Article

UNESCO and PDTRA in partnership continue to safeguard Petra from natural hazards

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11 May 2020

Last update:20 April 2023

Over the past decade, several initiatives for the protection of Petra against natural hazards have been jointly implemented by UNESCO, the Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA) and the Department of Antiquities (DoA).

Another significant step along this partnership has now been achieved. Following nine months devoted to data gathering, field investigation and studies, the main outcomes of UNESCO’s initiative “Surveys, studies and preliminary project design for developing flood control measures to protect the Petra Archaeological Park against flash flooding hazards” were presented to PDTRA during a virtual meeting with Chief Commissioner, H.E. Dr. Suleiman Farajat, Park Commissioner, Eng. Majed Hassanat, and the Director of the Cultural Resource Management Unit at the Petra Archaeological Park, Mr. Ibrahim Farajat.

The project is funded by the ) at the World Heritage Centre, a multi-donor trust-fund established to enable UNESCO to respond effectively to crises resulting from armed conflicts and natural or human-made disasters all over the world.

This is a comprehensive study that represents a fundamental step for the protection of Petra against flooding hazards. For the first time, PDTRA can rely on a solid baseline to move into a more operational phase and start implementing effective strategies to enhance the protection of the site and its visitors

Dr Suleiman Farajat, PDTRA Chief Commissioner

According to Professor Khaldoun Shatanawi, expert hydrologist and UNESCO Consultant, "The development of an integrated hydrologic-hydraulic model represents a major step to understand the complexity of the Wadi Musa watershed. The analysis conducted not only has taken into account multiple variables affecting the runoff for a design event, but it has also been continuously refined, tested and verified using field observations. The model has been a major tool in evaluating the effectiveness of the measures proposed to mitigate the flood hazards along Wadi Musa and the Petra Archeological Park."

This initiative represents another concrete achievement in the long-term partnership between UNESCO and PDTRA to implement disaster risk reduction approaches in Petra. The robust outcomes presented today will provide a significant decision-making tool to contribute to protect the site and its communities from flooding hazards

Ms Costanza Farina, UNESCO Representative to Jordan

As a final output of the study and design process, a number of structural and non-structural solutions have been proposed by taking into consideration their compatibility with the specific characteristics and values of Petra as a and thus supporting a sustainable approach to its comprehensive safeguarding.

This activity was supported by the UNESCO Heritage Emergency Fund. We wish to thank its donors: the Qatar Fund for Development, the Kingdom of Norway, the Government of Canada, ANA Holdings INC., the Principality of Monaco, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Republic of Estonia, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Slovak Republic and the Principality of Andorra.