| SARAH WILD |
Published: 2011/09/26 06:52:32 AM |
THE government has framed heritage — including archaeology and paleontology — as a product, but to expect it to bring in the same amount of money as mining and economic development is incorrect, says Association of Southern African Professional Archaeologists chairwoman Amanda Esterhuysen.
The unveiling of the Australopethicus sediba fossils early this month and the publication of five papers in the respected journal Science, analysing these specimens, has thrown South African paleosciences into the international spotlight. It has also reinforced SA’s geographic advantage in this discipline.
The timely gazetted strategy makes provision for the development of researchers in the field and aims to bolster SA’s curation ability and train personnel. It also positions SA as a paleo-tourism destination.
"SA holds the key to advancing our understanding of various aspects of the story of life on e arth.… Work on South African paleoscience is therefore of crucial national and international importance," it says.
However, Dr Esterhuysen said it was ironic that, while one arm of the government, the Department of Science and Technology, was pushing for the protection and promotion of SA’s paleontological heritage, other entities were compromising them.
She was speaking with reference to the Mapungubwe site in Limpopo, a sophisticated African kingdom that predated European colonisation by almost a thousand years.
Earlier this month, the Department of Environmental Affairs and South African National Parks signed a memorandum of understanding with Coal of Africa , a junior Australia miner, which is trying to mine near the heritage site. Mining was halted last year after an outcry from environmental activists.
Dr Esterhuysen said this was because there were many entities — the departments of science and technology, arts and culture, and tourism — operating in the space that "things fall through the gaps of legislation". She cited the weakness of provincial heritage bodies and a lack of enforcement as prevailing issues.
Science and Technology Minister Derek Hanekom said the provincial heritage agencies were responsible for heritage sites in their province. "For example, the Cradle of Humankind is in Gauteng, so it’s the responsibility of the Gauteng agency. For Mapungubwe, it is Limpopo. The strategy looks to review the legislation and the framework for heritage resources, engaging with the departments of science and technology, arts and culture, and tourism, to form a single national heritage resources agency. "
Francis Thackeray, director of the Institute for Human Evolution at Wits University, welcomed the strategy.
'via Blog this'
No comments:
Post a Comment