Using Conservation Action Planning (or Open Standards for the Practice of

Conservation)

to develop Management Plans for Cultural Values

Framework

Identify:1. Priority values for conservation/protection2. Current condition of values3. Desired condition of values4. Key issues or factors degrading values5. Management strategies to abate those sources of

degradation

Value Condition criteria

Current Desired Priority Issues

Strategies

Village site # signs of unnatural physical damage

Every visit, new signs are present

No new signs present

Incidental visitors from boats

•Outreach to boaters•Referrals coordinator discusses with users

Knowledge of Heritage and cultural resources

•% Arch Impact Assess completed with full descriptions• % AIA results available to the community

•50%

•20%

•90%

•90%

•Arch professionals not available•$$ for AIAs

•Collaborate with universities•Require AIAs for all development•Grant applications

Understand of traditional values

# of unpermitted recordings or photographs of traditional dances & stories

15/ year 1/ year Uninformed visitors

•Outreach to visitors on web•Announcement at start of performances

Examples of how this works

1. Priority values

• Identify different types of cultural heritage values - can be based on:

– Common location: e.g. same watershed, same family or clan territory, same village

– Common use or importance: especially for objects or even CMTs

– Common form: e.g. village sites, movable artifacts, canoes, poles

– Unique or rare objects: equivalent to species fine filter in natural values

• If not all values are important for management or conservation, page 7 of the pdf gives some ideas of ways to prioritize those that are most important for a focus of the management plan

2 & 3. Current and desired conditionof TANGIBLE VALUES

• This step is used to determine whether active management is required.• Identify criteria upon which to describe the current condition.

• 3 types of criteria for evaluating condition:1. Conceptual content - how well the value reflects socio/cultural significance

2. Physical condition - how deteriorated is the physical object

3. Natural and social context - status of the environmental regimes (light, temperature, flooding, etc…) and the social factors (e.g. understanding in the community, land tenure, etc…) that are important to maintaining the condition of the value

Page 8 and 9 of the pdf discuss this in more detail

Once the criteria have been identified, assess current condition and what is the desired condition to determine whether active management is needed

Criteria Details Indicator (that is measured)

Corresondence/ connection

Permanence of the message

Degree of permanence of the value

% similarity to the original content and practice

# or % of people involved in the cultural practice

Degree of credibility

Uniformity of knowledge

Scientific information available

# of publications on the topic

Functionality Degree that the population identifies with the value

Transmission Transmission of the value or knowledge

Strength of the transmission mechanisms (can be measured using interviews, polls, and statistical analysis)# of community activities a year that permit or allow transmission of the intangible cultural valueDegree of knowledge about the cultural values in the formal educational curriculum

Context Institutional support (technical, financial, and political)

Level of support in state institutions/government

Level of support in NGOs

Legal framework Degree of protection or promotion given to the cultural value by the laws (national, global, regional, local)

2 & 3 For INTANGIBLE VALUESCriteria to use for assessing condition

4. Key Issues

For values with current conditions ≠ desired condition….A. Identify the consequences of degradation and the sources of degradation B. Find the most important sources of degradation

Deterioration effects – e.g.• Loss of Conceptual Meaning• Destruction• Loss of traditional knowledge

Causes of Deterioration – e.g.• Weathering• Looting• Inadequate management of tourism• Lack of institutional support for

local/native culture

Prioritization criteria:• Severity or Intensity

• Scope

Prioritization criteria:

• Importance

• Irreversibility

5. Strategies

• Identify management actions that can address the most important sources of degradation