PARALLEL RISK-PREPAREDNESS FOR THE CONSERVATION OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HERITAGE
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2020-10-30

Insuficient management and lack of public awareness are among the most important threats for heritage conservation worldwide. Archaeological sites in natural parks can be seen as assets that need to be preserve by a multidisciplinary perspective and with a collaborative framework. However, sometimes the parallel management models may generate different visions of what risk-preparedness is and as a consequence, how to be prepared to deal with its causes. This paper will discuss the parallel management of the
archaeological Mayan site of Palenque in Mexico, a site inscribed in the World Heritage List in 1987. This site has two Federal Governmental managers with a very distinct understanding of their role and responsibilities in the conservation of what they conceive as heritage. Their institutional backgrounds, policies, legal framework and management model has not yet created a long term strategy for risk-preparedness. Despite that, some first steps has been done for a multilateral collaboration and the inclusion of local communities, at least in theory, in the context of a new management plan to be developed by the natural resource manager. Finally, this paper will conclude with some guidelines that may be useful for the inclusion of the risk-preparedness in a comprehensive strategy for heritage conservation.


Author(s): Vargas, Amilcar (University of Barcelona)