Unsustainable development:

the mining industry as a threat to heritage

HERITAGE ALERTS AND ADVOCACY
GLOBAL INTER-UNIVERSITY SUMMER-SCHOOL
9.-13. AUGUST 2021, ONLINE
 Heritage preservation

Urban (and territorial)

planning

Environmental preservation
This publication series started in 2000 under the initiative of
ICOMOS former President, Michael Petzet.

Its aim is to depict heritage sites with problems and

difficulties and has drawn the attention of a wider audience
to risks caused by various types of natural disasters,
destructive human activities, and excessive economic
development.
Natural impact on cultural heritage

War and inter-ethnic conflicts

Tourism

Lack of use and maintenance

Threats to urban districts

Development pressure
“Human-made risks from development pressures caused by
population growth and progressive industrialisation are
reported from all parts of the world, resulting in ever-greater
consumption of land and destroying not only archaeological
evidence, but entire (even protected) cultural landscapes. (…)
As already mentioned in previous editions, large-scale mining
projects continue to threaten cultural landscapes, like the
open-cast gold mining in the archaeological zone of
Xochicalco (World Heritage Site) in Mexico ( pp. 87 f.), or the
silver mining, forestry, tourism and drug trafficking activities
in the Sierra Tarahumara (state of Chihuahua) in Mexico ( pp.
90 f.)”
“Most extractive processes have significant impact on
the involved bio-cultural systems and the delivery of
ecosystem services, which mostly produces
landscapes with modest aesthetic quality for human
well-being.”
A common position, considering the exploration and
extraction of mineral resources and associated activities
in general incompatible with the values that World
Heritage Sites represent.
 With the disaster, about 60 million cubic
meters of iron waste flowed into the Doce
River, displacing hundreds of residents,
destroying hamlets, and reaching the Atlantic
Ocean 17 days later.
Values-based conservation
A Statement of Significance
Proposal for introducing feedback in the Burra Charter Process. (Source: Zancheti, 2009 )
Bento Rodrigues as a national heritage site
“milieu de mémoire (meio de memória)”
X
“lieu de mémoire (lugar de memória)”
“Site of Memory” → “a specific location with architectural or
archaeological evidence, or even specific landscape
characteristics which can be linked to the memorial aspects of
the place.” (WHC, 2018, p. 11
“Sites of conscience” can be defined as places that “interpret
history through a site, engage the public in programmes that
stimulate dialogue on pressing social issues, share
opportunities for public involvement and positive action on
the issues raised at the site, and promote justice and
univeersal cultures of Human Rights.” (WHC, 2018, p. 14-15).
 Obrigado.
Leonardo Castriota
presidente@icomos.org.br