CCOP-SEADPRI-ANCST Workshop on Disasters and Heritage Areas

CCOP-SEADPRI-ANCST Workshop on Disasters and Heritage Areas on 15 October 2017 was the second of the workshop series held jointly with Coordinating Committee for Geoscience Programmes in East and Southeast Asia (CCOP), SEADPRI and Asian Network on Climate Science and Technology (ANCST) during the CCOP Annual Session. The first series, CCOP-VIETADAPT-SEADPRI Workshop on Geoscience supporting risk management, water and food security, was held on 30 October 2016 at The Berkeley Hotel Pratunam, Bangkok, Thailand with the collaboration of Geological Survey of Finland (GTK), the Vietnamese Sub-Institute of Hydro-Meteorology and Climate Change (SIHYMECC), and the Vietnamese Centre for Water Resources Warning and Forecasting (CEWAFO).

The theme for this year workshop was “Disasters and Heritage Areas”. Heritage Areas or Sites, are cultural and/or natural sites considered to be of outstanding value, selected on the basis of having cultural, historical, and scientific; or some other form of significance. The scope of heritage areas in this workshop expanded to include World Heritage Sites, national heritage sites, geoparks and conservation parks/areas, of being unique in some respect as a geographically and historically identifiable piece of special cultural or physical significance. The workshop intended to highlight the inclusivity of three elements: heritage areas of national significance; disasters; and humans.

The workshop programme started with an opening address by the CCOP Technical Secretariat Director, Dr Adichat Surinkum, followed by three lead presentations and discussion session. The presentations were made as examples for thought starter on heritage areas that linked to disasters or potential natural hazards. The first paper entitled Geohazards in Kinabalu Word Heritage Site, by Dato’ Yunus Abdul Razak & Zamri Ramli, talked on the recent 5-June-2015 earthquake and landslide problem in the surrounding of the Mount Kinabalu areas, and steps taken for its conservation. The second paper, Natural Hazards in a Prospective Geopark: The Case of Bohol Island Philipines was presented by Ms. Liza Socorro J. Manzano, Mines and Geosciences Bureau Philippines, where the geological landscapes of the aspiring geopark co-exists with hazards due to limestone subsidence and earthquakes; and co-seismic features such as active fault scarps and uplifted lands. The third paper entitled Gombak Selangor (Klang Gates) Quartz Ridge: A Potential Geoheritage as World Haritage Site, was presented by Dr Lim Choun Sian. The paper featured Gombak Selangor Quartz Ridge, also known as Klang Gates Quartz Ridge, as the longest standing quartz dyke in the region and its fragility to natural hazards and anthropogenic threats.

The participation in the discussion came from the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and CCOP Technical Secretariat, where much interests were shown, especially in understanding the uniqueness of the heritage areas, protection and conservation. It was agreed that, in Southeast Asia, looking at heritage areas from the perspective of disaster threats is a very new dimension and should be explored further.