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Unesco to use satellites to monitor ancient sites threatened by Isis
2015/7/2
Unesco to use satellites to monitor ancient sites threatened by Isis
Follow up (AIN) -Unesco is set to finalise a satellite deal to improve its monitoring of ancient sites in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya that face looting and destruction by groups such as Islamic State.
Satellite images are of high enough resolution to show illegal activity around sensitive sites, Irina Bokova, Unesco’s director general, said in an interview with the Guardian.
“There is so much illicit excavation going on. We have seen satellite pictures about that. We have signed a contract recently to get more satellite pictures and recently at an important Unesco private, roundtable meeting we have seen shots of holes round archaeological sites,” she said.
Satellite monitoring is one of a series of steps Bokova is proposing to tackle the widespread damage and destruction which she calls “cultural cleansing”.
Religious teaching that drives Isis to threaten the ancient ruins of Palmyra
Read more
I sis took control in May of the Greek and Roman remains in and around Palmyra, designated a Unesco world heritage site. She said precise information was hard to come by, but that the group had been destroying mausoleums, temples and statues in and around Palmyra and planting explosives.
Isis has destroyed Assyrian ruins and artefacts in Iraq.
She said the scale of the damage and destruction was new. She contrasted the current widespread vandalism with the relatively narrow and confined destruction in 2001 when the Taliban blew up Buddhist statues at Bamiyan in central Afghanistan.
Bokova, who is a candidate to replace Ban Ki-moon as the next UN secretary general, was in London to speak at the Royal United Services Institute about action to protect vulnerable sites.
Isis destroys Palmyra shrines in Syria
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She said military action was needed to reoccupy the sites, but that hard power was not enough. She urged steps including pressure on countries to crack down on the trafficking of looted artefacts, not just to help protect ancient sites but because Isis and other groups used the trade to fund terrorism.
What is causing alarm at Unesco, she said, was “the darker, lesser-known … illicit trafficking of objects of art”. Estimates suggest the worldwide trade is worth tens of millions of dollars, but she said it was impossible to put a figure on it.
Unesco already works with organisations such as Interpol to try to track down artefacts. It is also encouraging countries to introduce legislation tackle the problem and appoint specialist staff to identify items.
Bokova also advocates countering Isis propaganda by presenting alternative narratives on social media.
She said Unesco was about to seal an agreement with the UN Institute for Training and Research’s operational satellite applications programme to monitor heritage sites.
Coalition air strikes should defend Palmyra – it belongs to the whole world
Rowan Moore
Rowan Moore Read more
Such monitoring could help reduce the extent of destruction and pillaging, document what has been destroyed , prepare for reconstruction, and build cases at the international criminal court to bring those responsible to justice.
“We are very worried about Libya, being a divided country. We have a small office there and are working with the local governments and mayors,” she said.
We are very concerned about the expansion of Isis and youth radicalisation … We are worried about Somalia, we are worried about the Sahel generally and Mali,” she said.
Unesco has helped to rebuild mausoleums destroyed by Islamist groups in Timbuktu. Fourteen have been rebuilt using local materials and labour and the help of imams. “This is our response to extremism,” she said.
The organisation is currently preparing to reconstruct parts of Aleppo./End/
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2015/7/2
Unesco to use satellites to monitor ancient sites threatened by Isis
Follow up (AIN) -Unesco is set to finalise a satellite deal to improve its monitoring of ancient sites in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya that face looting and destruction by groups such as Islamic State.
Satellite images are of high enough resolution to show illegal activity around sensitive sites, Irina Bokova, Unesco’s director general, said in an interview with the Guardian.
“There is so much illicit excavation going on. We have seen satellite pictures about that. We have signed a contract recently to get more satellite pictures and recently at an important Unesco private, roundtable meeting we have seen shots of holes round archaeological sites,” she said.
Satellite monitoring is one of a series of steps Bokova is proposing to tackle the widespread damage and destruction which she calls “cultural cleansing”.
Religious teaching that drives Isis to threaten the ancient ruins of Palmyra
Read more
I sis took control in May of the Greek and Roman remains in and around Palmyra, designated a Unesco world heritage site. She said precise information was hard to come by, but that the group had been destroying mausoleums, temples and statues in and around Palmyra and planting explosives.
Isis has destroyed Assyrian ruins and artefacts in Iraq.
She said the scale of the damage and destruction was new. She contrasted the current widespread vandalism with the relatively narrow and confined destruction in 2001 when the Taliban blew up Buddhist statues at Bamiyan in central Afghanistan.
Bokova, who is a candidate to replace Ban Ki-moon as the next UN secretary general, was in London to speak at the Royal United Services Institute about action to protect vulnerable sites.
Isis destroys Palmyra shrines in Syria
Read more
She said military action was needed to reoccupy the sites, but that hard power was not enough. She urged steps including pressure on countries to crack down on the trafficking of looted artefacts, not just to help protect ancient sites but because Isis and other groups used the trade to fund terrorism.
What is causing alarm at Unesco, she said, was “the darker, lesser-known … illicit trafficking of objects of art”. Estimates suggest the worldwide trade is worth tens of millions of dollars, but she said it was impossible to put a figure on it.
Unesco already works with organisations such as Interpol to try to track down artefacts. It is also encouraging countries to introduce legislation tackle the problem and appoint specialist staff to identify items.
Bokova also advocates countering Isis propaganda by presenting alternative narratives on social media.
She said Unesco was about to seal an agreement with the UN Institute for Training and Research’s operational satellite applications programme to monitor heritage sites.
Coalition air strikes should defend Palmyra – it belongs to the whole world
Rowan Moore
Rowan Moore Read more
Such monitoring could help reduce the extent of destruction and pillaging, document what has been destroyed , prepare for reconstruction, and build cases at the international criminal court to bring those responsible to justice.
“We are very worried about Libya, being a divided country. We have a small office there and are working with the local governments and mayors,” she said.
We are very concerned about the expansion of Isis and youth radicalisation … We are worried about Somalia, we are worried about the Sahel generally and Mali,” she said.
Unesco has helped to rebuild mausoleums destroyed by Islamist groups in Timbuktu. Fourteen have been rebuilt using local materials and labour and the help of imams. “This is our response to extremism,” she said.
The organisation is currently preparing to reconstruct parts of Aleppo./End/
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
