Draft National Policy on Environment

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5. Heritage Resources

Heritage resources are important for purposes of fostering national identity, education, research and as a record of social, cultural, scientific and overall development of Zambia. The Nation is rich in natural and cultural heritage sites. In many instances these resources are threatened by developmental projects. This is attributed largely to a lack of awareness about the value of heritage and recognition of its significance. At present there no adequate conservation and monitoring of heritage programmes and associated laws are poorly enforced.

Zambia is a signatory to the World Heritage Convention, which governs the conservation of world heritage sites of which Victoria Falls is the only one in the country at the moment. New heritage sites are being proposed for UNESCO listing as World Heritage Sites thereby increasing the relevance of the National Policy for Environment.

The Zambian Heritage Sites are administered through the National Heritage Conservation Commission Act Cap 173 of the Laws and are administered by the National Heritage Conservation Commission which is a statutory body under the Ministry of Tourism Environment and Natural Resources. Some of the heritage resources in Zambia are managed as collections in the various National Museums under the National Museums Board, with a different law and mandate from the NHCC and also some as Private or Community Museums. There has been no participation in heritage management by local communities and private sector making it difficult to have a symbiotic relationship. Heritage resources are seldom well conserved since local communities have no tangible benefits from the existence and use of most of these sites.

There is a pressing need to coordinate developmental activities with conservation activities where heritage resources are concerned so that they are not wantonly lost through insensitive developments.