The month of November begins and the skies of the Saint Louis region, in the north of Senegal, give away extraordinary images: millions of birds of all colors and sizes that arrive in the African continent to escape the cold European winter. The Djoudj Park, located in the Senegal River delta, is one of the favorite places of reception and refuge for the reproduction of many species, which remain in the area until well into spring.
classified as World Heritage in 1981, this park hosted last week the inauguration of the celebrations in West Africa of the 50th anniversary of this convention, bringing together representatives of regional institutions of reference in the safeguarding of heritage (ICCROM, IUCN, African World Heritage Fund,…), political and educational officials, and a hundred students from the subregion. Under the title Next 50, UNESCO thus begins a period of reflection on heritage “as a tool for resilience, humanity and innovation”, through activities all over the world that will spread over the next few months.
Of the 1,154 properties inscribed today on that UNESCO list, 98 are in Africa, a representation considered scarce -since it represents only 8% of the total- by African countries
“Why was the Djoudj classified as a place of world interest?” a student asked the park curator during the site visit. With an educational spirit, Commander Cheikh Diagne, manager of the site, recalled the ten criteria that establish “outstanding universal value” and, therefore, the international duty to safeguard it, which, in this case, is defined by its “vital and fragile situation of a natural sanctuary of 16,000 hectares”. Despite this intention, the conservatives share with young people the threats they face, such as the proliferation of invasive species, poaching or agricultural pressure in the area.
Of the 1,154 properties inscribed today on that UNESCO list, 98 are in Africa, a representation judged to be scarce -since it represents only 8% of the total- by African countries, which in turn are confronted with great challenges for the correct protection of heritage that has been classified.
“40% of the sites listed as World Heritage Sites in Africa are in danger due to the climate crisis, armed conflicts and insecurity, but also to projects that are poorly conceived financially,” explains Muhammad Juma, head of the Africa unit. at the UNESCO World Heritage Center. The protection of world heritage is the subject of one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) – (11.4)– but also one aspiration (the 5) set out in Agenda 2063 of the African Union.
Given these data, it is time to make decisions. And for the first there is a consensus: involve youth in the management of classified assets and in the identification of solutions for their conservation, together with the managers of the sites. That was the focus of the second day of the celebration that took place on the island of Saint Louis, also classified as a World Heritage Site in 2000.
The different international agencies deployed that day their arsenal of accompaniment to the youth of the continent, which currently represents more than 60% of the total population. The program representative Youth Heritage Africa from ICCROM, Espéra Donouvossi, stressed the “capacity of heritage to be a source of economic and social development through cultural and creative industries”, such as heritage hubs promoted in various parts of the continent: Cape Town (South Africa), Kenya, Rwanda or Senegal, linked to the Museum of Black Civilizations in Dakar.
For this, training is key: promoting training programs for trades related to heritage – identification, management, transmission, preservation – to prepare the replacement of the current generation of managers of classified sites. In this sense, to the offer of the African Heritage School It is joined by study centers and universities from all over the continent, such as the Gaston Berger University of Saint Louis, which has been part of the Senegal Research and Documentation Center (CRDS) for more than a decade and has a specific subsidiary on Heritage Tradesthus contributing to the training of African experts in the field, one of the mandates of the Operational strategy for the Africa priority (2022-2029). For Senegal, this sector is a priority, since it has classified sites (two cultural and five natural), in addition to three inventoried intangible heritage practices.
Break with elitism and colonialism
Is the patrimonial discourse far from the living and feeling of the people who inhabit it? The director of the Saint Louis Regional Cultural Center, Sira Ba, wanted to point it out at the event. “We must not forget the young people who are not university students. Socially active youth, in the neighborhoods or in sports and cultural associations, must also be involved in reflecting on the patrimonial heritage of our cities and natural spaces”, she warned.
How to make the young people of the sub-region, often faced with difficulties in carrying out their daily chores, feel interested in heritage safeguarding? Dimitri Sanga, UNESCO’s regional director for West Africa, believes that one of the keys is to speak in terms of “purpose”. “Classified sites, including those of intangible heritage practices, such as the recently incorporated recipe of theceebu jën“Senegalese, are elements of attraction for sustainable tourism that can be a source of employment and entrepreneurship for young people.” He provides an example on a local level: “The communities that live in the Djoudj, grouped into groups of eco-guards, have created activities around the park’s resources, such as the collection and transformation of local plants and fruits, a shelter, walks in a canoe… And with that they have obtained, in 2021, 12 million FCFA (about 18,000 euros) that they have dedicated to improving community infrastructures, such as schools or the health home. They have realized that the site contributes and there are resources that return to them, which can make young people feel challenged and attracted”.
Technology is not a luxury, but an ally to manage and project into the future
Dimitri Sanga, UNESCO Regional Director for West Africa
Another of the issues under discussion, commented by one of the students during the day, was that of “patrimonialization”, that is, the identification of the population with the inheritance it receives. How to identify with classified cultural assets (such as Cidade Velha in Cape Verde or the islands of Gorée and Saint Louis in Senegal) whose descriptions directly allude to legacies from the colonial era? For Sanga “history cannot be erased, but it can be put in a broader context and relativized and, above all, educate for the democratization of heritage from childhood, in the school curriculum, to avoid a disconnection with the historical account ”.
Ongoing initiatives and technology
There are not many African languages that manage a single word to translate “heritage”, says Sanga, referring to a group of students who have given their association the Wolof name of book moomel. This is the term that the writer, journalist and academic Boubacar Boris Diop advised them, which would mean something like “sharing our belongings”. Its president, Oumar Gaye, was invited to present the work they do to promote local languages and cultural practices among university students in Saint Louis. Vocation similar to that of the neighbors to the south, regrouped on the platform Archéogroupe to virtually exchange on their academic research, presented by Ladji Dianifaba.
The objective of this part of the conference was to show initiatives launched by young people committed to innovative and informative proposals. Jean Paul Cypriano Lawson, President of Patrimundusfrom Benin, shared the program with the audience One heritage, one family (an inheritance, a family) that includes specific work with children and families.
For his part, Dimitri Sanga appealed to the youth to “compete in ingenuity on the use of new communication and information technologies at the service of heritage”, something that UNESCO has also been working on for some time. “The covid-19 crisis taught us that technology is not a luxury, but rather an ally to manage and project into the future. For example, in the Djoudj we started to use drones for ecological monitoring: to keep an eye on poaching or the felling of plants, thus reducing intervention time and the number of people needed on the ground. Likewise, we take advantage of the restrictions to make informative videos and virtual visits to heritage sites.”
As a result of the debates at this meeting in Saint Louis, students from the 15 countries that make up ECOWAS have expressed interest in creating a West African Youth Network at the service of heritage, drafting a joint action plan and setting short milestones and medium term. The different technical services (UNESCO, ICCROM, IUCN) have promised to support them, study the feasibility of their proposals and follow up on their achievements, maintaining the independence of these young people who are asking for passage.
#Young #Africans #rescue #endangered #heritage