The challenges of safeguarding and securing cultural heritage materials during violent conflict in Nigeria.

Almost every community, country and continent is experiencing a form of conflict, war or disaster. These wars have claimed lives, antiquities, heritage materials, contemporary Arts, Galleries, Museums, Archives, Monuments andHeritage sites. The aim of this study is to explore the challenges of safeguarding cultural heritage material during violent conflict in Nigeria bearing in mind the two UNESCO world heritage sites in Nigeria: Sukur kingdom and Osun Oshogbo sacred Grove. The outcome of this study will help the policy makers to address the challenges of safeguarding cultural heritage materials in times of conflicts, bridge the gap on the existing literature concerning the safeguarding of cultural heritage materials in times of conflict and to make a modest contribution to the existing body of knowledge on cultural heritage protection in Nigeria in particular and other parts of the world in general. This study relies on both primary and secondary sources using questionnaire and oral interview to elicit information from selected relevant cultural agencies, journalists and scholars in the field of art and culture. Relevant literature and documents on the challenges of safeguarding and securing of cultural heritage materials during conflicts were reviewed. The data gathered from the questionnaires and the oral interview is presented in frequency tabular form to give precise and comprehensive insight into the study findings. Notable among the challenges were insecurity and lack of professionalism in the field of cultural heritage profession. The study also revealed that governments are not enforcing the global laws and conventions for the protection of cultural heritage materials in times of violent conflict. The communities where these materials are located have little or no knowledge about the import of these materials and do not take part in securing them in the event of conflict. It is crucial that we place high value on heritage materials since they are inextricably linked with our identity and where we come from. It is strongly recommended that Cultural Heritage Institutions should involve as much as possible the local communities living around the sites by creating awareness educating and encouraging them to take ownership of the Sites located within their communities. They must ensure that the site is safeguarded against all forms of threat. Items of heritage value are not often considered in most disaster management plans therefore there is the need to consider heritage as priority just as the protection of lives and property.

Salt springs from Romania exploited during early archaeological times : a new candidate for World Heritage

Our approach emphasizes on the importance of the first forms of salt springs exploitation meant to obtain recrystallized salt for the development of prehistoric human communities within the continental inlands of Europe. Although it does not compare with the monumental dimension of World Heritage, the exploitation of some salt springs in Eastern Romania goes back around 8 millennia; they may be the oldest such exploitations in the world, as proven by 14C calibrated data. What differentiates Romanian salt springs from other famous similar areas in Europe is the continuity of exploitation and utilization of natural brine. Actually, these resilient behaviours explain the creation of a whole and complex universe of salt, which also represents a unique point of reference within the intangible World Heritage. It is through this association in variable proportions between tangible (non-monumental) and intangible that these salt springs comprising the oldest traces of salt exploitation can be considered elements of World Heritage. Today, important personalities in the fields of archaeology, anthropology and history posit that salt is a major reference for the development of the entire umanity. Obviously, the breakthrough of this idea requires awareness efforts targeting, on one hand, local communities in those areas wand, on the other, national and international scientific and cultural environments concerned with the World Heritage. In this context, a proper motivation is the fact that the last two decades have witnessed an intensification of research on salt, which turned this topic one of the major themes within European archaeology and ethno-archaeology. In terms of local community awareness concerning the importance of salt springs in the economic development of a (micro) area over time, it is worth underlining mostly the specialists’ efforts of presenting this topic in the media. Moreover, the impact of a recent initiative of the two museums in the area (Piatra Neamț and Târgu Neamț)—establishing distinct sections that represent, by using museum-inspired means, both archaeological vestiges and traditional practices of natural brine exploitation and utilization—will prove its extent in time. Certain local authorities and private entrepreneurs have pinpointed that valorising tourist areas comprising the oldest traces of salt exploitation in Romania is an imminent issue. The greatest challenge is finding a balance between the civilization improvements (upgraded access roads, upgrading operating areas, etc.) and thep rotection of still-alive traditional practices of salt exploitation and use, within rural areas. Certain local authorities and private entrepreneurs have pinpointed that valorising tourist areas comprising the oldest traces of salt exploitation in Romania will become, sooner or later, an imminent issue. The greatest challenge is finding a balance between the civilization improvements (upgraded access roads, upgrading operating areas, etc.) and the protection of still-alive traditional practices of salt exploitation and use, within rural areas.