Z'bar's Chumbe Island among top 20 greenest tourist places on earth.

The view from the lighthouse on Chumbe Island, part of the Zanzibar archipelago off of the coast of Tanzania in East Africa. 

Chumbe Island located in Zanzibar was on Tuesday ranked among the top 20 the greenest places for 2015 according to World Travel Guide, an international travel guide for adventurous travellers. The island was the 14th.

 

The global tourist guide on Tuesday released a list of 20 destinations in the world that are on the path to environmental enlightenment from self-sufficient villages to pioneering national parks.

 

According to the web portal, Costa Rica scooped top position on the list, followed by Ecuador, Rwanda, Uruguay, Brazil, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, Pitcairn Islands, the Isle of Eigg of Scotland, Bhutan, Sweden, Australia, Copenhagen, Chumbe Island in Tanzania, Britain, Iceland, Canada Azores Islands in Portugal and Portland, Oregon in that order. 

 

Chumbe Island Coral Park Ltd. (CHICOP) is an award-winning private nature reserve that was developed from 1991 for the conservation and sustainable management of uninhabited Chumbe Island off Zanzibar, one of the last pristine coral islands in the region.

The park includes a fully protected coral reef sanctuary and forest reserve that harbours extremely rare and endangered animals, a Visitor and Education centre, a small eco-lodge, nature trails and historical ruins. All buildings and operations are based on state-of-the-art eco-technology aiming at zero impact on the environment (rainwater catchment, photovoltaic energy and solar water heating, composting toilets, vegetative greywater filtration).

 

The company objectives are non-commercial, while operations follow commercial principles. 

 

The overall aim of CHICOP is to create a model of financially and ecologically sustainable Park management, where ecotourism supports conservation, research and comprehensive Environmental Education programs for local schools and other benefits for local people.

 

CHICOP has won several awards relating to its environmental and sustainable development work, most notably the UN 500 Roll of Honour:

 

With Chumbe being located upstream of the most important fishing grounds opposite Zanzibar's capital, Stonetown, the Chumbe reef provides a protected breeding ground for fish, corals and other species which can then spread out to recolonise nearby overfished and degraded areas. 

 

This makes Chumbe's protection of vital importance to both the preservation of bio-diversity and the fisheries economy in the region. On the December 24, 1994 the Zanzibar Government officially gazetted the reef as the "Chumbe Reef Sanctuary" and with this Chumbe had become the first marine park in Tanzania. Following this Chumbe became registered as a UN recognised Protected Area.

 

As for Rwanda which came third, according to the Travel Guide, the nation has excellent eco- credentials and the country has banned plastic bags – which makes it one of the cleanest nations on the planet.

 

"But that's just the tip of the eco iceberg. Thanks to its conservation efforts, Rwanda's endangered mountain gorillas are thriving, and there are also plans to reintroduce lions and rhinos to Akagera National Park later this year," says the continental guide.

 

"If you're visiting Rwanda on the last Saturday of the month, then you better pack a litter picker. Why? Because your trip will coincide with Umuganda (Community work), a day of national housekeeping when every citizen (including the President) goes out to clean the country".

 

Last year, the small Central African nation hosted a total number of about 1.22 million visitors, compared to around 1.122 million in the previous year, an annual increase of 97,000 visitors.

 

Visitors from the US were the most at 24,488, followed by India with 13,008 visitors, then the United Kingdom with 12,320, Belgium with 8,733 and Germany with 8,228 visitors.

 

RDB has been trying to diversify its tourism sector by promoting Rwanda as a destination for business travellers, through its Meetings, Incentives Conferences and Events (MICE) initiative. In 2014, the tourism industry generated revenue receipts worth USD304. 9m.

 

Tourist sites in Rwanda include mountain gorillas, canopy walk, national museums, Lake Kivu, bird watching, Congo Nile trail, Akagera and Nyungwe National parks, culture, among others.

 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN