Safeguarding ritual practices in the limestone cave areas along the Swahili coast of the Indian Ocean in Tanzania

The use and management of sacred limestone cave areas that local communities still use for ritual practices provide challenges to the country, because visitors (tourists) and researchers fail to abide by rules established by locals for the sacred areas. This study reveals that the country lacks sufficient guidelines or frameworks for best practices in safeguarding intangible cultural heritage (ICH). The study discovers that there are ritual practices, strict taboos and customary laws put in place by the local communities to control access to cave areas, such as the Kuumbi and Amboni limestone caves, which are sacred to the locals. The habit of visitors and researchers not adhering to the established regulations when visiting caves and their surroundings has created a disconnect between locals and their ritual practices, which prevents them from performing their rituals and other spiritual activities. This article proposes different measures to be adopted by the country to enable local communities to continue using the caves as a crucial part of their religious life without any disturbances. The article further argues that the country consider nominating ritual practices in limestone cave areas for inclusion in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.