Princess Dana attends opening of 1st regional conference on Cultural Property Protection

AMMAN — HH Princess Dana Firas, President of the Petra National Trust (PNT) and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Cultural Heritage, on Monday attended the opening of the first regional conference on “Cultural Property Protection”.

Titled “Site Management: Strategies and Practices”, the four-day event held in Amman, Madaba — the 2022 Arab Tourism Capital — and Petra, is set to discuss the effectiveness of regional archaeological site management during crises, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

Princess Dana Firas said: “This year, UNESCO is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention, which today serves as a tool for the protection of cultural and natural sites of exceptional universal value.”

“The World Heritage Convention is meant to recognise and promote heritage and cultural properties,” she said, adding that the convention started with the construction of the High Dam in Aswan, Egypt.

Following the urging of Egypt and Sudan UNESCO launched an international protection campaign in 1959. The campaign is funded by over 50 countries, highlighting the importance of the globally shared responsibility to safeguard prominent cultural sites, she noted.

Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Nayef Al Fayez highlighted the role of safeguarding and upgrading archaeological and tourist sites in sustainable social development, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.  

Louise Bertini, Executive Director of the American Research Centre in Egypt, said that heritage preservation in the MENA region has been confronted with various challenges, including environmental changes and the illicit trade in cultural property, noting that the conference aims to bring together representatives from governments, NGOs, and academic institutions to expand cooperation in facing the challenges. 

The conference enjoys the participation of a number of archaeology managers, experts and government officials from Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq and Yemen. It is focused on current challenges and future opportunities for public-private partnerships as well as regional and international cooperation, in addition to legislation that allow effective and sustainable management of archaeological sites, Petra reported.