South Africa committed R20-million to the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) at its launch on Friday.
Minister of Arts and Culture Pallo Jordan hosted the launch at the Cradle of Humankind heritage site, outside Johannesburg.
Jordan said the conservation and preservation of heritage can be used to address the development agenda.
”Heritage must include intangible heritage in the form of customs, practices, traditions and forms of indigenous knowledge not classically considered as heritage,” he said.
The funding will be used for maintenance purposes, capacity building, awareness raising and to monitor the implementation of the World Heritage Convention on the continent.
”Heritage should contribute to our education, poverty alleviation and sustainable development, and this is only possible if we have funds,” he said.
In Durban in July last year, the 29th session of the World Heritage Committee unanimously approved the AWHF and an African position paper.
The paper contains a planned programme of action to address problems identified regarding African heritage sites, especially the endangered sites.
The proposal was the culmination of a series of discussions between South Africa, Benin, Nigeria, Egypt and Zimbabwe, who represented the continent over concerns that African heritage sites were in dire need of funding.
To date, more than 18 countries have pledged support for the AWHF, with countries such as China, The Netherlands, India and Israel making firm financial commitments. — Sapa