The “physical” conservation of tangible cultural heritage

1. Natural Disasters and Cultural Heritage: International Risk Prevention and Management Strategiesby Anna Vigorito

2. The “physical” conservation of tangible cultural heritage 1972 UNESCO Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage The agreement - the scope of which is limited to heritage of outstanding universal value for which the owner State has requested and obtained listing in the World Heritage List (WHL) - operates in full compliance with the principle of sovereignty and the obligation to protect, conserve, enhance and transmit world cultural (and natural) heritage to future generations, which is primarily the responsibility of the State on whose territory the property to be protected is located. For property listed on the WHL, the owner State must first use up all the resources it has available and, only if necessary, resort to the system of international cooperation and assistance provided by the agreement. Intervention by the international community, therefore, is complementary to national action and can only be activated in support of the States themselves that do not have sufficient means to ensure adequate protection of their heritage.

3. A cultural or natural property already listed on the WHL may also be entered in the World Heritage List in Danger (WHLD) provided that: extraordinary maintenance is needed to ensure its preservation; the owner State has submitted a request for assistance under this agreement; the property is threatened by serious and specific damage linked to either human activities or, indeed, to natural phenomena and disasters (Article 11 (4)). Follows: 1972 UNESCO Convention

4. Only with respect to property already listed on the WHL and/or WHLD, and those with the necessary characteristics for their inclusion, States Parties may benefit from the international complementary assistance foreseen in the 1972 agreement. emergency assistance preparatory assistance conservation and management assistance Follows: 1972 UNESCO Convention

5. Impact of climate changes on cultural heritage E.g.: • sites located along the coast whose integrity is threatened by coastal erosion; • the archaeological areas whose conservation is threatened by increased flooding; • the cultural heritage of the semi-arid areas affected by the effects of desertification and drought.

6. Venice, together with its lagoon

7. 2007 Strategy for Risk Reduction at World Heritage Properties The Strategy aims to assist State Parties to the 1972 Convention so that they • Integrate into national disaster risk management policies initiatives that include the protection of cultural heritage; • And consider the prevention of disasters as a priority requirement for the protection of cultural (and natural) property. To this end, it suggests that States focus their activities on five objectives: • strengthen the commitment of key global, regional, national and local institutions to reduce the risks to heritage related to disasters; • use knowledge, innovation and education to spread the culture of prevention in this arena; • identify, assess and monitor risks to heritage attributable to natural disasters; • act to reduce risk factors; • strengthen preventive action to enable coping with the consequences of disasters in the most effective way.

8. The Strategy also lists priority actions that States should promote in order to more quickly activate the five objectives listed above, actions in line with those already defined in the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters, the main UN plan on the theme of disaster reduction. Follows: 2007 Strategy

9. The impact of natural disasters and catastropheson the “intangible cultural heritage” • It should be noted, finally, that disasters, whatever their origin, can also damage intangible heritage (i.e., the set of traditional practices and rituals that characterize the lifestyle of a community).We refer to areas inhabited by indigenous groups who follow traditional lifestyles that are threatened: in these cases, structural damage to the site could force local residents to emigrate and eventually to disperse and affect the conservation and transmission to future generations of important elements of their cultural identity. • It should also be noted that the Strategy for Risk Reduction at World Heritage Properties has recognized, for the first time, the central role that intangible heritage can play, in many cases, in the prevention and management of risks related to natural disasters. For example, UNESCO’s observations during recent earthquakes show that those buildings that were less damaged by the earthquakes appear to be those built with “traditional” urban techniques. • The knowledge handed down verbally from father to son has in other circumstances even saved lives: in 2004, during the tsunami that devastated Southeast Asia, many fishermen on the Andatane Islands (in India) were able to predict the imminent tsunami and escape the fury of the waves thanks to the knowledge of tides passed down verbally from their ancestors.

10. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS 1) Tangible cultural heritage can be threatened by the risk factors examined in the course of the report (i.e., those related to disasters and natural catastrophes), as well as events related to human activities (consider armed conflicts, the construction of public works of great environmental impact, intentional destruction of heritage such as the Buddhas of Bamiyan). However, while the latter events are due to the direct action of man (who can choose, therefore, to avoid them), the risk factors related to disasters and natural catastrophes cannot be –in several cases- foreseen nor controlled by man. With respect to these, therefore, either States act in advance by adopting measures that will reduce the impact on the heritage, or measures are activated ex post to rebuild/recover the damaged property. This is also evident from the objectives and priority actions identified by the 2007 Strategy and the forms of assistance provided by the 1972 Convention that can be activated in the event of natural disasters or catastrophes.

11. Follows: Final considerations 2) To these considerations, however, another must be added: the risk of natural disasters also increases as a result of the impact of climate change on the ecosystem that, as is known, is a direct result of the impact of unsustainable human activities on the environment: by strengthening the protection of the environment, therefore, States would also gain significant indirect advantages for the purpose of preserving cultural heritage. This approach is also confirmed by the reports published by UNESCO, which suggest including among the tools necessary for the preservation of cultural heritage from risks related to climate change, precisely various international agreements and plans relating to the field of environmental law, in particular, UNESCO’s Programme on Man and the Biosphere, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Kyoto Protocol. 3) In conclusion, only an integrated, global and multi-disciplinary conservation policy of all components of the human environment (i.e., natural and cultural heritage resulting from human activity) can really help to improve the quality of life for current generations and protect the rights of future generations.

12. THANK YOU!