Conserving Cultural Heritage Sites: A Case Study

Abstract

Much work has been done since the UNESCO sponsored Lumbini conservation project was launched in 1970 in Southern Nepal near the Indian border. A Master Plan had been prepared by a famous Japanese Architect to provide a zoned spatial framework for related building activity amid conservation work. In recent decades, progress in construction and conservation has been delayed for long periods. Some serious threats have arisen in consequence. It is now considered essential that both construction and ongoing conservation work should be prioritized, better managed, and expedited. This will require more intensive use of appropriate remote sensing technology to precede and direct more accurately the conventional field excavations. A major conference of international stakeholders has recently recommended that the UN now appoint a high-level International Committee similar to one that was appointed at the outset in 1970 to safeguard the approved Master Plan and oversee the project’s progress till satisfactory completion. Expert spatial planning work becomes essential to establish land use controls and relocate encroachers in carefully planned settlements nearby. This required the active support of the Government of Nepal and relevant international agencies leading quickly to reestablish the Buffer Zone to its original intended purpose. It is desirable that the guiding principles in the conservation of culturally sensitive heritage sites in Asia should be those enunciated by the Nara Document on Authenticity.

The text of this chapter was first presented as a paper to the Science Council of Asia for their International Symposium on ‘Science and Technology for Culture’ held in Siem Reap, Cambodia in May 2015 and has been published in the symposium’s Proceedings.