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ANTIQUITIES DIVISION OF TANZANIA, WORLD MONUMENTS FUND AND THE CENTRE FOR HERITAGE DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA COLLABORATE IN SECURING KILWA KISIWANI AND SONGO MNARA WORLD HERITAGE SITES

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ANTIQUITIES DIVISION OF TANZANIA, WORLD MONUMENTS FUND AND THE CENTRE FOR HERITAGE DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA COLLABORATE IN SECURING KILWA KISIWANI AND SONGO MNARA WORLD HERITAGE SITES

The Antiquities Division of Tanzania, the World Monuments Fund (WMF) and the Centre for Heritage Development in Africa (CHDA) has signed a contract to undertake an extensive Land Use Planning exercise at the world heritage site of Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara. The Land Use Plan which emerges is aimed at protecting the heritage structures on the islands from destructive and deleterious development and secondly, to identify areas on the islands where physical, social or economic development can take place without negatively impacting the heritage site.

An extensive participatory process is planned, so as to garner local and national support for the plan. The teams of the Antiquities Division, WMF and CHDA – under the project management of CHDA will bring a deep understanding of issues related to heritage and preservation to the planning process whilst balancing community needs and issues.

The project kicks off in March 2012 with a submission to the World Heritage Committee planned for February 2013.

The project is part of a $700,000.00 USD (1,132,000,000.00 billion Tanzanian shillings) grant from the American people under the U.S. Department of State's Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) large grant program. The grant will support a project titled "Integrated Conservation at Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara, Tanzania".

Tanzania was one of only three nations worldwide selected for the 2011 AFCP large grant program for the preservation of ancient sites of global or national significance, which also included India and Jordan. The grant is the single largest cultural preservation funding offered by the U.S. to Tanzania, and supports public interest to preserve Kilwa Kisiwani.

CHDA network in action 2012

The CHDA has provided capacity building and professional expertise and support to heritage institutions across the African continent since 2000. Under the leadership of Mubiana Luhila and Mwadime Wazwa great strides were made in ensuring the sustainable development of national heritage institutions through enhancing technical skills. These same graduates from the CHDA program activities have gone on to become valued resources in their countries and in Africa. CHDA under new leadership and in keeping with its new strategy since 2009, wishes to build on this strong foundation. To this end, it has consciously decided to keep its operations lean and mean and draw on the very rich existing network of professionals, academics and experts on the African continent who have a wealth of expertise, education and experience in various aspects of heritage management. Simultaneously, growing this network through its on-going capacity building activities and partnerships with similar mandated and visionary international and African institutions. We invite YOU to become a part of this active network; participating in CHDA activities across the African continent, growing your professional experience whilst supporting our objective of strengthening heritage resource management in all its forms in Africa. Submit your CV with active work profile to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it OR call +254 41 2227985 for more details.