Angkor
Factors affecting the property in 2001*
- Human resources
- Illegal activities
- Legal framework
- Management systems/ management plan
- Other Threats:
Urgent problems of conservation
Factors* affecting the property identified in previous reports
- Inadequate protective legislation;
- Inadequately staffed national protection agency;
- No permanent boundaries established and defined buffer zones;
- Need for monitoring and coordination of the international conservation effort
International Assistance: requests for the property until 2001
Total amount approved : 113,595 USD
| 1998 | Hydrological and topographical studies for the Moats of ... (Approved) | 28,595 USD |
| 1994 | Consolidation of the Pre Rupt monument in Angkor (Approved) | 50,000 USD |
| 1993 | Financial contribution for the installation of an alarm ... (Approved) | 20,000 USD |
| 1992 | Mission to prepare a Tentative List and a nomination ... (Approved) | 15,000 USD |
Missions to the property until 2001**
September 1997: legal expert mission
Conservation issues presented to the World Heritage Committee in 2001
Issues:
Illicit traffic at the site. Inadequate monitoring of the work undertaken on the entrance porch of the central monument and the collapsed tiers of the western moat of the Angkor Vat Temple. Furthermore, a plan for tourism development at the site and the development of infrastructure should be put in place, with particular reference to the question of the transfer of the Siem Reap/Angkor airport.
New information:
The plenary session of the International Coordination Committee for the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic site of Angkor (CIC), for which UNESCO ensures the Secretariat, met on 6 July 2001. The CIC examined all the dossiers prepared by the permanent Secretariat in consultation with the two co-presidents and the new President Director General of the “APSARA” authority.
I – Main information and decisions of the CIC
- Administrative reorganization of the APSARA
The new President Director General, H.E. Mr Bun Narith, introduced the new management team. It comprises 5 Deputy Directors General, responsible, respectively, for the following domains:
1 Archaeology and monuments
2. Urbanism and construction
3. Tourism
4. Economic development of the Angkor region
5. General administration.
H.E. Mr Vann Molyvann was appointed Counsellor to His Majesty the King of Cambodia for Angkor.
2. Appeal to the International Community for the Development of the Angkor region
On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the appeal of His Majesty the King of Cambodia for the safeguarding of Angkor (May 1991), H.E. Mr Sok An, Minister of State, launched an appeal to the international community for the decade 2002-2012 to be devoted to the development of Angkor. To this end, it was decided:
- to organise a round table of experts in Angkor, in 2002, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the inscription of Angkor on the World Heritage List;
- to organise a second intergovernmental conference, in 2003, which could be convened in Paris, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Intergovernmental Conference of Tokyo, October 1993.
3. Presentation of the conclusions of the cultural tourism seminar
Based on the report “Culture, Tourism and Development” submitted by UNESCO, and contributions from experts meeting during the “National Seminar on Cultural Tourism at Angkor and in Cambodia”, which was organized by UNESCO in cooperation with the Cambodian authorities on 2 and 3 July 2001 at Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, it is proposed to elaborate and implement a Master Plan for the development of cultural tourism at Angkor in order to combat poverty and ensure strong economic growth, whilst preserving the quality of life.
II – Development of tourism infrastructures
The ad hoc Expert Commission, created by UNESCO at the request of the Cambodian authorities to monitor the project for the creation of a new airport at Siem Reap/Angkor, submitted its technical opinion regarding the selection of the site of the new airport in August 2001. While awaiting the construction of this equipment, the Royal Government decided, in September 2001, to strengthen the infrastructures of the present airport, and it entrusted this activity to a private operator.
III – Monitoring of emergency assistance for the moats of Angkor Vat
The I.Ge.S. Company has been chosen as the constructor for the restoration works of the collapsed tiers of the west moat of the Angkor Vat Temple, for which an emergency assistance request had been submitted to the World Heritage Fund. The APSARA Authority has decided to provide additional funding for an amount of US$ 10,000 for this operation.
The next session of the CIC (technical session) will be held on 19 and 20 December 2001 at Siem Reap. It will be preceded by the sixth international symposium on the Bayon organized by the Governmental Team of Japan for the Safeguarding of Angkor, in close cooperation with APSARA and UNESCO (17 and 18 December 2001 at Siem Reap). During these meetings, the ad hoc group of UNESCO experts will meet.
Summary of the interventions
Decisions adopted by the Committee in 2001
25 COM VIII.62-63
Angkor (Cambodia)
VIII.62 The Committee examined the report on the state of conservation of Angkor and additional information presented concerning the progress being made by the national authorities together with support from UNESCO and relevant donors to implement the conservation and management plans of the ASPARA Authorities.
VIII.63 The Committee, after having examined the report on the state of conservation of the site, commended the Royal Government of Cambodia for the significant efforts undertaken in the reorganization of the APSARA Authority. In the perspective of implementation in the near future of the Master Plan for Development of Cultural Tourism at Angkor, it invited APSARA to strengthen its capacities in the management of private investment requests, notably with regard to the archaeological park, and to call upon all national and international expertise necessary. Taking note of the continued progress being made by the International Co-ordination Committee for the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Site of Angkor (CIC) and to mark the tenth anniversary of the inscription of the site, the Committee requested that a report with technical details on all activities carried out over the past ten years be made available to the Committee for information. Finally, the Committee decided to retain the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
The Committee may wish to adopt the following:
“The Committee, after having examined the report on the state of conservation of the site, commends the Royal Government of Cambodia for the significant efforts undertaken in the reorganization of the APSARA Authority. In the perspective of implementation in the near future of the Master Plan for Development of Cultural Tourism at Angkor, it invites APSARA to strengthen its capacities in the field of management of private investment requests, notably with regard to the archaeological park, and to call upon all national and international expertise necessary. The Committee decides to retain the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger.”
Cambodia
Exports
* :
The threats indicated are listed in alphabetical order; their order does not constitute a classification according to the importance of their impact on the property.
Furthermore, they are presented irrespective of the type of threat faced by the property, i.e. with specific and proven imminent danger (“ascertained danger”) or with threats which could have deleterious effects on the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (“potential danger”).
** : All mission reports are not always available electronically.
