International Day for Monuments and Sites – April 18th 2019
Theme for 2019 – Rural landscapes
I think as a community dedicated to travel and visiting places, the DAY IS IMPORTANT FOR US – April 18th – today – is a day to celebrate and promote cultural heritage and it is an opportunity to raise awareness about the diversity of culture and how we can preserve heritage.
The theme for 2019 is RURAL LANDSCAPES.
I couldn’t understand how a rural landscape can be a cultural heritage for a nation until I read the description on the website of ICOMOS (International council of monuments and sites). Allow me to copy from their description - rural landscapes are defined as “terrestrial and aquatic areas co-produced by human-nature interaction used for the production of food and other renewable natural resources, via agriculture, animal husbandry and pastoralism, fishing and aquaculture, forestry, wild food gathering, hunting, and extraction of other resources, such as salt. Rural landscapes are multifunctional resources. At the same time, all rural areas have cultural meanings attributed to them by people and communities: all rural areas are landscapes.” https://www.icomos.org/en/focus/18-april-international-day-for-monuments-and-sites
This year’s ICOMOS Theme for the International Day for Monuments and sites will provide an opportunity to raise awareness of how rural landscapes are intrinsically related with sustainable development of a community and the nation.