Proposal for Mantuli Eco-Resort to Occupy 23% of Ngezi-Vumawimbi Forest Reserve

TLDR

• A long wall has been constructed beside an old rubber plantation on the western edge of Ngezi-Vumawimbi Forest Reserve in Pemba, close to Vumawimbi beach.
• The wall, built by WIPI Group, extends for over two kilometers and is associated with the proposed Mantuli eco-resort, which plans to occupy 23% of the forest reserve.
• The Mantuli eco-resort proposal includes 130 houses and swimming pools, but the exact boundaries of the project remain unclear, raising public concerns.
• Local residents have reported that the wall has hindered forestry officers' patrols, access to ancestral graves, and the collection of firewood, impacting their daily lives.
• Conservationists and community members have expressed serious concerns about the wall's impact on wildlife movement and the management of the forest reserve.