What the Plain of Jars in Laos tells us about disaster risk management in the era of coronavirus
- Despite its recent Unesco World Heritage listing, the ancient archaeological landscape has suffered from Covid-19’s blow to tourism
- But the pandemic has highlighted the fallout from unanticipated emergencies, and provided time to plan how to better manage the site
While overenthusiastic development has been the biggest headache for many World Heritage Sites, too few visits and too little economic activity can be equally worrying.
Although conservation is the primary purpose for a listing, many countries seek recognition with a more pragmatic view of increasing a site’s international profile and earning income for communities. The pandemic is affecting the welfare of people and organisations in a listed area, and also efforts to safeguard it – a situation that is not limited to the Plain of Jars but pertains to World Heritage Sites worldwide.
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Prior to its listing last year, Laotian authorities in cooperation with Unesco had been preparing the nomination dossier and management plan for 20 years. Local leaders had pinned their hopes on the new status lifting the fortunes of one of the country’s poorest provinces, which was one of the most heavily bombed areas in the 1960s and 1970s and still has a deadly legacy of unexploded ordnance.
The Plain of Jars is the collective name for the ancient stone jars scattered on hill slopes and ridges in more than 90 sites throughout the Xieng Khouang Plateau. The site isn’t just stunning, with hundreds of jars spread across the lush, rolling landscapes – it dates back to the Iron Age and is considered one of Southeast Asia’s most significant prehistoric sites.
Nearby villages play an important role in the strategy to protect the site and stand to benefit from increased visibility. The hoped-for World Heritage effect has only had a limited impact so far, however, and life mostly goes on as usual for residents who eke out subsistence livelihoods in the rural areas near the ancient archaeological sites.
“Villagers are still living as normal,” said Thongsavanh Khammanichanh, deputy director of the Plain of Jars World Heritage Office. “They do farming and also some local business.”
The challenge is keeping domestic travellers for a longer stay in the area, and visiting more than just Jar Site 1
“A lot of local tourism-related businesses have simply closed for now,” tourism expert Tara Gujadhur said. “They can’t pay salaries or overheads for such low visitation that is primarily over the weekends. This is a problematic cycle of travellers not wanting to visit if they feel that the tourism services won’t be operating as usual, but then businesses not opening because of low visitation.”
SHORT AND LONG-TERM RECOVERY
As part of the site’s short-term recovery, authorities are looking to domestic visitors to fill in the gaps.
“We now promote more domestic visits mainly through social media and some advertisements on television and radio,” Thongsavanh said. “However, many main events have not yet been allowed, such as festivals and other celebrations.”
Even the large celebration to commemorate World Heritage status, planned for earlier this year, has been put on hold indefinitely.
“The challenge is keeping domestic travellers for a longer stay in the area, and visiting more than just Jar Site 1,” Gujadhur said. “If we can entice them, and in the future international tourists, to go to the lesser-known sites, there will be more opportunities for villages around the sites to earn money through selling souvenirs, opening small restaurants, and providing services and activities. And these sites are highly interesting, with stunning nature and views.”
As part of the Laos-New Zealand tourism support programme, a new tourism development plan encourages visitors to visit multiple sites through a proposed heritage passport scheme. The unique characteristics of each of the different sites can also be promoted to niche markets.
More active visitors, for instance, might be interested in hiking to some of the more rugged areas, while improved trails, visitor facilities and carefully designed amenities could diversify visitor activities at various locations.
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The pandemic-induced downtime is providing opportunities to improve presentation and management of the sites. Recent visitors have been greeted by new signs explaining various World Heritage components that have been implemented with New Zealand’s support. The signs complement earlier investments overhauling the Xieng Khouang provincial museum and upgrading facilities at the marquee Jar Site 1, including a visitor centre, cafe, handicraft shops, parking and toilets.
This new visitor infrastructure is also helping to disseminate research findings from an ongoing Laotian-Australian research project that is yielding insights into the once enigmatic site. A variety of human burials have been uncovered near the jars, along with a wide range of grave goods and other traces of funerary practices.
BETTER HERITAGE MANAGEMENT
To improve the long-term management of the site, one priority is “putting in place a better revenue-management system, [with] a network of sites where the revenue stems primarily from just a few sites”, New Zealand project expert Ross Corbett said. “That happens in other heritage sites and destinations, and in business as well.”
Ensuring that tourism revenue is distributed in an inclusive manner will be key to funding management work as well as directly benefiting local communities. Creating alternative sources of future revenue aside from tourism would also buffer the local economy from protracted pandemic fallout or other future disruptions.
“Despite the difficulties during the Covid-19 situation, many steps forward have been [taken],” said Viengkeo Souksavatdy, deputy director of Laos’ National Heritage Department. At the national level, the ninth session of the interministerial National Committee for World Heritage was convened in Vientiane on August 20 to review various World Heritage matters, reflecting a sense of urgency in protecting sites amid the pandemic.
The newly set up Plain of Jars World Heritage Management Office is also driving initiatives to better manage the site. The office will be the focal point for coordination at the national and local levels, notably Village Heritage Teams which are at the frontline monitoring the heritage distributed widely across the plateau. Local consultations have been carried out for a tourism management plan as well as the World Heritage Management Plan, which is being funded by the French Ministry of Culture.
With the pandemic highlighting the fallout from unanticipated emergencies, heritage officials are now working to identify disaster risks and plan mitigation measures under a project supported by Unesco’s Heritage Emergency Fund. Field surveys have been undertaken using a mobile app developed under the project to collect and visualise data. Training in conjunction with the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property and the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Project in Archaeology and Fine Arts has involved first responders such as police and emergency services in the province, along with village representatives.
Beyond the Plain of Jars, the resilience of the heritage sector is now being flagged in policies and mechanisms for disaster risk management. This could be the silver lining with long-term consequences stemming from the current crisis.
Montira Unakul is a culture programme officer at Unesco Bangkok
