the principal legislative tool for the defence of the 
heritage of Mozambique Island, it being the responsibility of the City Code to materialise this in the jurisdiction 
territory of the Autarchy. 
Article 109 (Of Administrative and Technical Authority) 
The President of the City Council and the Office for Restoring and Conservation of Historical Monuments of 
Mozambique Island are the principal authorities responsible for the realisation and implementation of this Code. 
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Defence and Protection of the Historical heritage of Mozambique Island 
Article 110 (Restoration and Conservation of Historical Cultural) 
1. The restoration construction works and any type of technical intervention on the historical monuments is of the 
responsibility of the Office for Restoration or institutions directed at this and rightly authorised. 
2. The restoration construction works and any type of technical intervention in the remaining built components of 
Mozambique Island, will always be performed under strict authorisation from the President of the City Council, taking 
into consideration the advise from the Office of Restoration and Conservation of Monuments of Mozambique Island. 
3. It is strictly prohibited to modify, partially or totally destroy the facades of the buildings in the area of cultural 
protection, on threat of fine and obligation to recompose the architectural expressions as well as the initial finishings. 
4. It is compulsory to obey to the rules and principal basic techniques of restoration, including the doses and 
application of advised material during the restoration works, under the threat of gradual fines according to the gravity 
of the transgression e subject to demolitions of these sections, under the responsibility of the transgressor. 
5. It is the responsibility of the Office of Restoration to develop, divulge and orient the basic technical principal of 
restoration, as well as the recommend listing and dosage of construction materials. 
6. The mistakes in the intervention and restoration constructions works that are not repaired on a voluntary basis, 
will be sanctioned with fines as well as criminal proceedings. 
Article 111 (Commercialisation, Sale and Movement of Cultural and Heritage Goods) 
1. The group of objects created or collected throughout history, by the various people that inhabited Mozambique 
Island are considered Cultural and Heritage Goods, including: 
a. Specials and groups of material such as rocks, minerals, shells, fossils and others; 
b. Objects of archaeological, numismatic, philatelic and heraldic origin, namely: 
i. Licit and ceramic objects; 
ii. Emblems, coat of arms, flags, symbols and banners; 
iii. Old manuscripts, rare editions, illustrations, maps, pictures and bibliographic documents; 
c. Pieces of art and arts craft, such as panels, painting, drawing, and objects of popular art; 
d. Movies and sound clips of historical value. 
The sale or commercialisation of cultural and heritage goods will be permitted to individuals and collectives, with 
priority given to Museums, Monuments, Conserving Entities or Collectors and private citizen.