Introduction to cultural heritage management
Legislations vs Community management of cultural heritage
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- Bu səhifədəki naviqasiya:
- National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe Act of 1972
- What makes a good legislation
- Recognize intangible heritage
- Recognition of local communities
- Recognize and identify international organization
- Recognize and identify local organizations that it relates with
- Register or Inventory of heritage sites
- Traditional Culture/Religionrecognition
- Impact assessments provision
- Protection of landscapes
- Obligation to report heritage finds Obligation to protect heritage
- Restrictions on disposal/destruction of property
- National Monument and Monuments/Relic.
- Importance of Stakeholder Involvement Traditional custodian
- Professional heritage managers
- Why community participation
- HERITAGE MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
- Impact of tourism on management of heritage sites
- Visitor Management -Managing Access
- Sustainable Heritage Management
Legislations vs Community management of cultural heritage Legislation on the protection of cultural heritage must grapple with the legal issues surrounding community management of the heritage. It must also ensure long term sustainability and integrity of the community by ensuring that it does not disintegrate as a result of economic, political or cultural pressure. The community can be defined as that unit or group that has a special relationship with the cultural property, thus giving value to that site and making it worth protecting. In some cases, it is that entity whose livelihood depends on the use of the site. Legislation must also define ownership and use rights over the cultural property. In most cases, state laws place such properties under government ownership at the expense of local communities thus alienating them and removing their incentive to protect the cultural heritage in a sustainable way. It has therefore been argued that, ownership and use rights should be given to the communities. Community participation has two key components, a right to access to information and a right to be consulted in decision making. Communities should never be passive observers of events around a site. It is their statutory right to be consulted about and participate in decisions and actions affecting the cultural site.
African legislations do not make any systematic provisions for the pluralistic framework as most of them are still monolithic. Most African laws focus on the cultural property and not on the community, that is, it seeks to separate the cultural landscapes from the community. 1) The antiquities and monuments act of Kenya. Gives minister power to prohibit or restrict access or development or use which is liable to destroy the site. 2) Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Act prohibits the conduction of any activities within its designated areas without a permit. “Africa’s scenario is one where there is a symbiotic relationship between the ecosystems and the ethno systems”. This is so because the cultures of Africa have evolved out of nature and they still draw their authority from it. This therefore has implications on the aspects of boundaries, ownership, authenticity/integrity, as well as political, social and economic considerations in the management of cultural sites. Unfortunately, a look at most African legislations reveals that they tend to ignore most of these aspects.
Traditional Leaders Act The disintegration of community systems and community leadership structures has undermined the sustainable management and conservation of heritage in most of Africa. Communities must function as viable entities if community management of heritage is to become viable. In Zimbabwe the powers of Chiefs to convene local courts and impose fines have recently been restored through the Traditional Leaders Act of 1999. Courts in traditional systems are less prolonged compared to the formal justice system. This means that cases are resolved faster ensuring quick social learning when offenders are punished. Mumma (2004, 2008) argues that restoring communities does not necessarily mean a revival of traditional systems and structures unless these have remained viable and continue to command legitimacy. Traditional leadership and authority systems have at times been undemocratic (excluding marginalized groups within the community), allocated local resources inequitably (to those close to power) and looked for legitimacy and justification of their demands in past practices rather than their relevance to today’s circumstances. These features have undermined the legitimacy of traditional management systems in the eyes of many community members particularly at a time when societal change, introduction of western style of education, cash based economy, different religions and cultural beliefs and practices have undermined the authority of traditional systems. As a result the restoration of integrity of community systems may require the reconstruction of communities on the basis of present day concepts of democratic and accountable governance systems and structures (including the selection of leaders), of equity in resource distribution, and of knowledge and rationalization which depend on science and technology rather than on past practice per se. With regard to the management of cultural heritage, community management systems need to consciously foster a conservation ethic in order to ensure the balanced utilisation of the resources. Thus, communities have to recreate themselves in the image of today’s heritage managers. National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe Act of 1972 In Zimbabwe, an Act of Parliament vests management of both movable and immovable heritage to National Museums and Monuments. National Museums and Monuments is a parastatal semi-independent organization but under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Minister of Home Affairs appoints a Board of Trustees presided over by a Chairman. The Board is in a sense decentralized as legislation provides for the establishment, with the consent of responsible Minister, of local or regional committees to assist the Board in carrying out its duties. The provision of the NMMZ Act exhorts Museums and Monuments Board to maintain a continuous flow of information to the public regarding the professional activities, programmes and projects of the organization and hence provide for dissemination of information via a variety of means. NMMZ Act of 1972 section 24 stipulates that the Board of trustees may acquire a national monument or relic located on a piece of land via a ‘mutually agreed settlement with the landowner’. If agreement cannot be reached the Board may apply to the president for authority to compulsorily acquire a monument or relic. There is no basis set out for compensation to be determined in such instances. The bases upon which the President may determine whether or not to authorize acquisition of a monument is on the basis of restriction of access by the owner (Hall 2008:68) In Zimbabwe preparations are underway to revise the existing legislation that was inherited from the colonial times without amendment. There is no provision for the role of local communities in this legislation. In practice significant changes have been made at such sites as Domboshava Caves and Great Zimbabwe. An area of controversy has been to find a generally acceptable definition of a local community. A local community is usually one that holds historical associations with the site either by having built and/or occupied that property and/or by usage. But in some cases for example at Great Zimbabwe there are two groups contesting ownership and usage of site (Mahachi and Kamuhangire (2008). There are no explicit requirements for archaeological impact assessment studies prior to development projects in Zimbabwe. However, the Zimbabwean legislation is implicitly strong in implying that damage to cultural heritage is a crime punishable by law. This implies need to assess potential damage. In addition a general environmental policy document exists that requires the carrying out of environmental impact assessment prior to any development project (Ndoro and Kiriama 2008).
A good legislation must consider;
This is also the advantage of ranking sites.
NATIONAL SYSTEM FOR RANKING CULTURAL HERITAGE In Zimbabwe, as well as in South Africa,Botswana, Malawi, and Zambia, heritage is categorized into two groups; National Monument and Monuments/Relic. The highest between the two is national monument which is a way of recognizing in law that such places have been deemed to be of national importance hence reflecting a national status. It is the responsible Ministry’s duty to make such proclamations/designations. Ranking of sites affects property rights (Zimbabwean legislation does not allow private ownership of heritage unlike the South African legislation. It also influences public access and management responsibilities of the government. As such, ranking of sites is also a way of determining the degree to which values at these sites mean at different levels ie local, regional or national or even international. This is the reason why Zimbabwe has three classes for national heritage. Ranking rationalizes allocation of resources which has a direct bearing on the management and conservation of the heritage. For example, class 1 sites(eg Great Zimbabwe and Khami) have more attention than class 3 sites (eg Fort Mahaka and Tohwechipi’s grave). Ranking also translates into a differentiating penalties for crimes at different sites ie the degree of protection is different. As such, because of the diversity of forms of heritage in Africa (not all are monuments), a lot of culturally important heritage is most likely to suffer terrible fate because of the ranked heritage system. As such, there should be laws to protect all heritages regardless of overall value ranking. Importance of Stakeholder Involvement Traditional custodian Custodians are individuals or groups of people usually within traditional institutions, who have responsibility to take care of a specific heritage site or sites. Custodians may reside close or at considerable distance from the heritage site to which they are linked through history, culture, self-identification and spiritual practice. Professional heritage managers Include trained staff responsible for managing cultural property, e.g. archaeologists, anthropologists, ethnographers, monuments inspectors, tour guides etc Role of National Institutions (NMMZ, National Gallery, National Parks, EMA) Middleton (1994) suggests the primary duty of heritage bodies is to manage the resource be it a collection, a historic house or nature reserve. Knowledge and skills relevant to the resource are uppermost in the minds of trustees, owners, volunteers and employees responsible for it. Community Participation The defining feature of heritage sites is that people cared for them often for a very long time. These are people who have acted as guardians and custodians of the spiritual, cultural, biological and other values of such sites. The people work collectively to safeguard their heritage that they closely identify with. Community participation entails involvement of people in a local community in the conservation of cultural heritage. (This can be broadened to include stakeholders at national or international community.) Why community participation?
HERITAGE MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT The aim of this section is to discuss the place of cultural heritage management in economic development. Marketing Heritage Management of heritage does not automatically mean that business principles can be readily applied for heritage is not an easily defined market and many believe heritage and profit are not compatible elements. Throsby (1999:40) forewarned that economists have to bear in mind that some values of cultural heritage cannot be reduced to economic terms but can be useful in decision making and policy formulation. This means that some of the outstanding universal values have an intangible element embedded in them and this quality cannot be quantitatively measured. Leask (2006) is of the view that balancing tourism with conservation is a mammoth task for there is often conflict among stakeholders. Stakeholders have varying ‘priorities’ and ‘agendas’ and this often result in conflict. Ashworth (2007:29-30) Marketing experts recognize consumer diversity in their segmentation of markets into increasingly smaller and more specific niches and even particles… Meanwhile the production and usually management of public heritage is conducted by official agencies, most of which originated a century or more ago, operating under statutes derived from the circumstances of the time of their establishment. They are producer oriented and often object based.
Cultural tourism is one of the fastest expanding segments. Responsible tourism provides potential for economic benefits to indigenous and local communities. Tourism activities must be culturally appropriate, respectful and guided by the value system of custodian communities. Where possible, tourism enterprises that are owned and operated by indigenous and local communities should be supported as long as they are proven to be environmentally and culturally sensitive. Tourism has a potential to enhance and safeguard both physical and intangible heritage. It can help alleviate poverty through employment creation, curb migration of youth and other marginally employed members of community. In some instances tourism strengthens a community’s self-respect, value and identity or on the contrary erodes the same self-image. Visitor management The aim of visitor management is to manage visitors so as to maximize their appreciation and enjoyment of the site whilst minimizing the risk of damage to the site directly or indirectly. Visitor management incorporates a number of techniques, skills and tools such as barriers, signs, tour guides, etc. effective visitor management is becoming increasingly important as the tourism industry is now booming. Initially, heritage managers adopted a go away policy (the lets pretend the sites are not here approach which is usually adopted for rock art sites). Visitor Management -Managing Access Visitor pressure varies with seasons. Unrestricted and excessive tourist activity can lead to the physical destruction of monuments and their surroundings thereby depriving researchers of their source material. Public access to and use of heritage has to be controlled, influenced or constrained through a range of strategic and operational techniques. Solutions • Since the fragility of monuments is increased under the impact of visitor numbers, the interpretation centre and parking facilities can be put some distance from monument itself requiring visitors to proceed to site on foot. • It is essential to ascertain the requirements of public in its different guises and ensure that there is printed and audio visual material available to explain the significance of heritage to all visitors whether tourists, local residents, school children or professionals. • To employ a tour guide to interpret site and direct visitors to walk in demarcated areas or guidelines can be put in place to guide tourists towards demarcated areas • Restrict and regulate public access within designated reserves and areas under official protection .e.g. on natural environments- limit pollution by restricting flow of motor traffic and effect of other sources of harmful substances, charge a higher entrance fee during peak periods/holidays, restrict number of visitors per hour • Denial of access to certain endangered monuments and the provision of replicas of them in the immediate vicinity. This means that part of the atmosphere inspired by the original is inevitably lost but the cultural and educational experience is nevertheless assured and the original itself is preserved • Renewal of selected endangered monuments and reconstruction • Harden visitor routes/ walkways to make site able to withstand the physical impact of numbers Risk Management Cultural property is vulnerable to various risks because of its diverse material composition, its geographical spread, and its values. The risks range from rare and catastrophic events to continual and slow damaging processes. The ability to identify risks, estimate correctly their magnitude and associated uncertainties, to devise cost effective solutions to treat those risks and to communicate clearly with stakeholders throughout the process offers a powerful way to deal with risks. This is the basis of risk management. E.g. of risks are vandalism, earthquake, light fading Sustainable Heritage Management Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable development is not a new idea. Many cultures over the course of human history have recognized the need for harmony between the environment, society and economy. Sustainable management is generally accepted to have three interrelated components which include ecology/environment, social/cultural and economic. Sustainability of heritage is about managing the balance between preservation and use so that the significance of a given heritage is passed on to future generations. Success of SHM depends on community involvement, grassroots mechanisms, public consultations, and information dissemination. Yüklə 204,23 Kb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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