This month (Jan 2014) Delhi, India aims to earn the prestigious designation of a World Heritage City with procedural step taken by the Ministry of Culture, when he sends a dossier to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) by the end of the month. In the submission, the Ministry will have to highlight the heritage behind each site and explain that all the proposed sites are being maintained as per the international standards. Basically, the Ministry has to explain why each site is of unique outstanding value.

However, another development in Delhi is also of major importance which could prove to be a new model for conservation of other world heritage sites. Humayun’s Tomb, one of the sites which will most probably be included in the dossier, is receiving major restoration work as a result of a partnership between two private foundations and the Indian government. This type of partnership has proven effective in India and could very well be an example of how public and private partnerships could work when world heritage sites are in great need of restoration.  In many cases, government neglect or lack of (or limited) public funds create the problem.

In case of India, recent reports by the Comptroller and Auditor General, the official auditor of India’s public sector, had warned that World Heritage sites in India are seriously neglected by the Archaeological Survey of India, a government agency responsible for the preservation of the monuments. In fact, of the 3,678 historical structures in India, the auditor surveyed a sample of 1,655 monuments over the span of a year as reported by Indian media.

The work on Humayun’s Tomb started in 1997, when the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, a private development agency, took on the project, and ten years later, it partnered with Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, a philanthropic organization, and the Archaeological Survey of India to commence the restoration work at the structure. The Aga Khan Trust helped finance the $650,000 tomb’s garden restoration, but it has declined to reveal the total cost of the project.

It has been reported by the experts that the condition of Humayun’s Tomb in New Delhi had greatly deteriorated and water seeped through the roof and the tiles on the canopies were covered in dirt. The monument, which houses the tombs of the Mughal emperor Humayun, his wife and other unknown Mughal family members, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. Public and Private partnerships have worked in many other sectors and perhaps this model could be a way to fund many much needed restorations across the world.

The Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation (KU Leuven) will hold the “Thematic Week” which will be held at the Arenberg Castle, Heverlee, Belgium,  from 22 to 24 January 2014. The topic of the conference is on community involvement in valuing and managing national heritage monuments and sites. “The value of heritage for society is increasingly underscored” as the conference organizers state.

At the same time, there has been a growing interest for the involvement of local communities in the management plans of heritage sites. The 2014 Thematic Week will offer an overview of the origin of this discourse as well as problems and shortcomings in relation to community involvement will be addressed and evaluated.

Attendance in the conference is free, but due to limited space, interested individuals are asked to email  rlicc@asro.kuleuven.be

For centuries, Afghanistan has held the ruins and artifacts of history and its past scattered and buried around the country. However, war and conflicts have resulted in many of its antiquities being stolen, smuggled and sold in the international markets to the highest bidders. 

Experts believe that more than 90% of the countries archeological sites have been looted. 

According to International Council of Museums (ICOM) which has placed Afghanistan’s antiquities on a Red List, the great archeological heritage of Afghanistan is now at serious risk from organized destruction and plundering at the hands of looters. The National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul has been looted and is missing a great part of its collection, much of which has found its way into the international art market and private collections. Ancient sites and monuments, ranging from the Old Stone Age to the 20th century are being attacked and systematically looted.

Objects of all types and materials, from prehistoric times to the Indo-Greek, Buddhist and Islamic periods are being lost. Sculpture, architectural elements, ancient manuscripts, bronzes, wooden objects and ceramics are being illegally exported at an unrelenting rate according to ICOM. The Red List includes many objects from ancient pottery and ceramics, coins, manuscripts to fragments of wall paintings to Buddhist sculptures.

The people of Afghanistan have continued to suffer great loss in human lives, personal properties, and the deliberate destruction of monuments, museums, and artifact collections during a number of wars and conflicts since the early 1980s. And in addition, they are now witnessing the loss of their cultural heritage by looters who are pillaging archeological sites and traffickers who are smuggling artifacts out of the country. As we have reported here at WCHV, selling stolen artifacts will continue as long as these traffickers and smugglers have access to international markets and buyers who do not care about how the artifacts have made it out of the country and are willing to buy these stolen artifacts.
The question as always remains as to how the international community can stop this systematic and deliberate destruction and loss of country’s national heritage. To assist in stopping the looting and destruction of Afghan archeological sites, ICOM has published the Red List of Afghanistan Antiquities at Risk, as a tool for law enforcement authorities, and to raise public awareness. 

Two years after cutting off financial contributions to UNESCO, the United States of America lost its voting rights late last year (2013). UNESCO has been greatly supported by the U.S. since its inception and many experts and diplomats believe that this latest development will greatly undermine America’s ability to exercise its influence in countries around the globe through the United Nations agency’s educational and aid programs.
Under UNESCO’s constitution, any country that fails to pay dues for two years loses its vote in the UNESCO general assembly. The United States ceased all support for the agency in 2011, in response to a vote at UNESCO giving Palestinians full membership, and it was the first time that the U.S. had voluntarily given up its vote in a UN organization. The U.S. Congress enacted laws in the 1990s decreeing that the United States stop providing money to any United Nations agency that accepts Palestinians as full members.
UNESCO has expressed regret over the outcome and stated that what has happened is not some kind of punishment on behalf of UNESCO for nonpayment, but the rules and the organization feel very sorry as it has lost it’s biggest contributor as well as miss the voice of the U.S. on issues like freedom of expression and girls’ education.
Late in 2013, during the UNESCO general conference in Paris, The American ambassador to UNESCO, David T. Killion, spoke about the recent developments and noted that the U.S. had been involved in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization since its beginnings in 1945 and promised that it would remain involved. He praised UNESCO for its role in consensus and peace building, saying the agency was important for American work abroad.
According to the reports, before withdrawing its financial support, the U.S. provided about $70 million, or 22 percent, of the agency’s annual budget, and the suspension was felt almost immediately. Some UNESCO staff members were laid off and programs and projects delayed, including some that potentially could have benefited the United States. In response, UNESCO created an emergency fund and got contributions from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Norway and other countries.

It has been less than three years since the pest by the name of fungus Buxicola cylindrocladium became prevalent in the forests of Northern part of Iran. During 2012 summer, disease symptoms and severe defoliation of boxwood trees were seen in two areas. This pest specifically attacks the leaves and branches of the Buxus hyrcana.  Based on the latest assessments around 55,000 acre of the forests of the northern part of Iran are affected by this fungus.

Boxwood (Buxus hyrcana Pojark) is one of the protected evergreen trees species that grow as compact colonies in the preserved forests of the Caspian Sea region of Iran. The Buxus hyrcana is one of the most outstanding and unique species of Hyrcanian forest of northern part of Iran, and southern part of the Caspian Sea. It is also believed to be the relics of the third geology era and is one of the first species trees ever to exist. The Buxus hyrcana or scientific name of Buxus hyrcana Pojark is in the list of endangered plant species of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

It is believed that several reasons have contributed to the current crisis and these include: decreased amount of precipitation; increasing temperature; and imported wood affected by disease-causing fungus. Unfortunately, no major prevention and treatment measures have been undertaken by the authorities and no public awareness steps have so far been offered.