Business Traveller

I recently attended “The Forum on Cultural Heritage in a Developing World,” a Global Heritage Fund meet. It became clear throughout the day that some of the world’s big development issues can be dealt with through heritage – the Fund estimates that the 500 major heritage sites in the world’s poorest countries have the potential to generate over $100 billion a year by 2025.

Cultural tourism is vital for ancient monuments’ sustainable maintenance – but it must be well regulated or else the very spirit of the place and its authenticity will be destroyed. The Forum was held in London’s Spencer House, an 18^th century townhouse-cum-private palace that had lost its lustre until an authentic restoration by Lord Rothschild who purchased the house in 1985.

As Loyd Grossman (Chair, Heritage Alliance) explained in his keynote address, despite heritage making places worth living in, it rarely develops quick wins and there always seems to be more pressing demands on the public purse. This is where the Global Heritage Fund comes in. I asked its executive director, Jeff Morgan to give some examples of his organisation’s work. – Peter Myers

Stabilisation work on Banteay Chhmar's south-east corner

A new paradigm for heritage-based development
By Jeff Morgan, Executive Director, Global Heritage Fund

Three years ago, I met a man named Tath Sophal.

I was in the remote jungle of northern Cambodia, in one of the country’s poorest regions, at a ruined Khmer temple complex called Banteay Chhmar. My colleagues and I found Sophal sitting alone in the empty office of a French organisation that had withdrawn from the site a month earlier. All the lights were off, he could barely speak English, but he managed to explain his hopes and ideas for the site. We decided Banteay Chhmar – and Sophal himself – was worth the investment.

Fast forward to today and Sophal is coordinator of Community Based Tourism (CBT) at Banteay Chhmar, one of Southeast Asia’s most spectacular architectural masterpieces. CBT has created new jobs and business opportunities, promoted tourism and cultural heritage preservation at the site, and drastically improved living conditions and the lives of local people. Sophal is a local leader whose story symbolises the successful bridging of past and present to promote a better future. Likewise, Banteay Chhmar is a shining example of how conserving a cultural heritage site can stimulate local economic growth and alleviate poverty.

Onsite education at Mirador

Halfway around the world, the jungles of Guatemala introduced me to Arnoldo Juarez Pinelo. He grew up in a remote village bordering Mirador, the cradle of Mayan civilisation. Uneducated and struggling to feed his family, Arnoldo subsisted on looting the nearby ruins. Today his daily life has changed entirely thanks to the conservation efforts at Mirador; he now defends the very assets he once plundered. For the past five years, he has worked as a park guard, which provides steady income and access to health care and education opportunities for him and his family. His oldest son completed high school and is now studying law.

These kinds of opportunities exist at hundreds of sites across the developing world. Restoring and conserving cultural heritage sites creates jobs that are safe, sustainable, legal and local, as opposed to the short-lived, dangerous and sometimes illegal work that takes mothers and fathers far from their homes. The restoration of heritage sites can transform people, countries and economies. But some of civilisation’s most important sites still remain endangered. No one will see these sites – let alone their potential economic benefits – if we don’t save them.

Once they are gone, they are gone forever
When GHF studied approximately 500 global heritage sites in 100 of the world’s lowest-income countries – places where per capita income is between $3-5 per day – we found that over 200 are facing irreversible loss and damage. This destructive trend is accelerating due to the simultaneous manmade threats of development pressures, unsustainable tourism, insufficient management, looting, and war and conflict. Like endangered species, these archaeological and cultural heritage sites are on the verge of extinction. They are irreplaceable and finite resources – the records of our civilisation.

At the same time, these disappearing treasures can bring hundreds of millions of dollars, in some cases billions, creating thousands of new jobs and businesses in poor communities and regions without any other economic opportunities. A single, sustainable, responsibly-developed global heritage site can profoundly affect a country’s GDP with money spent on hotels, meals, transportation, guides, side trips and local foods and arts. Investing in preservation can improve living standards for local communities and engender national self-respect.

Site-seers
Cultural tourism has proven to be one of the most promising economic sectors for developing countries with major cultural sites. According to UN statistics, worldwide international tourist arrivals increased from 460 million in 1980 to 940 million in 2010; that number is expected to exceed 1.5 billion by 2020. The emerging and developing nation arrival share increased from 31 percent in 1990 to 47 percent in 2010. Cultural monuments are a major reason why countries like Cambodia, Peru, Egypt and others see tourism among their largest economic drivers.

Unfortunately, the economic potential of the majority of these sites receives limited attention from governments and development donors. Most developed nations focus development assistance and loans on infrastructure, food, medicine, agriculture, schools, hospitals, drinking water, disaster response, anti-drug, anti-terrorism and the military. But these priorities are often directly served by investing in cultural resources, as we’ve seen at Banteay Chhmar and Mirador.

Global heritage should be a core strategy for international development. In many developing countries, global heritage sites now generate more foreign exchange revenue than other industries including mining, logging and agricultural exports. An estimated one-third of all international tourism is related to visiting cultural heritage sites.

Increased aid is needed for cultural monument preservation and visitation in developing nations, including proper training programmes and facilities. Plans should lead with action for the sites that are most significant, most endangered and best for properly managed tourism. Archaeological research combined with site conservation is essential. As sites like Angkor Wat and Machu Picchu have shown us, millions of people will fly across the globe to visit cultural landmarks. However, as both those sites have also proven, regulating the number of tourists is critical. Sites can be easily overwhelmed and damaged by crowds. A fair share of the income generated must be used for maintaining the site, with local communities deeply engaged.

Not only do global heritage sites remind us of a common past; they represent the future as well. They are among the most important economic assets of sustainable development for poor nations and their people. Women and children – the focus of so much of the developed world’s $200 billion annual giving in global aid – benefit directly from the long-term jobs, income, new infrastructure and social investments possible around heritage sites.

Each time a cultural heritage site is lost, so too is a piece of humanity and an invaluable economic opportunity. By saving these treasures, we not only restore part of our shared history but also create a safe, sustainable new industry that can lift local communities out of poverty.

To this end, GHF created Preservation by Design, a living framework that combines planning, conservation, community development and strategic partnerships. Our investments create thousands of new jobs, hundreds of businesses and long-term economic opportunities for communities living on less than $3 a day. This multiplier effect secures new in-country co-funding, government backing and private-sector investment essential to saving these sites.

Tath Sophal and Arnoldo Juarez Pinelo are but two of the many in the developing world whose lives have been forever changed by heritage conservation projects. The more we tell their stories and continue to invest in cultural monument preservation, the more incredible human impact stories and cultural landmarks we will have to share with future generations.

(Caption for image on blog landing page: Reproduction of El Tigre Pyramid at El Mirador, Guatemala)