Objectives
Sao Tome and Principe is one of the few countries not to have any properties inscribed on the World Heritage List, and the roças were selected in 2022 by the Government of Sao Tome and Principe to be the first dossier to be submitted to UNESCO. UNESCO entrusted CRAterre with the task of drafting the proposal, and CRAterre worked with local heritage stakeholders for 11 months, from February to November 2024.
The inscribed property is a series of 6 rocas: Monte Café, Agua Izé, Diogo Vaz and Sao Joao on the island of Sao Tomé, and Sundy and Belo Monte on the island of Principe. The justification for this proposal hinges on the idea that the roças, industrialised agricultural estates in São Tomé and Príncipe, illustrate the transition from forced labour after the abolition of slavery, exploiting African populations to maximise European profits, even after the official abolition of slavery in 1875. Meticulous bibliographical work and ongoing research have made it possible to count over 330,000 people who found themselves uprooted from their homelands and cut off from their families to work in extremely harsh conditions. The other criterion defended is that of agroforestry farming, which today combines cocoa and coffee trees with large trees, promotes biodiversity, improves soil fertility and produces high-quality organic harvests.
Results
- 6 roças nominated for inclusion on the World Heritage List
- 3 workshops with stakeholders
- 6 field missions to document the properties and meet stakeholders
- 164 pages of nomination dossier containing 309 illustrations (most of them previously unpublished) and numerous maps and plans of the roças designed for this nomination.
Partner
Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of Sao Tome and Principe
Funding
UNESCO
