ABSTRACT
The Island of Mozambique is a small United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage island city on the East African coast. Mozambique gained its independence from Portugal in 1975 and the emphasis in terms of cultural heritage policy was placed on the creation of a new national cultural identity based on the official selective memories of the armed liberation struggle led by Frelimo. In 1997, the Director General of UNESCO, Federico Mayor, launched an international campaign to safeguard the Island of Mozambique. Under this initiative, the World Heritage Centre spearheaded a Programme for Sustainable Human Development and Integral Conservation funded by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UNESCO, the European Union and the Finnish Government. This chapter discusses the complex relationship between world heritage, poverty, sustainable development and governance within the nexus of concerns related to heritage conservation and management on Ilha.
