Anil Paba
Human activity has become the greatest threat to our heritage, according to the World Monuments Fund(WMF).WMF is a non-profit organization based in New York city that works to protect and preserve cultural Heritage sites around the world. Climate changes are impacting all aspects of the human and natural systems, including both cultural and natural world heritage properties. UNESCO is aware of the changes posed to sites by climate change.” Natural World Heritage”, sites are under major threat due to reduction in biodiversity, species extinction and desertification. Climate change and the degradation of earth’s fragile ecosystem affect cultural heritage sites. As we consider global predictions about climate change impacts, it is clear that sites on every continent are in danger, from ancient sites in Peru threatened by melting glaciers to whole swaths of Pecific Rim that will be under water, and every thing in between. The most important sites included Herschel Island, in the Canadian Yukon located on the Beaufort Sea near the border between Alaska and Canada. Herschel Island is in the fastest -warming part of the world. In Norway, a picturesque fishing village at Sandviken Bay, near Bergen. In Baleshare, the problem is so acute that archaeologists have appealed to the local community to help them record them before they are gone. Other sites at risk from climate change are Chinguetti Mosque, in Mouritania, an important center of Islam, and today a major collection of medieval Islamic manuscripts is housed there beside Sonargaon Panam city in Bangladesh, a formal medieval trading hub. Several hundred buildings in downtown Srinagar have been identified for protection as part of a cultural resource mapping project carried out by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).
In the Himalayan region of northern India, traditional temples and towns appear as simple mud and wood structures set in a spectacular land scape. Inside, these apparently humble buildings have beautiful and complex interior, decorated with elaborate paintings and brightly colored sculpture.
Recently, the old town of Leh was added to the world monuments fund’s list of 100 most endangered sites.
Even the monasteries of Ladakh-one of the very few repositories of Vajrayana sect of Buddhism-are today victims of utter neglect and the ravages of times. The deterioration is usually attributed to changes in climatic conditions. A traditional arid climate, this region used to experience rain largely as light as sprinkles, but in recent years area has experienced short, but heavy, downpours that the traditional mud structures are simply not equipped to withstand.
Earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions and other natural disasters impact many UNESCO World Heritage Sites every year.
According to UN Reports, the density of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are increasing significantly due to human activities, and today the carbon dioxide density is at the highest level in some 6,50,000 years. If people do not take concrete actions, they can expect to face many natural disasters and death.
More important, however, is that climate change is not just a historic preservation problem, it is perhaps the most far- reaching and wide ranging problem of our time and will affect every sector of human life for years to come. The 2008 World Monuments Watch List demonstrates that climate change impacts are already being felt today at cultural heritage sites around the world. Predictably, rising sea levels pose a substantial problem. A large portion of the world’s population lives now and has always lived along the coasts and in cities built along major rivers, and so with them are many of the world’s cultural sites and historic cities. The Green peace foundation has already alerted the Indian Government and people about the possible future threats posed by global warming if urgent steps were not taken. The heritage monuments which included the Jagannath and Konark temples in Orrisa, the shore temple at Mammalapuram in TamilNadu and the Gate way of India at Mumbai at the tidal zone of the Golden beach in Puri that are under threat and that could go under water if global warming is not stopped. ” It is not just people not money but every thing that is at stake and that is the reason we need to fight global warming.” In addition to rising sea levels, changing weather pattern will also cause substantial damage to historic building.
Who is responsible for Heritage? I, you, We, Us, They? All of us must answer this question. The conservation and preservation of Heritage is everyone’s responsibility. We all. And not just the Government, have to care for Heritage-for our living traditions, our composite culture, our natural environment , our architectural masterpieces.
Heritage for many people is not their problem, it is some body else’s problem, some body else’s responsibility. They think it is the function of the Government to look after Heritage- while their job is to look after themselves and the immediate future of their families.
Perhaps people do not care because they think heritage is about the past and irrelevant to their daily life today. India is changing rapidly, may be some people even believe that Heritage preservation is out of Sync with development and hold back our progress.
Willaim Dalrymple’s in the City of Djinns perceptibly observes: ” you see actually in India today no one is thinking too much about these old historical places . India is a developing country. Our people are looking to the future only.”
The thought echoes many voices. It is not surprising that Heritage is often misinterpreted and undervalued by State Governments and local authorities. The general misconceptions persist that our Heritage is remote from people’s daily lives, that it is not a bread and butter issue that merits immediate and priority concern given the constraints of funds. Local authorities, who have an executing role to play in protecting this national wealth, fail to understand the contribution Heritage makes to quality of life, enhancement of environment, and the socio-economic benefits to be gained for all citizens within their domain.
Therefore, in addition to developing new strategies for adapting and responding to climate change threats, the field of historic preservation must also focus attention on helping to convince the public to act to stop global warming by raising awareness of the threats posed to treasured monuments and historic places.
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