Rock-Art Sites of Tadrart Acacus

• Vandalism
• Deliberate destruction of heritage
• Human Resources
• Conflict situation prevailing in the country
• Illegal activities

Not yet identified

Not yet identified

On 8 February 2019, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report. An executive summary of this report is available at http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/287/documents/. Progress in a number of conservation issues addressed by the Committee at its previous sessions is presented in this report, as follows:

• The scale of vandalism to the rock art has decreased following the establishment of regular inspection patrols by the Tourist Police, who are working in close cooperation with the Department of Antiquities (DoA) offices in the region and the local community. The DoA has also increased its outreach activities in the towns and cities surrounding the property;
• The boundary clarification adopted at the 42nd session of the World Heritage Committee is now the official map of the property and has been shared with the Municipality of Ghat for protection and conservation purposes;
• Planning is underway to create a cultural and visitor centre in the old fort at Alawenat;
• Existing signage has been repainted to include guidance in local languages on how to protect the rock art, and a cleaning campaign involving NGOs and local communities was organized. Protection patrols and the protection of antiquities were intensified;
• Regarding actions intended by the State Party to facilitate removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger, the documentation of 20 rock art sites and topographic surveys were carried out; an awareness-raising project on the importance of archaeology and cultural heritage was undertaken; preparations are underway to designate the property as a National Park; and the DoA staff took part in capacity building programmes for GIS and survey techniques;
• The Presidential Council has issued a decree for the creation of a special committee to follow up on illicit trafficking of cultural property. Bilateral memoranda of understanding with several countries on this matter are envisaged. Important work with Arab and European security agencies and Interpol to limit illicit trafficking of cultural property has been achieved, and workshops to train experts have been conducted with international cooperation and support. The State Party affirms its efforts to ratify the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects.

The State Party intends to call on the international community to provide more financial and technical support for the conservation of its cultural heritage. In addition, it requests the Committee to remove the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger, and to this end has formally invited a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission to assess the state of conservation of the property.

The report provided by the State Party demonstrates its commitment to the conservation of the property, despite the prevailing conflict. The efforts made to improve the vigilance, to undertake cleaning and documentation actions, and to organize awareness-raising campaigns and capacity building activities are essential steps to prevent vandalism and to set out a roadmap of actions for the conservation of the property and its Outstanding Universal Value (OUV). Working in close coordination with the local communities is fundamental to the conservation of such a large property.

Notwithstanding these efforts, there remains a lack of effective management. The security conditions and the size of the property remain challenges in terms of preventing vandalism and thus ensuring the state of conservation of the property. Updated information is needed about the damage caused by graffiti, an issue that was raised in the previous state of conservation report.

It is recommended that the Committee invite the State Party to inform it, through the World Heritage Centre, of any future plans for major restoration or new construction projects that may affect the OUV of the property, including the rehabilitation of the fort at Alawenat as a cultural and visitor centre, in conformity with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, before making any decisions that would be difficult to reverse.

The effort made to clarify the property’s boundary is recognized as an indispensable step towards its effective protection and management.

The important efforts carried out by the State Party against the illicit traffic of its cultural heritage are welcomed. It is also recommended that the Committee call upon all Member States of UNESCO to support these efforts by providing funds and specialized assistance to continue urgent conservation activities, and to cooperate in the fight against illicit trafficking and the protection of Libyan cultural heritage.

On the occasion of the third cycle of the Periodic Reporting exercise, the State Party indicated its willingness to start the elaboration of the Management Plan for all five of its World Heritage properties, and will seek international support to achieve this objective. It also reported an increasing awareness by civil society, local and national authorities, and high-level decision-makers about the necessity to protect cultural heritage in Libya, including the properties inscribed on the World Heritage List. The organization of workshops and symposiums on the state of conservation of the World Heritage properties has emphasized the importance of their protection and conservation, linking national identity with cultural heritage.

It is therefore further recommended that the State Party’s important efforts to conserve this property are oriented in line with the Action Plan that was developed during the International Meeting on the Safeguard of Libyan Cultural Heritage, held in Tunis in May 2016 (report available at http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/1496), and building on the short- and medium-term measures identified during that meeting.

The recent escalation of violence raises much concern about the sustainability of the efforts made by the State Party in the conservation of the property, as it prevents the State Party from undertaking the necessary actions to ensure its protection and conservation. The joint mission invited by the State Party and requested by the Committee at its 40th (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016) and 41st (Krakow, 2017) sessions should be sent to the property as soon as the security conditions permit. In the meantime, it is important that the State Party pursue its efforts to keep the Committee, through the World Heritage Centre, updated on the situation on the ground, as well as on the further implementation of the measures it has launched, while addressing, to the extent possible, the comments and requests made by the Committee.

Considering the above-mentioned information, it is recommended that the Committee retain the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger.