WH_Wooden15_cover 10/11/05 11:10 Page 1 15 World Heritage papers5 World Heritage papers Caribbean Wooden Treasures Caribbean Wooden Caribbean Wooden Treasures Proceedings of the Thematic Expert Meeting on Wooden Urban Heritage in the Caribbean Region 4–7 February 2003 Georgetown, Guyana For more information contact: UNESCO World Heritage Centre papers 7, place de Fontenoy 75352 Paris 07 SP France Tel : 33 (0)1 45 68 18 76 Cover photo: The Sacred Heart Church in Fax : 33 (0)1 45 68 55 70 Georgetown, Guyana, opened on Christmas Day in 1861, tragically destroyed by fire on E-mail : [email protected] Christmas Day in 2004. © R.van Oers 2002 World Heritage World http://whc.unesco.org paper; printed on chlorine free Cover paper interior printed on recycled RectoVerso Design by WH_WoodenUrban 10/11/05 11:08 Page 1 Caribbean Wooden Treasures Proceedings of the Thematic Expert Meeting on Wooden Urban Heritage in the Caribbean Region 4–7 February 2003 Georgetown, Guyana WH_WoodenUrban 10/11/05 11:08 Page 2 Photos and images presented in the texts are the copyrights of the authors unless otherwise indicated. Disclaimer The authors are responsible for the choice and presentation of the facts contained in this publication and for the opinions therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization. The designation employed and the presentation of the material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Published in 2005 by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre with financial contribution from the Netherlands Funds-in-Trust 7, place de Fontenoy 75352 Paris 07 SP France Tel : 33 (0)1 45 68 18 76 Fax : 33 (0)1 45 68 55 70 E-mail : [email protected] http://whc.unesco.org Compiled and edited by R. van Oers and S. Haraguchi WH_WoodenUrban 25/11/05 9:53 Page 3 Foreword Under the Global Strategy for a Balanced, Representative and Credible World Heritage List, adopted by the World Heritage Committee in 1994, the Caribbean Region was earmarked as being under-represented as regards the wealth and diversity of its natural and cultural heritage. In response, the World Heritage Centre designed an Action Plan to assist Caribbean States Parties in the identification, protection and conservation of their heritage and to provide financial and technical support to build capacity. These proceedings of a Thematic Expert Meeting on Wooden Urban Heritage in the Caribbean Region, held in Georgetown (Guyana) in February 2003, report on a series of specialized workshops organized by the World Heritage Centre to identify and document particular categories of heritage pertinent to the Caribbean region. Other than gaining an understanding of what exists and what needs to be preserved, these workshops also served to increase public awareness among stakeholders and shareholders of the way cultural heritage may form an important asset within the process of cultural development. Unfortunately, low priority is still given to cultural development and heritage preservation in terms of the attitudes of government officials, legislators, community and business leaders, whether on financial sup- port for programmes or the conception of cultural heritage as an integral part of sustainable development policies and programmes. Furthermore, individual UNESCO Member States may lack the means (finance and expertise) to become real interlocutors for cultural heritage (including World Heritage). In recognition of these deficiencies, the World Heritage Centre organized a Regional Training Course on the Application of the World Heritage Convention and its Role in Sustainable Development and Tourism in the Caribbean (Dominica, 2001), as well as an assistance programme to a selected number of States Parties for the drawing-up and implementation of national – or, if appropriate and possible, (sub)regional – policies and work plans for the application of the Convention. This programme preceded the Expert Meeting on Wooden Urban Heritage. To take all this a step further, the Centre has established a World Heritage Programme for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), which will focus attention on the special challenges and needs of SIDS as iden- tified through the Periodic Reporting process and emphasized during the Mauritius International Meeting (January 2005), providing for enhanced assistance to co-ordinate and develop World Heritage related activities on the islands of the Caribbean, Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. During its 29th session in Durban (South Africa) in July 2005, the World Heritage Committee approved this SIDS Programme and provided seed money to start programming. The outcomes of the specialized workshops, including the Expert Meeting on Wooden Urban Heritage, will serve to inform further assistance to and development of the States Parties in the Caribbean region and beyond. Francesco Bandarin Director, UNESCO World Heritage Centre Paris, France 3 WH_WoodenUrban 10/11/05 11:08 Page 4 WH_WoodenUrban 10/11/05 11:08 Page 5 Table of Contents Foreword Francesco Bandarin, Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre Page 3 Introduction and Summary Report of Expert Meeting (with Declaration of Georgetown) Page 7 Ron van Oers, Chief of Unit a.i. for Latin America and the Caribbean Map of the Caribbean Region as defined by UNESCO Page 16 Papers on Context Page 19 The growing World Heritage tourism market: a major challenge for conservation management Page 21 Bernd von Droste zu Hülshoff Caribbean heritage: its uses and economic potential Lennox Honychurch 2 Page 27 Wooden Caribbean cities as World Heritage: outline for a comparative analysis Page 33 between Paramaribo (Suriname) and Georgetown (Guyana) Ron van Oers 3 Thematic application: Caribbean wooden urban heritage Patricia E. Green 4 Page 41 Papers on Case Studies Page 45 The use of timber in Barbados: the case of the chattel house Steve A. Devonish 5 Page 47 Wood: the cultural bridge of the Caribbean Nilson Acosta Reyes 6 Page 51 Promoting the rescue of a misunderstood heritage Iris de Mondesert 7 Page 55 Dominica’s architectural heritage in transition: authentic vs aesthetic Elise Johnston-Agar 8 Page 59 The glories of pre-colonial timber construction of the Guianas and Caribbean William Harris 9 Page 63 The folk architecture of Saint Kitts and Nevis Suzanne Gordon 0 Page 67 Saint Lucia’s wooden urban heritage Duane Marquis Page 71 Protecting the wooden urban heritage in Trinidad and Tobago Vel A. Lewis 2 Page 75 Annex A: Programme of the meeting Page 79 Annex B: List of participants Page 83 Annex C: ICOMOS Charter on Principles for the Preservation of Historic Timber Structures (1999) Page 87 Annex D: Summary Reports of Thematic Expert Meetings in the Caribbean Page 91 WH_WoodenUrban 10/11/05 11:08 Page 6 WH_WoodenUrban 10/11/05 11:08 Page 7 Introduction and Summary Report of Expert Meeting (with Declaration of Georgetown) by Ron van Oers, Chief of Unit a.i. for Latin America and the Caribbean, UNESCO World Heritage Centre UNESCO thematic expert meetings wooden heritage still present in the Caribbean region and exchange information on issues of protection and The Thematic Expert Meeting on Wooden Urban conservation. Furthermore, part of the meeting aimed Heritage in the Caribbean Region was organized by at debating the role of this heritage in strengthening the UNESCO World Heritage Centre in co-operation cultural identity, both of individual islands and the with the Government of Guyana, the UNESCO Office Caribbean region as a whole, and what opportunities for the Caribbean in Jamaica and the Organization exist in terms of sustainable development, in particular of the Wider Caribbean on Monuments and Sites for tourism. (CARIMOS), with financial support from the Netherlands Funds-in-Trust at UNESCO, in February 2003 at Georgetown (Guyana). It was part of a series of thematic studies and related expert meetings involv- ing the Caribbean region, initiated under the Global Strategy Action Plan of the World Heritage Centre, aiming to facilitate the identification, protection, con- servation and nomination of specific categories of heritage pertinent to the Caribbean region – in this case the particular type of vernacular wooden archi- Chess Hall in Georgetown (Guyana): situation in 2002, tecture as part of larger urban ensembles. it collapsed soon after and has disappeared from Georgetown's historic streetscape Gravenstraat in Paramaribo (Suriname) with its Cathedral: A section of Gravenstraat in the heart of historic Paramaribo a fine urban ensemble in wood (Suriname) that was destroyed by fire some months after this photo was taken in 1996 The meeting originated from the clear recognition of For the implementation of this activity a co-operation the vulnerability of the historic wooden architecture was established with CARIMOS, which was created in remaining in cities and towns of individual Caribbean 1982 as a ten-year project by the Organization of islands today and the urgency of documenting and American States (OAS) and transformed into a regional preserving this heritage, which is disappearing rapidly non-profit organization in 1994. Pursuing its initial due to socio-economic changes, natural disasters, lack goal to identify and study the historic monuments of of maintenance and neglect. The expert meeting was the Caribbean region, CARIMOS has contributed to an effort to identify and map the various types of training activities, published the findings of its research 7 WH_WoodenUrban 10/11/05 11:08 Page 8 Introduction and Summary Report of Expert Meeting (with Declaration of Georgetown) and activities, and provided technical assistance in the rich tapestry of the Caribbean’s architectural heritage restoration and preservation of the cultural heritage of is the wealth of vernacular structures, which reflect the the region. Furthermore, it has completed the inven- development of the social order of the region.