São Tomé’s brutal slave plantation history gets UNESCO status

The United Nations cultural agency, UNESCO, has added the historic plantations of São Tomé and Príncipe to its World Heritage list. The sites, known as *roças*, were large agricultural estates built under Portuguese colonial rule. Beyond their architecture and farming value, the plantations hold a dark history. Thousands of African workers were forcibly brought to the islands and forced to labor under harsh conditions. The UNESCO designation aims to preserve not only the buildings but also the memory of those who suffered there. The recognition places the small island nation on the global heritage map, highlighting a past that shaped its present.