Past Watch Site

Typhoon Nadia in 1994 and an influx of refugees escaping civil war on the mainland have strained the already stressed architectural environment of Mozambique Island, a coral-reef barrier island in the Indian Ocean off the African coast. Collectively known as the City of Straw, village societies around the island linked by small boat transport retain the traditional way of life, including building techniques. In the sixteenth century, the Portuguese built a trading center in the European style at the north end of the island, the City of Stone. Today Mozambique is the world's poorest country, and its architectural fabric has suffered decline. Eighty percent of the island's housing stock and public buildings needs major repair and reconstruction. In parallel, a comprehensive social program that allows the local population to enhance the island's economic base is needed. With a peace agreement now in place and a new government sympathetic to revitalization, there is hope that this can begin.

UPDATE

In 1996 UNESCO and the United Nations Development Programme designed a "Programme for Sustainable Human Development and Integral Conservation" for the Island of Mozambique, which consisted of field research and planning in many areas carried out in 1997-1999. Since then, UNESCO has monitored the condition of the island's heritage, and two successful restoration projects have been completed on Casa Girassol and Saint Sebastian Fortress. The 16th-century fortress was restored with the participation of local architects and masons and with international support from the Government of Japan, the Union of Portuguese-speaking Capital Cities, the Portuguese Institute for Aid and Development, the Government of Flanders, and the Government of The Netherlands. Since 1999, through a program of the Organization of World Heritage Cities, Mozambique Island has partnered with the Norwegian city of Bergen, which has also resulted in international collaboration. Nevertheless, the Island of Mozambique continues to face important challenges, and the World Heritage Committee remains concerned about threats to the island's authenticity. February 2011

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