From national park to cultural park an Algerian experience
Abstract
The status of National park was adopted in Algeria in 1921, during French colonisation, within the framework of the forestry law in force. It was renewed as is, after 1962 by independent Algeria and placed under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture, in its general forestry directorate. In 1983, it was redefined in the first national law on the environment, then, from 2011, in that of protected areas, within the framework of sustainable development. All Algerian national parks are created under the forestry regime and agricultural administration, with the exception of a single case where they are attached to the cultural sector: that of Tassili and Ahaggar, both located in the extreme south of the Sahara, including the Tuareg customary domain of Kel Ajjer and Kel Ahaggar. A particular case, linked to the process of administrative construction of the Saharan space. It is following the adoption of paradigm of sustainable development and a new law on the protection of cultural heritage , that this particularism has disappeared, with the introduction of a new legal category of protection, called “parc culturel”, based on the principle of “indissociability” between culture and nature, an innovative notion which has not yet acquired the conceptual force necessary to achieve the required stabilization and social appropriation, hence the difficulty of its translation into operational tools.
References
[1]Category adopted by the World Heritage Committee (UNESCO) at its 16th session, held in Santa Fe, United States, in 1992, as “Combined works of man and nature”. It was introduced into the Operational Guidelines for the implementation of the 1972 World Heritage Convention.
[2]In colonial imagery, the Sahara is perceived as an empty space, without historical consistency, a Nomens land. The absence of Roman, Vandal, Byzantine or Turkish traces did not allow colonial France to establish an administrative structure for the territory based on historic heritage.
[3]Betrouni Mourad: Director of research in Quaternary geology and prehistory at the center for prehistoric, anthropological and ethnographic research (CRAPE), since 1978, then at the national center for prehistoric, anthropological and historical research (CNRPAH), since 1993. Director of the Tassili National Park Office (0PNT), between 1998 and 2000, then director of cultural heritage at the Ministry of Culture, between 2003 and 2017.
[4]Henri Lhotse’s first Tassili mission, carried out between February and July 1956 on the Meddak plateau. He will call it “La Mission Lhote”, to distinguish it from other missions.
[5]The Tassilian novel is well told in the work “Discovering the frescoes of Tassili”, by H. Lhote. It is written in the register of expedition and the hero’s journey, in the manner of the Homeric epic, which exalts passions and imagination, giving rise to the “Tassilian passionaria”.
[6]The Meddak is an element of the Tassili N’Ajjer plateau, which extends over approximately 4000 km2. It corresponds to the occupation area of the Kel Meddak tribe. It is located in the commune of Djanet, today established as a Wilaya.
[7]The exhibition at the Pavilion Marsan, at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris, reportedly earned him 13 million old francs. Information according to Monique Vérité, in her 2010 publication : “Henri Lhote, one aventure scientifique au Sahara”, Paris : Ibis Presse, 430 p.
[8]Order of February 17, 1921 : Art. 1er: « Les forêts ou parties de forêts que leur composition botanique, leur beauté pittoresque ou leurs conditions climatiques désignent pour être des centres d’études scientifiques, de tourisme ou d’estivage pourront être constituées en parcs nationaux ». Art. 2 : « Les parcs nationaux pourront englober des terrains communaux ou particuliers, mais ceux-ci ne seront soumis à aucune réserve ou restriction quelconque sans l’assentiment formel des propriétaires ». Art. 3 : « La constitution des parcs nationaux sera prononcée par arrêté du gouverneur général pris en Conseil de gouvernement ». Art. 8 : « Pour favoriser l’installation des centres d’estivage et d’hôtels dans les parcs nationaux, des concessions de lots à bâtir pourront être accordées pour 99 ans sur le sol domanial dans l’intérieur des parcs nationaux ».
[9]The national parks of : Diar-el-Oued (28.8.1923), Ouarsenis (16.04.1924), Gouraya (7.8.1924), Akfadou (20.1.1925), Les Planteurs (7.12.1925), Chréa (3.9.1925), Djurdjura (8.9.1925), Taza (3.9.1927), Baïnem (8.11.1928), Edough (21.11.1928), Aïn N’s our (24.4.1929), Babors (12.1.1931), Mahouna (27.7.1931), Theniet-el-Had (03.08.1932).
[10]Law No. 62-157 of December 31, 1962 tending to the renewal, until further notice, of the legislation in force on December 31, 1962.
[11]Estienne Rodary. 2008. File No. 8: African national parks, a lasting crisis. In Héritier S. (dir.), Laslaz L. (dir.), Arnould P. (pref.). National parks around the world: protection, management and sustainable development. Paris. Ellipses, p. 207- 226. (Carrefour’s. Les Dossiers).
[12]Decree No. 72-168 of July 27, 1972 creating the Tassili National Park and the establishment responsible for its management and Decree No. 87-88 of April 21, 1987 reorganizing the Tassili National Park Office.
[13]Decree No. 87-231 of November 3, 1987 creating the Ahaggar National Park.
[14]Oued Djerat site was classified as a “historic site” in December 1979, under Ordinance 67-81 relating to excavations and the protection of historical and natural sites and monuments. This site has 75 rock engraving stations with 4000 figures spread over around thirty kilometers, as well as rock painting stations.
[15]The Evian agreements “Accords d’Evian” are the result of the Algerian-French negociations for the independence of Algeria. They were signed on March 18, 1962 in Evian-les Bains, Switzerland.
[16]In 1956, the discovery of two oil fields in Edjeleh and Hassi Messaoud and a gas field in Hassi R’mel (Algerian Sahara), required colonial France to consider a new strategic approach: the “petroilization of the Sahara”.
[17]Law No. 57-27 of January 10, 1957 creating a Common Organization of the Saharan Regions. This law put an end to the regime of the “Southern Territories”, replaced by two new departments: The Oases (capital Ghardaïa) and Saoura (capital Colomb-Bechar), which escape the sovereignty of Algeria.
[18]At the beginning of French colonization, the Sahara was called “Southern Territories”, a territorial organization, created by the law of December 24, 1902, which divided the Sahara into four districts (Ain Sefra, Ghardaïa, Touggourt and Oasis (themselves subdivided into circles and annexes). These territories were placed under the authority of the Governor General of Algeria. Under military administration, with a military commander, placed at the head of each. Officers of “indigenous affairs”, like the old Arab offices, were appointed to manage indigenous affairs and command a special police force, “platoons of méharists”.
[19]During the Algerian-French negotiations, the declaration of General de Gaulle, in September 1961, in a press conference: “« La question de la souveraineté du Sahara n’a pas été considérée, tout au moins elle ne le doit pas l’être pour la France », had allowed the resumption of negotiations, which led to the Evian agreements. The OCRS was then dissolved and the two departments of Oasis and Saoura returned to Algeria.
[20]The sixth session of Evian negotiations devoted to the Sahara (Wednesday May 31, 1961).
[21]Intergovernmental organism was created in 1965, as an extension of the former “Organisme Saharien” (OS) which continued to ensure the material and financial management of its services
[22]Prehistorian of rock art, Henri Lhote (1903-1991), wrongly considered to be “l’inventeur du Tassili” and made famous by his exhibition “Prehistoric Paintings of the Sahara”, at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris and especially his work “A la découverte des fresques du Tassili”, translated into sixteen languages and republished several times
[23]M. Vérité, 201. -Henri Lhote, une aventure scientifique au Sahara. Ibis Press, Paris, P.425.
[24]Supra [12]
[25]Articles 128 and 129 of Ordinance No. 67-281, of December 20, 1967, relating to excavations and the protection of historic and natural sites and monuments, establishing a national commission for monuments and sites under the Minister responsible for the arts.
[26]The 1933 London Convention on te conservation of fauna and flora in their natural state, which came into force in 1936, provided the first consensual definitions of « national park » and « strict nature reserve ». The Algeria Convention was adopted in 1968, by member states of the OUA; It came into force in 1969 but has not been systematically implemented due to « financial constraints » in the newly independent African countries.
[27]This mission was carried out under the aegis of the Paris Museum of Man and the high patronage of the Governor of Algeria J. Soustelle (ex. Deputy Director of the Museum of Man), with the support financial of the CNRS, the scientific and moral guarantee of Abbé Breuil, the Saharan Research Institute (IRS) and the Directorate of Fine Arts of Algiers.
[28]We must go back to the London Convention of 1933 and the definitions established by the IUCN (World Conservation Union), to find these two expressions: the “central zone” where strict regulations protect the environments (fauna, flora, landscape) and the “peripheral zone”, a sort of buffer zone, less strict in terms of protection.
[29]UNESCO Report 1968, n°1108.BMS/RD/CLT. UNESCO Report 1975, n°3191.RMO/RD/CLT. Proceedings of the International Seminar on the conservation of the rock paintings of Tassili, Tassili National Park Office (OPNT), 1978. UNESCO Report 1985, CLT-85/WS/. UNESCO Report 1986, studies and documents on cultural heritage n°13.
[30]Criterion “I”: represent a masterpiece of human creative genius; criterion “III”: offering an eminent example of a type of construction or architectural or technological ensemble or landscape illustrating a significant period or periods of human history. Criterion “VII”: represent remarkable natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance. Criterion “VIII”: be eminently representative examples of the major stages of the earth’s history, including the testimony of life, of ongoing geological processes in the development of terrestrial forms or of geomorphological or physiographic elements having great meaning.
[31]Decree No. 87-88 of April 21, 1987 reorganizing the Tassili National Park Office.
[32]The boundaries of the Tassili Azguer National Park are: -in the East: the border strip with the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya; -in the South-East: the border with the Republic of Niger up to Oued Tafessasset in the West; -from the South-West to the North-West: the limit follows the Edombo mountains to reach the cliff at the height of Tin-Enouar, a cliff which extends to Amguid; -To the North, the limitation of the massif corresponding to the contact zone between the plateau and the ergs, materialized by the Illizi-Amguid track to the West, and the Illizi-Tarat track to the East; -The ergs of Admer and Tihodaine form bordering areas and are integrated into the Park.
[33]Bernard Bousquet, 1992. Guide to the national parks of Africa (North Africa West Africa). Delachaux-Niestle. Discovering the Tassili N’Ajjer National Park. UNESCO, 1989 (Slideshow).
[34]Rafael Winter Ribeiro, 2013. Nature and culture in the world heritage list: the experience of Rio de Janeiro... Vertigo. Electronic journal in environmental sciences. Special issue 16. Veronique Zamman. 2017. The cultural landscape, between preservation and development. The institutional issues of heritage recognition of the landscape of Rio de Janeiro. Geographic Information (Vol.81) pp.94-120.
[35]Law No. 10-02 of June 29, 2010 approving the National Territorial Development Plan ‘(SNAT).
[36]This project recommends an approach based on the development of new forms of local governance which make it possible to assess the consequences of ecological instability on desert ecosystems and to propose more effective measures for managing biodiversity and to combat the threats and dangers of loss of this biological diversity. Objectives: Strengthening institutional capacities and establishing basic infrastructure. Implementation of Collaborative Management agreements. Promotion of Ecotourism. Information, Education and Communication. Monitoring and assessment of biodiversity. Development of management plans. Support for sustainable Eco development.
[37]Executive Decree No. 14-03 of January 15, 2014 establishing the status of the national office of the Tindouf cultural park (JO No. 3 of January 22, 2014). Executive Decree No. 14-04 of January 15, 2014 establishing the status of the national office of the Saharan Atlas cultural park (JO No. 3 of January 22, 2014). Executive Decree No. 14-05 of January 15, 2014 establishing the status of the national office of the Touat-Gourara-Tidikelt cultural park (JO No. 3 of January 22, 2014).
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