Historically, Zanzibar has been endowed with rich biodiversity, natural resources and a home to some of the most breath-taking primary rainforests, which has constituted the basis for livelihood growth. The archipelago is home to distinct mangrove and cloves ecosystems in addition to tropical rainforests. It is one of the world’s biodiversity and spices hotspots because the variety of ecosystems supports and abundance of species. The amphibian, bird, and other plant species that are known to inhabit the island are endemic, including endangered species like colobus monkeys and the Pemba flying fox, which is mostly associated with availability of green environment.

However, with the growing population (768.2 people per square km) increased the demand of forest resources to unprecedented level with 3% degradation rate annually, exacerbated by climate change impacts, soil erosion and the deterioration of catchment and ground water exact massive pressure to rare plant and tree species include Vitex zanzibarensis, Venonia zanzibarica, Clausena asinata and Cardioptera Africana.  These underlined the importance of establishing the National Botanical Garden to conserve, promoting scientific research and education, public awareness, reaching the CBD GBF targets, including Target 4, which aims to halt species extinction, protect genetic diversity, and manage human-wildlife conflicts that will ultimately be led to addressing various challenges associated with climate change, deforestation and income generation in Zanzibar.