Africa Day celebrates independence, freedom from colonialism, and looking forwards to a peacful and thriving future in the 55 African Union nations. This year’s theme is “Arts, Culture and Heritage” and UCS is helping to raise up climate change in that context.
Climate change is probably the fastest-growing threat to African cultural heritage, much of which was left in a parlous position because of the legacies and structural inequalities of past colonial rule. During the colonial era, Africa’s moveable heritage was stripped, stolen and often violently acquired and taken to Europe and the US. One amongst many depredations was the looting of hundreds of exquisite bronzes made by Edo craftsmen from the 16th century onwards which were taken by the British army when it sacked Benin City (now in southern Nigeria) in 1897. More than 1400 of these Benin bronzes can be viewed in museums from London to San Francisco, Washington and New York, but hardly any are in Nigerian museums.
Western museums continue to resist calls to return Africa’s stolen heritage. In 2018 the Sarr/Savoy report on the restitution of African Heritage estimated that 90-95 percent of African objects held in museums are outside Africa. Meanwhile, heritage management in most African nations remains critically under-resourced, and climate change will only make matters worse. That’s why UCS is joining international partners in a pilot project to help train African heritage experts to assess climate impact risks to World Heritage sites and develop resilient site management strategies.
The Climate Vulnerability Africa (CVI) Project, is being launched to address the gap that exists in understanding climate impacts on cultural heritage in Africa and to help build capacity amongst the continent’s heritage professionals. The CVI—a rapid climate impact assessment tool designed for World Heritage sites—was created by scientists from James Cook University in Queensland, Australia. UCS contributed to the development of the CVI and helped test the methodology in Scotland. Now, in a project coordinated by the African World Heritage Center, ICOMOS and Queens University, Belfast, the CVI will also be used at sites in Nigeria and Tanzania.
Climate change is a major threat to Africa, but its impacts will be quite variable in this huge and diverse continent which includes Mediterranean coasts, vast deserts, tropical forests, savannahs and wetlands, mountain glaciers and even sub-Antarctic islands. According to the IPCC, temperatures have already increased by about 0.5°C during the last 50-100 years in most of the continent.
Marked changes in precipitation patterns are likely for much of Africa. For example, reduced precipitation is likely in northern Africa and southwestern South Africa, but in some areas, such as the Ethiopian Highlands, there may be more rainfall and more extreme rainfall events. Warming is causing glaciers to recede in the Rwenzori Mountains, and Mount Kilimanjaro with significant ice loss expected from further warming. Sea level rise is impacting cities including Alexandria in Egypt and Saint-Louis in Senegal.
Desertification may be exacerbated by climate change, droughts are likely to become more severe, and dangerous heatwaves are expected to increase disproportionately in some regions. Countries south of the equator are expected to experience the highest mean sea level rise and the IPCC has identified Africa’s coastal fisheries, coral reefs and mangroves as at major risk from warming, as well as traditional pastoral agricultural systems.
All these changes threaten cultural heritage in Africa, including the tangible—such as historic buildings, archaeological sites and museum collections— and the intangible, including seasonal festivals, sacred sites and traditional fishing practices and foodways. To take just one example, the water levels of Lake Malawi have dropped in recent decades and rainfall there has become more unpredictable with longer drier periods and more extreme weather events, putting at risk traditional fishing practices that rely on some of the highest freshwater fish biodiversity on the planet.
In a 2016 report produced jointly with UNESCO, UCS identified drier conditions and increased frequency of large fires in the Cape region of South Africa as being likely to impact not only the extraordinary plant diversity of the area, but also shrink the zone in which wild rooibos (redbush tea) can be collected. Meanwhile, the ancient Ksour (medieval desert caravan towns) of Ouadane, Chinguetti, Tichitt and Oualata in Mauritania, once globally important centers of nomadic and Islamic culture, are at risk from extreme heat damaging ancient masonry and extreme rainfall eroding traditional earth-built architecture.
Summing up the importance of the new CVI Africa project, Dr. Ishanlosen Odiaua of ICOMOS Nigeria has said “Supporting local communities and national authorities to develop tools that build on local experience and realities, can help them manage these risks and plan for the future. We hope that the CVI can contribute to fulfilling that need.”