Gulf states step up quest to join World Heritage List

James Reinl, United Nations Correspondent

Saudi Arabia hopes that the Nabataean tomb ruins at Mada’in Saleh will be the kingdom’s first entry on the Unesco list. Radius Images

UNITED NATIONS // The expected addition of Saudi Arabia’s ancient Nabataean tomb complex to Unesco’s coveted World Heritage List has spurred Gulf conservation chiefs into action as they race to have their own sites added.

Saudi delegates will present the rock-hewn wonder of Mada’in Saleh at the annual meeting of Unesco’s heritage committee in Quebec next month in an attempt to secure the kingdom’s first listing.

If successful, they will join Jordan, Bahrain, Yemen and Oman as Arabia’s proud proprietors of sites offering “outstanding universal value”, leaving Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE lagging behind.

Delegations from Doha and Abu Dhabi visited the Paris headquarters of Unesco, the UN body that helps to conserve mankind’s heritage, this month as they struggle to complete the mountain of paperwork required before their sites are even considered by the World Heritage Committee.

“I don’t know who will be the last country without a site, but, in the UAE, we are very desperate about it,” Awadh Saleh, the secretary general of the National Commission for Unesco, said from the French capital.

In February, the UAE placed Al Ain on a tentative list, claiming the city’s archaeological ruins, date palm oases and nearby mountain, Jebel Hafeet, offered enough “authenticity and integrity” to merit the preparation of a full nomination.

Within weeks, Qatar had raised the stakes by putting the defensive forts of Al Zubarah town and Khor al Adaid nature reserve – better known as the Inland Sea for its salt water flats and towering dunes – on its tentative list.

Mr Saleh, one of the staunchest Unesco advocates in the UAE, said officials had been slow to realise the importance of securing an entry on the World Heritage List, but that the issue was now “being taken seriously” at the highest levels.

Although Unesco plans have been in the pipeline since the UAE signed up to the World Heritage Convention in 2001, Mr Saleh said progress was stalled by bureaucratic hurdles including a lack of legislation to protect sites.

Despite the Government’s evident zeal to safeguard all aspects of tradition and culture, Unesco ambitions continue to be hampered by “technical difficulties” in the application process, he said.

Conservation officials in Doha have faced similar challenges in their efforts to secure a place on the World Heritage List, according to Ali Zainal, Qatar’s representative at Unesco headquarters, who described the application process as a mammoth and time-consuming task.

“It is a big project, very complicated, and you need to have all kinds of documents prepared before you can submit your file,” Mr Zainal said.

Weeks after Qatar submitted its tentative bids, Dr Sami al Masri, the director of strategic planning for the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, threw down another gauntlet, claiming Al Ain’s bid would likely be approved as early as 2010.

But Veronique Dauge, the head of the Arab states unit at Unesco’s World Heritage Centre, has poured cold water on the suggestion. Even if the Government filed a nomination by the next deadline of Feb 1 2009, the file would spend at least 18 months being assessed before it appeared before committee members in 2011, she said.

Although both Qatar and the UAE were slow to start work on Unesco accreditation, Ms Dauge said she is now “happy with the progress they are making” and noted a recent surge in activity.

“Last year, we had Saudi Arabia, and now we have Qatar and the UAE moving forward,” she said.

“So this is really very encouraging. It is good to feel that things are moving and they are really getting involved in the implementation of the convention.”

But she warned that even when a nomination from Qatar or the UAE makes it as far as the committee hearing, securing a place on the list is “not a shoo-in”.

As the Saudis may discover when they appear in Canada between July 2 and 10, committee members can reject, defer or demand further details about the nomination – as well as accepting.

“You need to be able to justify why this site, and not the one next door, is significant,” Ms Dauge said.

As well as demonstrating a commitment to conservation, governments that secure a site on the list can reap the benefits of additional sources of tourism revenue and prestige, Ms Dauge said.

With an elevated status and more Arabia-bound holidaymakers accompanying World Heritage List inscriptions, there is little wonder why officials are keen to join the Unesco club.