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World Heritage Newsletter 48 WH_newsletter_48 8/04/05 16:00 Page 2 THE WORLD HERITAGE number 48 March-April 2005 Several recent events point to the increasing concern on the part of UNESCO and the World Heritage Centre for the conservation of heritage on the African continent. An important African Experts’ Meeting was held in Cape Town in This highly symbolic gesture, born of a com- March to define an African position for the forthcoming 29th session of the mon agreement between Italy and Ethiopia is World Heritage Committee to be held in Durban, South Africa in July. This paper to be welcomed by the entire international will be included in the working reports of the African Cultural Ministers’ meet- community. This is a historic moment. After ing in May, as well as the summit of the African Union set for January 2006. ‘68 years in exile, the Aksum obelisk returns to the heart of ancient Ethiopia, to the Tigrai In parallel to this gathering, a workshop was held to discuss the establishment region. It will once again be erected in the of an African World Heritage Fund. The proposed Fund, recommended by the former kingdom, which the Persian philoso- Africa Periodic Report of 2002, would work towards the mobilization of gov- pher Mani called the ‘world’s third kingdom’ ernments, bi- and multilateral donors, non-governmental organizations and and whose relics were among the first to be the corporate sector to address the challenges faced by African countries in inscribed on the World Heritage List. identifying, protecting and managing World Heritage properties. Koïchiro Matsuura, The figures speak for themselves. To date, 41 of the 47 sub-Saharan African UNESCO Director-General concerning the return of the countries have signed the World Heritage Convention. Although this repre- Aksum obelisk to Ethiopia. sents 22 percent of the total number of States Parties to the Convention, the contents ’ 63 African sites inscribed on the World Heritage List make up only 8 percent of the List. Added to this, a disproportionate number of African sites (14) are editorial among the 35 inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger. Africa’s heritage is disappearing even before it can be inscribed on the World 1 Editorial - Francesco Bandarin Heritage List, and once it is inscribed, it is often vulnerable to recurring natu- Director of the World Heritage Centre ral disaster. The lack of an adequate drainage system in the city of Timbuktu, for example, still remains a cause for concern today, three years after heavy rains and flooding brought serious damage to the World Heritage site. There is good news as well. After 68 years, the Aksum obelisk is to return to Ethiopia. Ethiopia and Italy agreed the historical funeral stela would return 2 The Tsunami Disaster and World Heritage from Rome to its home in Aksum. UNESCO is to draw up the project for the installation of the obelisk and the enhancement of the archaeological site, Interview with the Ambassadors of the which was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1980. The 1,700-year-old, Russian Federation and Lithuania 160-ton obelisk will be transported in three separate pieces. The Italian gov- ernment is paying for the transport of the stela to Ethiopia and for the site Revised Operational Guidelines for the assessment study, as well as for the erection of the stela. Implementation of the World Heritage Convention Another interesting development, which augurs well for the African continent was an important international ‘Conference on Biodiversity and Governance’, organized in Paris in January by the French Government and UNESCO. While one of the main objectives of this gathering of scientists and experts from all over the world was to assess current knowledge and define the needs for 3 International Conference on Biodiversity: research and scientific expertise, conservation of African biodiversity was at the Science and Governance heart of the discussion. In her speech, Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai reminded partici- Historic Court Judgment on World Heritage pants about the links between biodiversity conservation, sustainable develop- ment and poverty eradication and the need to empower local communities in International Workshop on World Heritage Africa to better manage their environment. The President of Madagascar, Marc Education Ravalomanana reiterated the commitment of his government to triple the sur- face of protected areas in Madagascar by 2009 and called upon the developed World Heritage in Danger countries to increase their support to African countries in conserving their rich biodiversity and natural heritage. Africa provides a number of interesting examples of how World Heritage sites can be protected through partnerships, a selection of which will be explored during the ‘Partners Day’ at the 29th session of the Committee, scheduled for 4 For Your Information 16 July. What Are They Doing? Francesco Bandarin, Director, World Heritage Centre Calendar WH_newsletter_48 8/04/05 16:00 Page 3 THE WORLD HERITAGE number 48 March-April 2005 The Maritime Archaeological The Tsunami Disaster Unit of Galle was washed and World Heritage away with its collections and equipment Several properties inscribed on the World Heritage List experts on site from 2 to 11 March to assess the damage are located in the regions hit by the earthquake and caused by the tsunami disaster and identify urgent the ensuing tsunami on 26 December 2004. UNESCO, restoration needs for the World Heritage property and along with experts from the Word Heritage community other cultural heritage properties. The mission also made and local authorities, is mobilizing all efforts to evalu- recommendations on disaster preparedness measures that The annex ate damage caused to these properties and to identify can be taken specifically for cultural heritage sites. to the old Dutch the necessary actions for the safeguarding, rehabilita- Hospital at tion and protection of the sites. Although no major destruction has been reported to the the Old Town Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra in Indonesia, in the of Galle UNESCO is actively participating in the aid to countries Gunung Leuser National Park, one of the three national World Heritage affected by the tsunami, under the coordination of the parks within this World Heritage site, infrastructure site was United Nations. UNESCO and its Intergovernmental was destroyed. Several staff members of the Nature destroyed by Oceanographic Commission (IOC) are also in the process of Conservation Unit have perished. The Nature Conservation the tsunami developing an interim tsunami alert system in the Indian Unit’s office in Banda Aceh has disappeared while the offices Ocean which will cover the region while a longer-term fully- in Tapak Tuan have been damaged. The Ujung Kulon fledged system is put in place. National Park in Indonesia did not sustain much damage as a result of the disaster, although the Park has been tem- The most affected World Heritage site was the Old Town of porarily closed to the public. Galle and its Fortifications in Sri Lanka. While the Galle Fort itself was not seriously damaged, water penetrated inside The Indian sites of Mahabalipuram and the Sun Temple of and superficially damaged some of the temples, churches Konarak, located in the tsunami’s path, did not suffer sub- and other religious buildings. The ramparts facing the east- stantial damage, according to the Indian national authorities. Religious ern and southern side were affected, while the ancient har- monuments bour and underwater heritage also ran into difficulty. UNESCO, ICCROM and ICOMOS developed action recom- along the Artifacts from the Maritime Archaeological Unit were mendations on cultural heritage risk management which coast, washed away. were adopted by the participating Member States during the damaged by the tsunami, World Conference on Disaster Reduction in January in Kobe, are surrounded UNESCO, responding to a request by the Ministry of Cultural Japan. by tents of Affairs and National Heritage of Sri Lanka, sent a team of survivors Aside from houses, the tsunami also Interview damaged cultural and with the Ambassadors spiritual of the centres Russian Federation Images from Galle, Sri Lanka Curonian © Giovanni Boccardi / UNESCO Spit National and Lithuania Park Information Centre © T.Vives/San Marcos © T.Vives/San The Curonian Spit will not be inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger as a result of an The Revised Operational Guidelines for agreement between the Russian Federation and Lithuania to undertake an environmental assess- the Implementation of the World ment of the impact of oil exploration and production in the Baltic Sea, 22 kilometers from the site. Heritage Convention entered into force The Newsletter spoke to Ambassador Vladimir Kalamanov of the Russian Federation and v . Ambassador Ina Marciulionyte of Lithuania. on 2 February 2005 This new version is the result of a long process of reflec- This decision to work together is being seen as an example of Ambassador Vladimir Kalamanov: Such considerations tion undertaken over the past few years and faithfully transboundary cooperation. Do you consider this to be a success should be applicable not only in the Baltic Sea, but everywhere complies with the decisions of the World Heritage story? in the world, since we all care about sustainable development. Committee. The main change in the new Operational v . Ambassador Ina Marciulionyte: We consider this as an impor- Russia is quite serious about environmental issues. It recently Guidelines
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