The International Council For Monuments Sites (ICOMOS) will be leading a project in Adamawa to harness cultural heritage to address climate change in Nigeria.
The President of ICOMOS-Nigeria, Mallam Aliyu Abdu, who said this in a statement in Abuja, described the project as timely, as it would pay attention to the cultural dimensions of climate change.
Abdu said that climatic changes had resulted in depletion of resources, leading to socio-cultural changes and increased tendencies of social conflicts which sometimes support insurgent outbursts in the North-east.
He said that the Climate Vulnerability Index (CVI) Africa-project would focus on climate impact on Africa cultural heritage by piloting the application of the climate vulnerability index for world heritage in properties in Africa.
The president said that the project would involve a global team, led by institutions in Nigeria, Tanzania and the United Kingdom.
According to him, the CVI project will be implemented for the first time in Africa at two UNESCO world heritage sites.
He said that sites include Sukur Cultural Landscape World Heritage site in Adamawa state and Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara World Heritage Site in Tanzania.
Similarly, Dr Ishanlosen Odiaua of ICOMOS Nigeria said that Sukur reflected the complexity of assessing vulnerability.
“It is located in the Mandara Mountains along the Cameroon-Nigeria border, where the impacts of climate change have induced shifts in the political and local economies, with attendant risks to culture”
Odiaua said that supporting local communities and national authorities to develop tools that build on local experience and realities could help them manage these risks and plan for the future.
“We hope that the CVI can contribute to fulfilling that need.
“Africa’s people, its communities and their heritage are projected to be hard-hit by the impacts of climate change,” he said.
Dr Albino Jopela of the African World Heritage Fund, a co-investigator on the project, said that in spite of the intensifying threat, “there remains a lack of attention to the cultural dimensions of climate change.
He said: “this is especially true across the African continent”.
Also speaking, Dr Will Megarry of Queen’s University Belfast, the project’s lead investigator noted that the climate change impacts were already resulting in the loss and damage of the cultural heritage sites across Africa.
“This loss is not limited to historical and archeological buildings and places.
“It is also impacting communities and their cultural tradition. How those who care for Africa’s cultural heritage respond to the threat of climate change has profound implications for the resilience of the broader community.
“The CVI-Africa project will provide foundational training in the CVI method to six African heritage professionals. In Nigeria, it will culminate in a workshop at the Sukur Cultural landscape,” he added.
