Promoting the Protection of Heritage Sites in Nepal's Western Terai in the Face of Accelerated Development (HN)

Pilgrimage is the fastest growing motivation for travel with an estimated 600 million 'spiritual voyages' undertaken each year and Asia Development Bank (ADB) predicts that Buddhist pilgrimage to South Asia will reach an annual figure of 22 million by 2020 from four million. It has also estimated that pilgrim numbers visiting Lumbini in Nepal's western Terai, the birthplace of Buddha, will expand from 800,000 to five million by 2020. Aware of economic benefits offered by enhancing Buddhist pilgrimage circuits and the potential to alleviate acute poverty within the Terai, ADB has invested millions of dollars in a 'Tourism Infrastructure Development Project'. On account of the presence of Lumbini, ADB investment in the Terai has included all-weather roads between the light aircraft landing strip at Bhairahawa and Lumbini as well as 100 million dollars upgrading Bhairahawa to the status of an international airport with a 3000 metre long runway.

Whilst highway investment has improved journey times for farmers taking produce to market, its presence close to the Indian border has attracted industrial investment in the form of 25 cement and noodle factories near Lumbini. In addition to polluting ground water, recent studies by IUCN have identified that monuments at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Lumbini have been damaged by airborne pollution. Speculative land acquisitions along roads and close to heritage sites have driven up land prices in some areas whilst proposed heritage buffer zones in others are inadvertently preventing sales. The latter has also prevented residents from raising of funds for emergencies and education through mortgages. In spite of this rapid development, many archaeological sites are still to be mapped and protected and a survey by UNESCO and Tokyo University has suggested that 97 of 136 known sites in Kapilbastu District have been damaged by the expansion of cultivation and settlement, both driven by accelerated development.

UNESCO surveys have also identified that some of the Terai's communities have weak, if any, social or economic ties to the Buddhist pilgrimage sites where much of the investment is focused. This is particularly true of the sizable Muslim community, running the risk of alienation. Additionally, UNESCO surveys have found that the majority of international Buddhist pilgrims at Lumbini are day visitors, coming across the border to visit sites before returning to India. The also survey identified that their spend within Nepal is minimal as packed lunches, vehicles and even guides are not Nepali. Whilst individually noted, these disparate challenges and opportunities have not been collectively discussed and evaluated by residents, stakeholders and policy makers.

In view of this dynamic situation, UNESCO and the Governments of Japan and Nepal launched the 'Strengthening the Conservation and Management of Lumbini, the Birthplace of Lord Buddha Project' to protect, conserve and manage key archaeological sites before sites were irreversibly adversely affected. Focused on Lumbini in Phase I (2011-2014) and Tilauarakot (identified by many as the Buddha's childhood home) in Phase II (2014-2017), the team of Durham University archaeologists and planners from the project team now recognise the need to promote the development of an agreed multidisciplinary and collaborative approach for the protection and preservation of heritage sites and the evaluation of the positive and negative social and economic impacts of contemporary Buddhist pilgrimage at them. By expanding the partnerships between Durham's UNESCO Chair and the project team to interface with managers, residents, pilgrims and stakeholders, whether Buddhist or non-Buddhist, we seek to reduce the destruction and irreversible modification of heritage sites and identify and promote benefits, and reduce negative impacts of pilgrimage through the development and dissemination of pilot toolkits and methodologies.

The development of site protection methodologies and pilot toolkits for the evaluation of the social and economic impacts of heritage will provide an archetype for dissemination amongst managers and lay and religious communities within SAARC, where heritage is threatened by rapid urbanisation and associated demands for agricultural intensification and raw resources. Heritage interventions and infrastructure developments are currently conceived, scoped and implemented independently; often resulting in unintended adverse impacts for sites and communities. Research by Durham's UNESCO Chair has demonstrated that the promotion of, and investment in, certain heritage sites can alienate communities with few social or economic linkages. Pilgrimage sites in SAARC have been targeted in a number of high profile cases, including the Bombing of the Temple of the Tooth in 1998, the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001 and the Bombing of Bodhgaya in 2013. In parallel but at a low profile, Buddhist heritage has been targeted by the art market as many marginalised communities are not engaged with protecting heritage and fail to recognise sustainable linkages with such sites and are keen to exchange heritage for immediate reward.

Building on Durham's UNESCO Chair's participation in UNESCO's program in Rupandehi and Kapilbastu Districts, this network will have an immediate articulation with an established constituency of archaeologists, development anthropologists, planners, economists, accountants, environmental scientists, nature conservators, site managers, residents, monks, nuns, tourist operators and specialists in conflict resolution drawn from international and national HEIs, NGOs, GOs, INGOs and IGOs. Resultant data and recommendations will directly feed into UNESCO's International Scientific Committee for Lumbini, which meets annually with representatives from the Government of Nepal, local municipalities, UNESCO experts (one of which is the UNESCO Chair), ADB, NGOs, districts and religious communities to discuss broader articulation with Government, UNESCO and ADB programs. Confirmed participation in the Scoping Workshop includes representatives from UNESCO, the Government of Nepal, the Lumbini Development Trust, Lumbini Buddhist University, Tribhuvan University, WWF, WHO, ICOMOS and the Nepal Bauddha Association and the Dharmodaya Sabha. Participation by Tradecraft UK and development economists will also allow the recognition of the potential for future commercial links with neighbouring communities and households.

Using the western Terai as the archetype, the Dissemination Workshop will share site protection methodologies and pilot monitoring toolkits with the broader SAARC community to illustrate ways in which heritage site can be preserved and developed yet ensure that stakeholders, pilgrims and residents benefit positively from impacts. To intensify this impact, participation from the offices of the Directors-General of Archaeology in India, Myanmar, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh has been confirmed as well as NGO and GO representatives, including the Director-General of Sri Lanka's Central Cultural Fund, the King of Bhutan's Archaeological Advisor, the President of the Orient Cultural Heritage Sites Protection Alliance and the Director of the Sharma Centre for Heritage Education, India. The data will also serve to communicate to stakeholders and residents about the potential value and benefit of hosting heritage sites and thus reduce or decrease their targeted destruction, whether intended or unintended.

Our potential impact was recognised in April 2016 by UNESCO's Director-General, who stated that "There is no need to choose between the preservation of heritage and the needs of the Buddhist pilgrims...This is the role of UNESCO and this International Scientific Committee, and we are determined to carry forward this important task...I know this works lies at the heart of UNESCO Chair at Durham"