Unguja Island

The Island of Unguja is situated approximately 20 nautical miles off the northern section of the Tanzania mainland coast across the Zanzibar Channel. It is the main island of the Zanzibar islands, the other being Pemba Island. The approximate area considered is 5,560 km squared.

Description

Mostly a flat fossil coral island close to the edge of the continental shelf, separated from the mainland by the 20-60 m deep Zanzibar Channel. There are numerous patch reefs and seagrass beds along the sheltered western shoreline. The eastern and southern coastlines have an exposed fringing reef broken at the entrance to Chwaka Bay. Chwaka Bay is one of two large bays with the other, Menai Bay, being in the southwest. These bays provide the largest stands of mangrove and could be connected by the low lying and partially flooded Jozani Forest. The waters around Unguja support at least 55 coral genera, 230 species of algae and nine species of mangroves. Five species of bird occur at over 1% of biogeographical populations. Mangroves and the Jozani Forest provide habitat for the endemic Red Colobus monkey. Jozani Forest is also a significant wetland area with high endemism. Five species of turtle have been recorded around Unguja, and there are two species of resident and two species of migratory dolphin. It is also an over-wintering area for Humpback whales. There are productive fisheries for small and large pelagic species. One of the associated smaller islands (Chumbe) still has intact island forest and a thriving population of coconut crabs. The latter are also present on some of the other small islands off the west coast.

Contacts

Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources (Zanzibar), Department of Commercial Crops, Fruits and Forestry (Zanzibar); IMS (UDSM), WIOMSA, CARE, WWF, Chumbe Island Coral Park, Mnemba Lodge, Regional Fisheries Information Systems Project (SADC/DFID), Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Project (SADC/EU).

Conservation Status

Several areas have some form of protective management ranging from the total protective
management of Mnemba and Chumbe Islands in the northeast and mid west respectively, both of which are managed by private concerns, to the multi-user Menai Bay Conservation Area in the southwest. The management of this area is a collaborative effort between communities and the Commission for Natural Resources, Zanzibar, supported by WWF. The Department of Commercial Crops Fruits and Forestry and CARE support Jozani forest management.

Summary of threats and information needs

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