Report No. 23457 Report No: I057770 <--Please check for duplicates! Integrated Safeguards Data Sheet (Initial) Date ISDS Prepared/Updated: 01/08/2002 Section I - Basic Information Public Disclosure Authorized A. Basic Project Data Country: ETHIOPIA Project ID: P057770 Project: Cultural Heritage Project Task Team Leader: Peter A. Dewees Appraisal Date: January 18, 2002 IBRD Amount ($m): Board Date: March 28, 2002 IDA Amount ($m): 4.95 Managing Unit: AFTES Sector: MY - Non-Sector Specific Lending Instrument: Learning and Innovation Loan (LIL) Status: Lending I.A.2. Project Objectives: Ethiopia is the site of some of the oldest human settlements in Africa. Though the beginning of recorded Ethiopian history dates to the reported meeting around 1000 BC of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, relatively recent discoveries have shown that it has a rich prehistory as well. Early Christian influences date to around 400 AD and Islamic influences followed Public Disclosure Authorized several hundred years later, and these have had a profound impact on Ethiopian culture and tradition. A rich civilization flourished around Axum until the 7th century AD which was an amalgam of indigenous culture and external influences, notably from Southern Arabia. Other dynasties, such as the Zagwe (responsible for the construction of eleven monolithic churches in Lalibela some time before the late 1200s) left a deep imprint on Ethiopia as well. The fortress city of Fasil Ghebbi in Gondar, residence of the Emperor Fasilides and his successors during the 16th and 17th centuries, contains palaces, churches, monasteries and unique public and private buildings marked by Hindu and Arabic influences, and transformed by the baroque style brought by Jesuit missionaries. While evidence of Ethiopia's culture and history is found in its ancient monuments, cities, and prehistoric sites, its living cultures are Public Disclosure Authorized reflected in the work of architects, musicians, writers, artisans and crafts people. Strong traditions have long contributed to Ethiopia's material wealth by producing illuminated parchment manuscripts, leatherwork, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, woodwork, and pottery. Much of this rich heritage is being eroded by rapid development and growth, and ancient craft skills are being lost as markets and values for artisanal crafts change over time. Government is seeking World Bank support with a Learning and Innovation Loan with the objective of testing out and developing, on a pilot basis, the means for more fully integrating the conservation and management of its cultural heritage into local and national economic development. The project would support the development of approaches to the conservation of cultural heritage assets through site planning and conservation of archaeological and historic buildings and sites, and through the Public Disclosure Authorized development of better information for conservation planning and threat mitigation. The project would also contribute to the revitalization of economic activity by testing out approaches for small crafts-based enterprises and by capitalizing on tourism potential. The decision to process it as a LIL instead of as a larger project is because of strong capacity building elements, the pilot nature of individual components for which viable technical, financial, and social solutions need to be tested and developed, and the need for experimentation with different partnership arrangements with respect to the involvement of NGOs, local, regional, and central administrations, communities, and groups of artisans and craftsmen. I.A.3. Project Description: The Cultural Heritage Project has three components: Site Planning and Conservation, Inventory and Documentation Development, and support for the development of Artisanal Crafts. Central to the design of the project is the idea that the three project components are closely related, and should be carried out in a way which brings together the conservation of historic sites, support for living culture, and economic development through support to the tourism and small enterprise sectors. The opportunity for learning different methods of institutional cooperation to bring this about is at the core of this LIL. (a) Site Planning and Conservation The project will provide resources for site planning and conservation in two pilot sites, Gondar and Axum. The project would finance a conservation plan for the walled fortress palace complex of Fasil Ghebbi in Gondar to identify priorities for future site conservation activities, taking into specific concern the potential for strengthening the involvement of the community in the palace complex. This work would be carried out in conjunction with efforts to improve site interpretation, for local, national, and foreign visitors to the site. The development of an interpretation center will be planned in the process, and the project will partly finance its establishment. Training and capacity building for site planning and interpretation will be key elements of this activity. Finding mechanisms for the fuller involvement of the people of the town of Gondar in the management and use of the site will be an underlying objective of the planning process. With regard to Axum, the project will finance site planning activities for the town's archeological sites, including the development of plans for an expanded archeological museum which may also be designed and constructed, in part as a local cultural education facility, to house more recent historical acquisitions as well. Museum planning will be carried out in conjunction with efforts to increase the institutional capacity, through curation skills training, at the national and regional levels better to handle the tasks of museum curation and management. Site planning will focus on specific needs for better site presentation and interpretation to assist in the management of visitors to Axum, and for an inventory of 19th and 20th century vernacular Tigrayan architecture in the older parts of Axum (carried out in conjunction with the inventory component of the project), as an input into a proposed old town master plan. The Site planning process is seen to be a complement to the preparation of a new master plan, which is a local and regional priority, and which will assist in identifying how to go about developing infrastructure in the old town in a manner which is sensitive to the specifics of the site. The interests of the community in the future of old Axum, and the potential for closer cooperation with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in the conservation of ecclesiastical art will be explored. - 2- (b) Inventory and Documentation Development This component is designed to build the capacity for establishing a better information base about cultural assets for the purposes of planning, conservation, and threat mitigation. Capacity development will be coordinated by ARCCH, which will work with regional and zonal bureaus to improve methodological approaches, technologies, and capacity to manage documentation requirements, and to ensure consistency with accepted standards and practices, in priority zones and regions. Pilot inventories are expected to be undertaken in 3 regions: Tigray, Amhara, and Oromiya regions. As a first step, and working closely with the regional bureaus, ARCCH will review and assess the extent of existing national, regional, local, and project specific inventories, and would then manage a series of workshops to gain a consensus about core national standards and methodologies and about the most effective system for coordinating the collection and exchange of inventory information between the center and the regions. Once core national standards have been agreed, ARCCH would mount a series of workshops and training initiatives in the three pilot regions more fully to develop the skills of regional and zonal staff to carry out inventory work, and to build the capacity of professionals and local organizations for priority-setting, participation, and involvement in selected pilot inventory sites. A critical and growing need, which the project would also address, relates to the development of the capacity within ARCCH, to provide specific rapid assessment capabilities in advance of the establishment of hydroelectric and other dams, roads, and other development activities. The objective of developing this capacity would be to enable ARCCH quickly to survey potentially threatened archeological sites which could be inundated as a result of dam or other development projects and to put in place mitigation measures, such as the relocation of project activities, modifications in project design so that sites and structures can be conserved, studied, documented, and, as appropriate, preserved in situ, or, as a last resort, physical removal of artifacts. ARCCH would develop a methodology for rapid assessment, and would prepare mitigation guidelines to assist regional bureaus in responding to this immediate threat to archeological sites. Pilot efforts would be focused on Oromiya region. (c) Artisanal Crafts Development The rich material culture of Ethiopia is captured in the work of traditional craftsmen and artisans. This component of the Cultural Heritage Project has the objective of finding ways of preserving these ancient craft traditions and of reestablishing craft making as a vital part of community and national economic life. Working on a pilot basis, tentatively in Axum, Gondar and Harar, this component will provide artisans with design guidance, technical