Eastern Africa Atlas of Coastal Resources United Nations Environment Programme - Tanzania

Tanzania has over 800 km of coastline, characterised by a mixture of beautiful sandy beaches, rocky outcrops, extensive coral reefs, and dense mangrove stands, especially around river deltas. Among the more famous of these natural resources are the beaches of Bagamoyo, the Jozani Forest Reserve, the coral reefs of Mafia, Zanzibar and Pemba, and the Amboni Caves. These coastal ecosystems support a wide variety of marine life. In addition, the coastal area’s historical attractions, including old buildings, ruins, and monuments, particularly those in Zanzibar and Bagamoyo, are among the finest in the region. It is also rich in cultural attractions, mainly related to people’s values, customs and traditions.

Coastal resources are valuable assets to the country and the coastal and marine environment provides numerous opportunities, thus encouraging concentrations of people and development activities there. In Tanzania over 20% of the population lives in its five coastal administrative regions, which encompass about 15% of the country’s land area. These areas are subjected to increasing pressures from a variety of activities, such as fishing, coastal aquaculture, salt making, waste disposal and the indiscriminate cutting of mangroves and coastal forests for fuel and timber.
Environmental challenges such as marine pollution, the use of destructive fishing methods and over-fishing, habitat destruction, coastal erosion and coastal urbanisation are highly complex issues, and require an integrated approach to address them. In this regard, the availability of relevant information and expert advice from various disciplines is necessary for the formulation of appropriate management actions. A number of marine environmental studies have been conducted in the country on aspects such as fisheries, mangroves, coral reefs, erosion and coastal tourism, among others. However, most of the information generated is not accessible for management purposes.

Through the Eastern African Coastal Resources Database and Atlas project, some of the data and information gathered have been processed and transformed into base maps on land and water use and functional zones using geographical information systems (GIS). Other data and information have been stored in the database established at the Institute of Marine Sciences of the University of Dar es Salaam and will be updated regularly. The database will help in achieving improved description, assessment, analysis and management of environmental issues.
This Atlas of marine and coastal resources in Tanzania is designed to raise the awareness and understanding of non-specialists, particularly decision makers, resource managers, students, and the general populace, on coastal and marine environmental issues and related challenges in Tanzania. It is written in non-technical language to make it easy to understand and use. It is hoped that the information contained in it will establish a new baseline of practical information to guide the research and planning of management initiatives in the coastal areas.

The book underlines the importance of the coastal and marine environment, not only as an environmental concern, but also as a political, social and economic issue. Used appropriately, I believe that it will go a long way in assisting decision-makers and resource managers in making informed decisions concerning the management of the coastal and marine environment. That is, decisions that will promote sustainable utilisation of resources for the benefit of present and future generations.