How can we contribute to the preservation of our heritage

As we move on from understanding how our heritage is related, let's move onto more stuff related with the UAE. First off, we'll start off with the number of Archaeological Sites in the UAE.

How can we contribute to the preservation of our heritage?

There are several ways in which individuals can contribute to the preservation of our heritage. Some of these include:

1. Learning about our heritage: One of the first steps in preserving our heritage is to learn about it. This can be done by visiting museums, reading books, and visiting historic sites.
   
   
2. Supporting local communities: Many heritage sites and traditions are maintained by local communities. By supporting these communities, we can help to preserve our heritage.
   
   
3. Volunteering: Many heritage organizations rely on volunteers to help with conservation and preservation efforts. By volunteering, we can contribute to the preservation of our heritage.
   
   
4. Investing in conservation and restoration: Many heritage sites are in need of conservation and restoration work. By investing in these efforts, we can help to ensure that our heritage is preserved for future generations.
   
   
5. Respectful tourism: One of the most important ways to preserve our heritage is to be respectful when visiting heritage sites. Avoiding taking souvenirs or damaging the site, and being mindful of the local customs and culture.
   
   
6. Educating others: sharing knowledge and raising awareness about our heritage is an important way to ensure that it is preserved for future generations.
   
   
7. Supporting legislation: supporting legislation that aims to protect and preserve heritage sites and traditions is another way to contribute to the preservation of our heritage.

Overall, preserving our heritage is a collective effort, and there are many ways in which individuals can contribute to this effort. By learning about our heritage, supporting local communities, volunteering, investing in conservation and restoration, respectful tourism, educating others, and supporting legislation, we can help to ensure that our heritage is preserved for future generations.

UNESCO has themselves have done lots of stuff for preservation. Which ranged from very extreme to mild cases of the loss of heritage. Below-mentioned is an example of UNESCO has preserved heritage of a very extreme case.

Sitting at the gateway to the Sahara Desert, Timbuktu conjures images of a mythologic city at the end of the world, where Arab and African merchants would travel from afar to trade salt, gold, cattle, and grain. The city in northern Mali has come to represent a place far away. Undismayed, caravans still supply the cross-desert route and come to the city several times a year. They carry rock salt extracted from the northern Sahara, just like their ancestors did for centuries.

So, why we are talking about this? During the conflict of 2012–2013, more than 4,000 of the 40,000 manuscripts kept at the Ahmed Baba Institute were lost. Some were burnt or stolen, while more than 10,000 remained in a critical condition. The inhabitants of Timbuktu helped save their precious heritage by secretly spiriting away more than 300,000 manuscripts to Bamako. Other texts were sheltered between mud walls or buried. Although protected from immediate destruction, these pieces, now preserved in conditions that may not safeguard them for future generations.

To help preserve Timbuktu’s cultural heritage and encourage reconciliation, UNESCO has been supporting the local communities to take part in ancient manuscript conservation projects and ensure their lasting preservation for humanity. UNESCO also coordinated to rebuild the fourteen mausoleums inscribed on the WHC as well as the Djingareyber and Sidi Yaha mosques, that were deliberately destroyed by armed groups during the conflict. The reconstruction aimed to foster reconciliation among communities and restore trust and social cohesion. UNESCO even went with more accuracy to rebuild these shrines as closely as possible and showcases UNESCO's larger aims to protect as many sites as possible.

The destruction of the mausoleums of Timbuktu has been a shock, and a clear turning point, revealing the importance taken of culture and heritage in modern conflicts fuelled by violent extremism and fundamentalist ideologies. It has shown how strongly fundamentalists are willing to destroy other Islamic cultures, and any other vision which differs from their own. Similar direct destruction of Islamic, pre-Islamic, Christian or Jewish heritage, has then been seen in Iraq and Syria. The need to restore heritage has become far more than a mere cultural issue – it has become a security issue, and a key component for the resilience and further cohesion of societies torn by conflicts.

On a more positive note, the monuments in Timbuktu are living heritage and closely associated with religious rituals and community gatherings.

Manuscripts of the Ahmed Baba Centre, Timbuktu & Conservation room of ancient manuscripts, IHERI-AB, Timbuktu. The last picture is one of the shrines/ mausoleums.

So, what has the UAE done about their preservation of their heritage? Or What are the efforts of the UAE Government in preserving the heritage?

Government entities of the UAE have taken and continue to take several measures not only to preserve the heritage but also to create awareness about it. It has achieved this through:

• Holding Festivals and Events: Annual festivals such as Qasr Al Hosn Festival, Sheikh Zayed Heritage Festival, Sultan bin Zayed Heritage Festival, Sharjah Heritage Days bring alive the UAE's heritage and gives the chance for the new generation to experience and value it. These festivals are very popular and draw huge crowds.
  
  
• Forming Clubs: Clubs such as Emirates Heritage Club and Juma Al Majid Center for Culture and Heritage conduct research on the heritage and organize activities to promote awareness about the heritage.
  
  
• Establishing Heritage Villages: Heritage villages are a complex of structures that include traditional houses, schools, markets and public spaces. It is like a replica of structures in the olden days. All emirates have at least one heritage village. The heritage villages offer a peek into the different aspects of the lives of Emiratis in the olden times. Most public documentation of it is of Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.
  
  
• Establishing and Maintaining Museums: Museums in the UAE have contributed a lot towards preservation of the culture of the UAE. There are several museums in the UAE. They display artwork, rare pictures, utensils, armoury, maritime equipment, currencies and other items from the olden times. Museums that have opened in original structures that served as forts or palaces in the olden days reflect the heritage of the UAE uniquely. Some museums are the Louvre Abu Dhabi, Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and Zayed National Museum.
  
  
  
  

  

  All four museums listed here, found on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi.

  
  
• Constructing and Maintaining Mosques: General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments is the federal authority responsible for constructing mosques in the UAE. There are about 5000 mosques in the UAE open all day to call for piety, righteousness, and peace.
  
  Al Bidya Mosque in Fujairah is the oldest mosque in the UAE.
  
  Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi reflects the grandeur of the Mamluk, Ottoman and Fatimid architectural styles. Late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding President of the UAE, was laid to rest in the complex of the mosque.
  
  Jumeirah Mosque in Dubai was built entirely from white stone in the medieval Fatimid tradition, with towering twin minarets framing a large central dome. It can hold up to 1,200 worshippers.
  
  
  

  

  The three mosques mentioned above, from Al-Bidya Mosque (Left); Jumeirah Mosque (Middle); Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque (Right)

  
  

Before ending this section off, another poster was made by Ibrahim, and that is attached below. It is about Ways to contribute to the Preservation of Heritage. We hope it's informative and this marks the end of Section 2. We hope it answers the main question well and also showcases what the UAE has done as well; And don't forget to like and share this blogpost. See you in Section 3!!

-NG