Abu Mena

• Rise of the water table
• Impact on structures due to earth trembling and other forms of damage likely to result from the use of heavy earth-moving equipment (works completed)
• Lack of conservation plan, defining short-, medium-, and long-term objectives and establishing technical parameters (materials, techniques, etc.)
• Need for a management plan, to include research, presentation and interpretation, the role of stakeholders (e.g. the Mar Mena community), staffing, sponsorship, visitor facilities, access, etc.
• Management activities
• Management systems/ management plan

• A land-reclamation programme and irrigation scheme with no appropriate drainage mechanism for the agricultural development of the region has caused a dramatic rise in the water table;
• The destruction of numerous cisterns, disseminated around the property, has entailed the collapse of several overlying structures. Huge underground cavities have opened in the north-western region of the property;
• A large, banked road has been built to enable movement within the property.

Adopted, see page https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/1279

On 29 January 2016, the State Party of Egypt submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property, which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/90/documents/, providing the following information:

• The groundwater project at the property has stopped owing to problems with the pumping equipment. However, there has been a public bid invited for maintaining and lowering groundwater and it is expected that works will commence in 2016;
• Other protective programmes, fencing of the archaeological area, site excavations, and conservation works have ceased because of the lack of financial resources;
• There have been no significant initiatives directed at reversing damage to the property; significant deterioration has occurred to the historic buildings in the baptistery, pilgrims court and the north bathroom;
• The Alexandria Governorate created a permanent committee for the Antiquities in Alexandria which is responsible for the property and will participate in conserving the property in cooperation with the Ministry of Antiquities and the Abu Mina Monastery. This committee has identified urgent, secondary and long-term solutions for the archaeological site, including short-term monitoring, analysis and management of groundwater, long-term changes to prevent the groundwater problem and the development of a master plan for the property;
• Encroachments by local communities have been removed from the site and the buffer zone;
• The Ministry of Antiquities is endeavouring to shift the focus away from individual monuments and buildings towards a comprehensive approach for the conservation of all the elements that contribute to the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property. It is intended that a complete management system will be in place in 2017, following stakeholder consultation and integrated site documentation;
• The Ministry of Antiquities and the Abu Mena Monastery administration have co- operatively prepared a proposal project for restoration and rehabilitation of the property;
• Digital mapping has been updated following the re-drawing of the property boundaries and preparation has commenced for site documentation using 3D Laser scanning in cooperation with the Egyptian National Authority for Remote Sensing and space sciences;
• A visitor centre project is in preparation, in cooperation with the Monastery administration and Alexandria Governorate.

The report from the State Party indicates that despite the establishment of the permanent Committee for the Antiquities in Alexandria, and efforts by the Ministry of Antiquities, there has been no significant implementation of the corrective measures and actions to safeguard and conserve the OUV of the property due to the lack of financial resources.

The State Party has not provided information or updated the status of a number of matters previously raised by the World Heritage Committee, including:

• The process for development of the Management Plan, in consultation with concerned stakeholders, that would address the threats in a comprehensive and integrated manner, including research, presentation and interpretation, the role of stakeholders, staffing, sponsorship, visitor facilities, and access; the State Party announces that it is only due to start in 2017;
• The preparation of a conservation plan, defining short, medium, and long-term objectives and establishing technical parameters (materials, techniques, etc.), which includes a condition surveys to identify priority interventions to ensure stabilization of archaeological remains and the elaboration of a project proposal thereon;
• Discussions with local communities to develop a programme for the removal of inadequate new constructions and the creation of facilities to allow for religious uses in areas outside the boundaries of the property and its buffer zone;
• Impact on structures caused by earth trembling and other forms of damage likely to result from the use of heavy earth-moving equipment;
• Details of all ongoing or planned restoration interventions at the property, particularly those at the Great Basilica and the reburial strategy. The State Party has not yet submitted a revised version of the draft retrospective Statement of OUV following the comments by ICOMOS transmitted in October 2014 by the World Heritage Centre.

The digital map of the property and its buffer zone submitted by the State Party has not been done in conformity with Annex 11 of the Operational Guidelines. The proposed shift in focus from monuments and significant buildings to a more-holistic approach that takes into consideration all the attributes of the property, which contribute to the preservation of its OUV is welcomed. However, in accordance with the corrective measures adopted by the Committee, this approach needs to be presented in the comprehensive Conservation and Management Plans.

The State Party report shows that the issue of the rising water table in the property has not yet been addressed. The saturation of the lower archaeological layers by water from the surrounding reclamation/irrigation project was the main reason the property was put in the Danger List in 2001 and tackling it remains a key corrective measure. The initial response was de-watering by means of pumps. The 2012 Reactive Monitoring mission acknowledged that the methodology of electrical pumping was unsustainable in the long term and proposed that the underlying causes needed to be addressed through a project to modify the irrigation methodology to one using a “drip” method.

It remains extremely urgent to undertake analysis of ways to address the underlying causes of the rising water table, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Irrigation. In the framework of the overall Conservation Plan, adequate expertise should be identified and recruited to carry out studies to elaborate a project to tackle the cause of the rising water table, and to define the appropriate mitigation measures for the archaeological remains once the water table has been lowered and stabilized.

Although the newly-established permanent committee has identified urgent, secondary and long-term solutions for the archaeological site, and the Ministry of Antiquities with the Abu Mena Monastery administration prepared a proposal project for restoration and rehabilitation, it is crucial to first complete all necessary analyses and studies, prior to engaging in any physical works. 

Given the above, it is considered that the Desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSOCR) has not been met and the required corrective measures have yet to be implemented.