Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambique believes that the time has come to submit Ibo Island, in the north of Cabo Delgado, as a candidate for World Heritage Site status, Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosário said yesterday during celebrations of the island’s 260-year history.
Speaking at the opening of the first session of the Executive Council of the National Commission for UNESCO (CNUM), Do Rosário dubbed the island an expression of the symbiosis of African, Arab and European cultures.
The government, he said, was aware that the cultural mosaic found on Ibo Island constituted a unique heritage, a historical repository and a memory of the peoples who had passed through and lived there.
“This fact reaffirms our responsibility, as government, and that of our partners with regard to the need to value this cultural heritage,” the prime minister said.
The prime minister highlighted the importance of cooperation between the country and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNIESCO), pointing out that it was in the light of these ties and within the scope of the promotion and protection of the diversity of cultural expressions that Ilha de Moçambique became a World Heritage Site and the Timbila music and the Nyao dance were declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 1991 and 2005 respectively.
In the field of environment and biodiversity, the prime minister highlighted the recognition of the Quirimbas National Park, also in the north of Cabo Delgado, as a world-class conservation area, now integrated in the global network of biosphere reserves.
“This recognition brings to the country opportunities for better conservation, valorisation, and the sustainable use of natural resources, as well as for research and exchange of knowledge and experiences in the field of biodiversity conservation, climate change and local sustainable development,” he noted.
CNUM is an organ of the Council of Ministers responsible for coordination and cooperation between the country and UNESCO and is composed of ministers in the areas of Education, Science and Technology, Culture, Information and Communication, Sports and Foreign Affairs.
