PNT - PETRA NATIONAL TRUST

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Acknowledgments

The US/ICOMOS Site Management Team has benefitted greatly from the assistanceand information provided by many people in Jordan and, in some cases, elsewhere.The government of Jordan in the persons of its employees both in Amman and at Petrahave been in every case knowledgeable and generous with their knowledge, as well ashaving been unfailingly gracious and hospitable. We have also gained much from ourconversations with the Petra National Trust (PNT), the Friends of Archaeology (FOA),the American Center for Oriental Research in Amman (ACOR), the Institut Françaisd’Archeologie du Proche-Orient (IFAPO), UNESCO, the Royal Geographic Society,Yarmouk University, and the Queen Noor Foundation.

Knowing that the list must be incomplete, and asking the pardon of those we haveneglected to include, we nonetheless would like to thank the following people for theirkindness and assistance:

H.M. King Hussein and H.M. Queen Noor of JordanH.H. Prince Raad Bin ZeidH.H. Princess MajdaDr. Seleh S. Rusheidat, MP, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities (MOTA)Dr. Ghazi Bisha, Director-General of Antiquities Department (DOA)Dr. Suleiman Farajet, Director Antiquities, Ma’an RegionDr. Akram Nasarweh, Secretary-General, MOTAMr. Omar Al-Hayek, Project Director, MOTAMr. Wael Al-Masri, Project Administrator, ChemonicsDr. Mohammed Al-Najar, Archaeologist, MOTADr. Faouzi Zayadine, Assistant Director, DOADr. Talal Akaseh, Dean of Research, Hashemiah University and Board Member, PNTDr. Pierre Bikai, Director, ACOR, AmmanDr. Patricia Bikai, ACORDr. Martha Joukowski, Brown UniversityMr. Zbigniew T. Fiema, Archaeologist, ACORDr. Cheri Lenzen, Cultural Resources Specialist, USAIDDr. Carl A. Dutto, Director, Water, Environment and Agribusiness, USAIDMr. Tim Miller, Sites Achievement Leader, USAIDMrs. Aysar Akrawi, Director, Petra National TrustMr. Rami Khouri, President, Friends of ArchaeologyMr. Adieb I. Abu-Shmais, Researcher in Archaeology, DOAMr. Haitham M.A. Abdul Jabbar, Senior Architect Planner, DAR AL-HANDASAHMr. Laurent Tholbecq, Institut Français d’Archeologie du Proche-Orient (IFAPO)Prof. Dr. Zeidan A. Kafafi, Director, Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology,Yarmouk University

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Dr. Mohanna Haddad, Chairman, Dept. Of Anthropology, Yarmouk UniversityDr. David McCreery, Willamette UniversityMrs. Hala Lattouf, Project Manager, MOTAMr. Ma’an M. Al-Huneidi, Managing Partner, Middle East Engineering Management(MEEM)Dr. Gaetano Palumbo, Program Coordinator, Getty Conservation InstituteMr. Neville Agnew, Associate Director, Getty Conservation InstituteMitchell Hearns Bishop, Research Coordinator, Getty Conservation InstituteDr. William S. Ginnell, Conservation Scientist, Getty Conservation InstituteMr. Eric F. Hansen, Associate Scientist, Getty Conservation InstituteMs. Susan I. Sherwood, Research Director, World Monuments FundDr. Anna Paolini, UNESCOMrs. Eman Hamden, Executive Secretary, ChemonicsMr. Wael Hmoud Slimane al-Manaseer, Driver, ChemonicsMr. Amjad EL-Sherman, Driver, Chemonics

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Preface

This report was prepared as part of the Jordan Sustainable Tourism Development/Sitesproject, funded by USAID, which was to be accomplished by means of a contract withChemonics. The role of US/ICOMOS in this project was originally to provide sitemanagement plans for three sites in Jordan (the Amman Citadel, Madaba, and Petra)at which site improvements were planned, and to prepare a carrying capacity study forthe Petra Sanctuary. The US/ICOMOS Site Management Team, comprised of TeamLeader Paul N. Perrot, Lawrence A. Belli, and Douglas C. Comer, visited the three sitesand began gathering information in May of 1996. On September 19, 1996,US/ICOMOS and the three original members of the site management team wereinformed to cease all work on the Jordan Sustainable Tourism Development/Sitesproject because it had been terminated by USAID. Subsequently the project was inpart reestablished, and US/ICOMOS was requested to complete a management reportonly for Petra. The Site Management Team was reduced from three to two persons.These two persons, Lawrence A. Belli and Douglas C. Comer, went to Jordan fromNovember 23 through December 6, 1996, and after consultation with and instructionfrom Chemonics authored this report and its companion, the “Petra Sanctuary CarryingCapacity Analysis.” Along with these two reports, a third one, prepared by Paul N.Perrot, entitled “Site Management for Three Primary Sites: Petra, Madaba, AmmanCitadel,” based upon previously gathered information, and making generalmanagement recommendations for all three sites, is being submitted.

This report, “Management Analysis and Recommendations for thePetra World Heritage Site, Jordan,” is organized around site management issues thathave been recognized as being the most problematic for Petra since at least 1968,when the “Master Plan for the Protection and Use of Petra National Park” wassubmitted by a United States National Park Service park planning team to theHashemite Kingdom of Jordan. There is little in that document that would not be of usetoday. It and the 1995 UNESCO “Petra National Park Management Plan” together layvery well the bulk of a solid groundwork for a Petra National Park. Rather thanattempting to duplicate either of these fine reports, the current one concentrates onidentifying the structure, programs, essential procedures, and personnel needs for thepark those prior reports envisioned. This approach was one encouraged by virtuallyeveryone we interviewed in Jordan, and by Chemonics and USAID in particular.

This document recommends a sequence of steps that must be taken jointly bynumerous organizations in order to establish a management structure for Petra that willprotect the resources there by means of a sustainable tourism. Documents such asthis, which plan for a future not fully knowable, are always works-in-progress. Theymust be revisited and redone as events unfold and as cooperating organizations and

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individuals make progress in the journey toward their common goal.

Admittedly, this document is more of a work-in-progress, in one respect, than itsauthors would have chosen, had they the opportunity. Uncertainties as to fundingprevented review of this report by the many of the organizations that have an interest orstake in Petra, and upon whom the work of implementing the recommendationscontained here will fall. It will be imperative that this report be reviewed by allorganizations concerned with the preservation of Petra, and that comments resultingfrom this review be incorporated into this document at a future date. Only through theinvolvement of these organizations can a viable management structure and practicaloperational procedures be devised that will ensure resource protection and safeaccessibility for visitors to this world renowned site.

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Management Analysis and Recommendationsfor the

Petra World Heritage Site, Jordan

SECTION I: INTRODUCTION

Petra is one of the world’s preeminent cultural sites. It offers magnificent architectureset in thrilling vistas, some of the most important archaeological sites anywhere,opportunities to encounter hospitable peoples living in a way that has not muchchanged in thousands of years, and deep layers of history that include a great numberof globally important events and personages.

A variety of factors have made Petra more accessible over the past twenty years. Agood number of these factors are related to the decision of the Jordanian governmentto develop Petra as a tourism destination. The Jordanian government has made afurther decision to make the tourism industry in their country a sustainable one, that is,to ensure that the resources and cultural heritage of Jordan are not damaged by thetourism industry, and that, equally, the tourism industry remains a significant componentof the economy of Jordan in both the near and distant future. This managementanalysis and recommendations report is a part of the effort to build such a sustainabletourism at the most culturally and economically important site in Jordan, Petra.

Constructing a sustainable tourism industry at Petra presents a great challenge.Visitation pressure on the site is enormous, and continues to grow. The number ofvisitors to Petra increased from about 15,000 in 1964 to 90,000 in 1987, then toapproximately 140,000 in 1993. During the first nine months of 1996, visitation was315,829 despite renewed tension in the region that caused many travel bookings to becanceled after the first half of the year. This rate of increase in visitation can beexpected to accelerate further assuming a more settled political environment. Some

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Jordanian officials have expressed a desire for 2,000,000 tourists per year twenty yearsfrom now, a ten-fold increase from the present. Current projections are in fact for2,010,000 visitors at Petra by 2010. And yet even at current levels of visitation it isclear that unless a significant portion of the revenue derived from visitation is used tocreate an integrated, highly effective, and comprehensive site managementinfrastructure, the cultural resources of Petra will suffer irreversible and ultimatelycatastrophic damage.

Each visitor taxes the environment in any number of ways. Each requires water, placesdemands upon the sewage system, must be conveyed to the site in a vehicle thatcontributes to pollution, wears away just a bit of historic fabric unless his or hermovements are carefully and effectively directed, provides a potential customer forlooted artifacts, is inclined to pocket ancient shards and bits of colored sandstoneencountered on site as souvenirs, requires shelter that must be constructed andprovided with utilities, and interacts with the local population in ways that can bedisruptive unless carefully structured. It is the structure that will render mutuallybeneficial the relationships among visitor, local populations, the central government, thetourism industry, the environment, and cultural resources that this site managementplan seeks to outline. Necessary enhancements to the basic structure presented herewill be mentioned throughout the text that follows.

Issues and Problems

The design of the site management structure will be oriented to the issues andproblems that have long been noted in studies and by consultants, perhaps mostnotably in the UNESCO Petra National Park Management Plan (1995) and the MasterPlan for the Protection and Use of Petra National Park (1968), both of which very welladdressed general management concerns. In this management analysis andrecommendations report, the following format will be employed to address sequentiallywhat have long been recognized as the most pressing of issues and problems:

A. Issue Statement

B. Recommendation

C. References and Standards

D. Responsible Parties

E. Personnel Qualifications and Required Training

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The issues and problems listed below will be addressed:

General Site Management

*Ineffective Management Structure at Petra

*The Need for a Comprehensively Organized Petra Site Operation

Cultural Resource Management

* Acquiring and Making Accessible Baseline Data

* Research Priorities and Procedures

* Monitoring

* Treatments for Preservation

* Interpretation and Tourism Strategy

* Public Involvement and Support

Significance, Values, and Management Objectives

A discussion of site management issues must be preceded by one that addresses theessential reasons for setting the site apart as a special place. Management structureshould grow from and strengthen the qualities that make a cultural site valuable andsignificant, or, in some cases, unique. What follows includes a statement ofsignificance for Petra, a brief discussion of the values that contribute to this significanceand so must be preserved by site management, and management objectives that arederived from these values.

Significance

The city of Petra contains remarkably preserved ancient structures and monuments ofenormous aesthetic and historical value, and subterranean archeological sites thatcontain invaluable information about the ancient world. It was originally the creation ofthe Nabataeans, Arab nomadic pastoralists who developed interests in the desert

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caravan trade hundreds of years before constructing the city. From southern Arabiathey moved into the canyon system where they would build Petra in about the fourthcentury B.C.E. Perhaps two centuries earlier, the Edomites migrated to southernPalestine following the destruction of Jerusalem (ca. 586 B.C.) and the depopulation ofJudea at the hands of the Babylonians. Operating not only from Petra in the region thatin the Bible is called Edom, but throughout biblical Moab and other regions fromsouthern Syria to the western Sinai as well, the Nabataeans after the fourth centuryB.C.E. controlled the spice and incense trade from Arabia to Mesopotamia.

Petra flowered in the first centuries B.C.E and C.E. This was made possible in anextremely arid environment by the engineering of a sophisticated hydrological system.The system brought water in channels and clay pipes from a spring at present-dayWadi Musa, outside the sandstone canyons in which the city was set. The system alsoharvested the meager yearly rainfall, and mitigated the effects of the rare downpoursthat would otherwise have produced destructive flash floods.

Rome annexed Petra in 106 C.E., motivated by the desire to ensure access to tradingroutes that linked the Empire to the mid-East, India, and Asia. A growing reliance onsea rather than land routes as well as the ascendancy of Palmyra eventually causedcommerce through Petra to decline. Many buildings were never rebuilt after a severeearthquake in 363 C.E., although Petra was not long after then designated the seat of aByzantine bishopric. Recent archaeological excavations at Petra have indicated asubstantial complex of structures associated with this last function, but by the middle ofthe seventh century C.E. Petra appears to have been largely deserted. In the twelfthcentury, Crusader forts were built and then soon abandoned. Petra was "lost" to theWestern world until its "rediscovery" during the early nineteenth century, an event notunrelated to European colonialism, and perhaps a desire to capture in print the last bitsof the world that remained unknown to and uncolonized by Europeans.

In continually seeking to improve their position in a trading network that includedGreece, Persia, Rome, India, Arabia, and that stretched ultimately to China, theNabataeans provided a conduit for goods and ideas among these groups. Thearchitecture of Petra that survives today testifies to the exchange of cultural traits thatoccurred on a global scale even in ancient times. Tombs and buildings displayAssyrian, Egyptian, Hellenistic, Babylonian, and Roman characteristics incorporatedinto a Nabataean style that, especially in its earlier expressions, owe much to thearchitectural tradition of the East.

The universal significance of Petra is in how well its striking architectural andarchaeological remains convey the geographically and culturally diverse roots of theclassical world, the influence of which now permeates Western, and indeed global,culture. Visible to the visitor there are roots that run even more deeply that those justmentioned. Beida, an archaeological site excavated in the 1950s and still open topublic view, is located just outside Petra proper, and is an example of one of theearliest settled communities. It is a neolithic, pre-pottery settlement from circa 6,500

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B.C.E. displaying masonry construction, a squared plan, spatial complexity, and evidentareas of specialization remarkable at this early date. The similarly excavated village atUmm al-Biyara was inhabited by the Edomites during the Iron Age, ca. the seventhcentury B.C.E., a group that figures importantly in Christian, Islamic, and Jewishtraditional histories. A visit to the High Place of Sacrifice, which may date to a timebefore the occupation of the area by the Nabataeans but was used by them, providesan experience that resonates with accounts of rituals as they appear in these histories,and is one of the best preserved of all such ritual complexes.

Management Values

Management values are those that must be preserved in order to retain the essentialcharacter of the site. These values are what should be most closely monitored by sitemanagement. The interpretive program, in its turn, should be designed to educate thepublic about these values and so to enlist the support of the visitor in the preservationeffort.

UNESCO has identified two broad categories of management values: I. cultural, and II.contemporary socio-economic. Among the first of these categories (cultural), valuescan be seen as being of three types: A. identity values, particular meanings attached toa cultural site by a human group; B. scientific and historical values, based in research;C. rarity values, the degree to which the site represents type, style, builder, period,region or some combination of these better than comparable sites; and D. Aesthetic orartistic values such as those of architectural composition or the integration of man-made and natural topography to form an outstanding cultural landscape. Such valuesas they relate to Petra are as follows:

IA. Identity Values

Not well articulated at present but nonetheless contributing greatly to the significance ofPetra for a large proportion of the world's population is its value as an icon for Westernculture and the religious systems that have played essential roles in the history ofWestern culture. This association with the history of Western civilization perhapsexplains in part why foreign visitorship is drawn almost entirely from Europe andAmerica, and why visitors from Asian countries are still rare. Paradoxically, visitorshipfrom Asian countries might rise if the role of Petra in Western history were made moreexplicit, that is, if it were not necessary for the visitor to bring knowledge of this role tothe site, but rather provided to her or him there.This prior knowledge held by Western visitors, it should be said, can be expected to behazy. While such visitors respond to the overall design of the Roman ColonnadeStreet, Egyptian and Assyrian motifs on tomb facades, and imaginary vignettes drawnfrom memories of Bible stories that are provoked by visits to the High Place of Sacrifice,the experience of a visit to Petra could be greatly enriched by encouraging anintellectual focus for what are now largely emotional responses. The extent to whichthis can be done will depend upon the quality of the interpretive program.

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Petra is laden with great significance to a particular group, the Bdul, who occupied thesite from the nineteenth century, and perhaps before, to very recently. In relocating theBdul to nearby Umm Sayhun, they have been deprived of a very significant portion oftheir homeland. The site is an important element in the ethnic identity of the Bdulpeople. There is certainly no other group that knows Petra as well as the Bdul, or inquite the way that they do. The Bdul must be included in decisionmaking about landuse in Petra and in the vicinity of Petra.

IB. Scientific and Historical Values

These values depend upon the potential for research at the site to contribute to a morecomplete understanding of human history and culture. Evaluation of these values isbest done by those with the appropriate academic, artistic, and technical training andbackground. At Petra, such values are related not only to histories of specific groupslike the Nabataeans or Romans, but also to broad historical and cultural developments.Petra contains material pertinent to several threshold developments in human society,including the development of agriculture, complex hydrological systems, global tradingsystems, modern temporal and spatial perceptions, world religions, political empires,and cultural hegemonies.

Much of the research potential of Petra resides within the archaeological resourcesthere. Many of these are subterranean and so do not contribute visually to theexperience of the visitor at the site; therefore, they may not be given appropriateconsideration when specific developments are being considered and overlooked whilethe condition of other resources are monitored. It is an essential role of sitemanagement to protect these resources from threats associated with site visitation andassociated development and from natural processes like erosion. As discussed ingreater detail in later sections of this site management plan, it is only throughinterpretation that the general public can be made aware of the scientific and historicalvalue of most of the archaeological resources at Petra (some recommendations areprovided as to how this might be done). By informing visitors about these values, thepublic can be enlisted into the effort to preserve the whole spectrum of culturalresources at Petra.

IC. Rarity ValuesThis third sort of value cross-cuts the first two; it refers to how effectively the site orresource represents the other sorts of values and the extent to which thisrepresentation is rare (in some cases unique). At Petra, for example, there is a rareopportunity to interpret and, to some degree, experience the lifestyle of the ancientinhabitants of the site, the Nabataeans, by comparing this to a way of life that existstoday, that of the Bdul. The Bdul, after all, have mastered a nomadic and pastoralexistence in the desert as did the Nabataeans. The Bdul utilize parts of the ancientNabataean water harvesting system, including the cisterns. If Avraham Negev(1986:39-40) is correct in his suggestion that most common people at Petra were

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"grave diggers, monument sculptors, temple attendants, and other functionariessupervising this immense religious center" who lived in tents outside the city proper,those tents may have been similar to those in use by the Bdul today.

The preservation of materials at Petra is excellent because of the arid environmentthere; such fine preservation is rare. Plaster and even painting on plaster, as well asstone itself, has survived in much better condition than has similar material almostanywhere else. These materials are now endangered by increased visitation andpotentially from ill-advised preservation treatments.

It is rare also to find the quantity and quality of archaeological material in relativelyundisturbed context. The historic core area of the site contains large deposits ofartifactual material that are in all likelihood in excellent stratigraphic context, and whichcontain well preserved material eminently suited to providing accurate dates (potteryshards and coins, for example). These deposits must be safeguarded from grounddisturbance associated with site development and from the attentions of visitors whopick up items as souvenirs.

ID. Aesthetic Values

Although these values are impossible to quantify and difficult to define, there is virtualunanimity that Petra possesses outstanding aesthetic value. The harmony of thearchitecture and the natural landscape there is probably without parallel. The relativelylarge number of visitors to the site thus far is in no small part attributable to this, and inparticular to the dramatic experience of coming upon Al-Khazna after winding one's waythrough the Siq. The success of the interpretive program at Petra (and so the tourismprogram, too) will depend upon being able to build upon this moment rather than to relyupon it to provide the bulk of the visitor experience at the site, as has been done in thepast. The success of these programs will also depend upon the preservation of thisdrama, which can easily be diminished through improperly conceived and executedconstruction of facilities, unrestrained commercialism, or over crowding of the site.

II. Contemporary Socio-economic ValuesSite viability depends upon the degree to which the site operation can be madecomplementary to contemporary socio-economic conditions, no less at Petra thanelsewhere. Tourism can provide significant sources of revenue, while at the same timeit represents a force potentially destructive of both resources and local communities.To avoid damage to resources and community, monitoring should be constant of boththe condition of resources and the environment of the community. (Monitoringtechniques will be discussed in some detail elsewhere in this document.) Theseconditions should be acceptable to all in the community, not just as they are portrayedin the abstract to influential organizations located away from the scene. Practically, thismeans that the benefits that accrue from tourism must be shared with and reinvested inthe community.

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Urgent issues in the case of Petra include the manner in which the Bdul and theinhabitants of Wadi Musa are affected by and involved with tourism. The longoccupation of the area around Petra by the Bdul and suggested similarities between theBdul way of life and that of the ancient Nabataeans open up possibilities for involvingthe Bdul in the operation of Petra that should be pursued. As will be described in thesection of this report entitled Public Support and Involvement, the Bdul and theinhabitants of Wadi Musa could be employed as guides, rangers, site monitors, driversof the proposed transportation vehicles, in making handicrafts, as vendors ofhandicrafts and refreshments, and in other ways consistent with their culturalpreferences.

Management Objectives

The management objectives of a cultural site are built upon the significance of a site aswell. The interpretive program should be formulated with reference to a concisestatement of management objectives. For Petra, management objectives in order ofimportance are as follows:

1. Preserve the archeological artifacts, monuments and sites at Petra.

2. Protect the scenic quality of the site.

3. Ensure that written determination is made of potential adverse effect of allplanned actions on both the preservation of the archeological monuments andsites and on the experience of visitors to Petra.

4. Provide for visitor education and appreciation with the opportunity of a highquality experience in such a way that archeological resources are notsignificantly impaired.

5. Ensure that visitor facilities and services are adequate to meet basic needs,are maintained to the highest standards, and provide for visitor safety.

6. Ensure that local people are involved in planning and management of the siteand that opportunities for employment of local people are provided wheneverpossible.

7. Take an active role as a member of the Petra Regional Planning Council andwith local governments especially Wadi Musa, Umm Sayhun, and Tabet Samanin order to:

a. ensure that potential impacts to park resources and visitor experiencefrom inadvertent community actions do not occur, and

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b. ensure that the park supports local communities as much as possiblewithout adverse effect to park resources or the visitor experience.

8. Support research activities and ensure that research activities do not impactthe preservation of archeological resources or the visitor experience. Allresearchers should provide for proper conservation of artifacts in accordancewith the law.

9. Ensure that all fees are collected in the most efficient and accountablemanner possible.

10. Ensure that local populations and the Jordanian people understand the roleof Petra in their cultural identity and history.

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SECTION II: GENERAL SITE MANAGEMENT

This section of the management analysis and recommendations report will deal with themost basic of the management issues that have repeatedly been raised by theJordanian government, consultants, NGOs, friends groups, UNESCO, and other partiesconcerned with the management of Petra. It will outline the structure, staffing, andskills that will be required to establish an effective management infrastructure for Petra,one capable of successfully dealing with the rapidly increasing numbers of visitorsthere.

More specifically, this section will recommend that a Petra National Park beestablished and will suggest the means by which that might be done. It willrecommend a set of objectives for the park based on the significance of theresources there, as well as staff responsibilities and authority, and standards formanagement and planning. It will suggest how these recommendations might beimplemented. It will also make recommendations concerning how the Petra parkshould be comprehensively organized, lay out the discreet functions of operationsmanagement, and provide operational standards for archaeological resourcemanagement, visitor use management and protection, education, interpretation,visitor information, maintenance of park facilities, fee collection, management ofcommercial activities, and management of special park uses.

Actions and procedures for the effective management of the cultural resources atPetra will be recommended in more detail in Section III of this report, as will bethe staffing and training required to carry out these.

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ISSUE STATEMENT

INEFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE AT PETRA

There are about 100 people employed in site protection and management when onecounts all the organizations present at Petra. This does not count vendors or otherswhose businesses are related to the site. Yet the lack of coordination amongorganizations and the lack of authority for on-site managers, despite these number,produces a significant lack of organizational effectiveness. These deficiencies haveproduced inadequate archeological site protection and a visitor satisfaction rate thatis much less than might reasonably be expected of a site with Petra’s spectacularbeauty and archeological significance.

There are at least eight different organizations operating at the Petra Sanctuary withsometimes overlapping responsibilities. These are the Department of Antiquities,Tourism Office, Tourist Police, Desert Police, Civic Police, Ministry of Health,maintenance contractor (Medico), and the Governor’s Office. Each has its owndirect lines of authority from Amman.

The government has not yet formally designated Petra as a park or a protected areaof any name. There is no single authority at Petra. There is no explicit statement ofsignificance for Petra, no uniform set of rules, regulations or management policiesand principles derived from this statement of significance, and ,overall, no guidingmission for site managers.

Mission and organization are very basic issues and until they are developedaddressing problems one at a time will never be effective.

Visitors at present are primarily being served by the private sector through organizedtours, guides for hire, and Wadi-Musa hotels, restaurants and other businesses.These services are not adequately structured for the burgeoning visitation to Petra.Management at Petra must be given the tools by which to coordinate these serviceswith the needs of resources and visitors as well.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Designate Petra as a National Park or protected area

Petra should be designated as a national park or as a protected area. Thedesignation should be a law or decree sufficient to ensure it’s protection from allclaims. The designation should identify a boundary on a map and includestatements of significance, park purpose or mission, and management objectives. Itshould also identify which agency will manage the park.

For simplicity of nomenclature this report will refer to the protected area as the“Petra National Park” recognizing that the protected area can receive any name thatmay be appropriate. The term national park is probably most appropriate because itis internationally recognized for protection of only the most important sites in acountry. The term also has significant tourism value.

Legislation establishing a national park sets the framework and informs managers(and all other interested parties) precisely of their mandate, why it is important, andwhere on the ground their authority applies. The legislation defines the site and setsthe groundwork for all management decisions and actions. It allows organizationaleffectiveness by clearly defining goals and management objectives.

2. Establish geographic boundaries of the Petra National Park

A boundary study is needed. It should be based upon clearly defined criteria thatare established with public input. The criteria should define a protected area for thearcheological artifacts and sites, provide locations for visitor information and basicsupport services, and meet the needs of local people who may live in or adjacent tothe protected area.

This project did not survey an area for protection of archeological resources. Giventhe scope and schedule of this project doing such a study is not feasible. However,we found that a specific geographic boundary was thoroughly studied and identifiedby both the 1995 UNESCO Management Plan and the 1968 Master Plan for aPetra National Park . They both identified substantially the same geographiclocation as the most critical area in need of protection.

Therefore all discussions of protected areas in this report will refer to the mostrecent that portion of the more recent UNESCO plan and the area identified as Zone

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1, the Petra Sanctuary with specific, detached, archeological sites, as the areawhich should receive protected area status.

Petra National Park:UNESCO Plan Petra SanctuaryLittle Petra and BeidaNaqb-ar-RbaiJebal HarunUmm-al-AmadBir MadkurQasr Umm RattamSumr et-TayibehAbu KhushelbahWadi Sabra

3. Draft components of the park establishment document

It is strongly recommended that a lawyer familiar with Jordanian law be retained toidentify the correct type of legal document (law or decree) needed and to ensure that thecorrect format is used, and that, overall, the purpose and authorities appropriate to thepark are properly articulated.

The designation document has many uses. It provides managers with clear directionson what should be addressed in the plans for the area and on how to conduct theprograms needed to carry out the mission given to them. This document is also usefulto governmental officials evaluating the success or failure of specific managementactions. Similarly, the document provides a benchmark when evaluating managementproblems by providing the purpose of the park, the values to be preserved, andmanagement objectives to be achieved. This can be very important when faced withcomplex issues and what might be correspondingly and properly complex, but difficultto discern, solutions; it is not uncommon in the face of complex issues to fix onsolutions to immediate problems and lose track of the ultimate goal.

The designation document is built upon a statement of site significance, goes on todefine management's mission at the site, and finally states the general managementobjectives which His Majesty’s government would like to see carried out. These shouldbe included in a single document. Below is a sample designation, meant simply toprovide a better understanding what such a document should look like and contain:

Sample Authorizing Text for Petra National Park

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1. SIGNIFICANCE: Petra is an important symbol of the rich culture of Jordanand of the involvement of Jordanian people in the broad and importantcurrents of world history. The city of Petra was the creation of theNabataeans at the western terminus of oriental caravan routes. Itcontrolled the spice and incense trade from Arabia to Mesopotamia. Petraflowered during the first centuries B.C.E and C.E.. Rome annexed Petra atthe beginning of the second century C.E. The city, with its strategiclocation and excellent natural defenses, helped link the Empire andcontinued as a center of trade. After the Romans, the Byzantinescontinued to prosper here. Today Petra posses great meaning for thepeople of Jordan, giving them a tangible connection to their ancestral landsand traditions. In short, the universal significance of Petra lies in how wellits striking architectural and archeological remains convey thegeographically and culturally diverse roots of the classical world, theinfluence of which now permeates the Western, and indeed global, culture.

2. PARK PURPOSE: Now, therefore, the Petra National Park is hereby createdin order to protect the physical fabric and form of architectural monumentsand archeological sites, including artifacts, and their integrated relationshipwith the scenic geological formations there; and, for the Jordanian peopleand all others who may visit Petra, to learn about and appreciate theancient city and its links to present day cultures in ways that do notsignificantly impair the archeological resources there.

3. BOUNDARY: The Petra National Park is located in the Provence of Ma’anand... The geographic boundaries are identified on the map labeled“Boundary of Petra National Park, DATED” which is attached and madepark of this decree.

4. MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES: The following Management Objectives willgive direction to all management actions taken to carry out the mission ofthe Petra National Park. They will provide the framework for all plans andactions taken at the park.

1. Preserve the archeological artifacts, monuments and sites at Petra.2. Protect the scenic quality of the site, especially the land formations thatgive the different areas of the site unique senses of place.3. Ensure that a written determination is made of potential impact of allplanned actions on both the preservation of the archeological monumentsand sites and on the experience of visitors to Petra.

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4. Provide for visitor education and appreciation with the opportunity of ahigh quality experience in such a way that archeological resources are notsignificantly impaired.5. Ensure that visitor facilities and services are adequate to meet basicneeds, are maintained to the highest standards, and provide for visitorsafety.6. Ensure that local people are involved in planning and management ofthe site and that opportunities for employment of local people are providedwhenever possible.7. Take an active role as a member of the Petra Regional Planning Counciland with local governments especially Wadi Musa, Umm Sayhun, andTabet Saman in order to:

a. ensure that potential impacts to park resources and visitorexperience from inadvertent community actions do not occur, and

b. ensure that the park supports local communities as much aspossible without impacting park resources and the visitor experience.8. Support research activities and ensure that research activities do notimpact the preservation of archeological resources or the visitor experience.All researchers should provide for proper conservation of artifacts inaccordance with the law.9. Ensure that all fees are collected in the most efficient and accountablemanner possible.10.

5. MANAGEMENT AGENCY: The Petra National Park Agency (PNPA) is herebycreated within the Department of Antiquities (DOA) to manage all functionsrelated to archeological resources preservation and to visitor informationand education, visitor services and safety within the Petra National Park.1. The Petra National Park Agency Director reports directly to the Directorof the Department of Antiquities.2. The agency is funded from a portion of the entrance fees through thenormal budget allocation process. The PNPA Director will submit a budgetto the Director of DOA annually for approval.3. The Director is hereby authorized to develop and implement policies andrules, to hire staff, conduct planning, control development, and constructand maintain facilities necessary to meet the mission and managementobjectives of the Petra National Park.

4. Establish a Park management agency

The issues at Petra are and will continue to be complex. The large visitation andinternational importance of Petra mean that issues not only involve local, site specific

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archeological site protection and visitor experience and safety but also regional,national, and international issues. In addition, Petra covers a large area.The present management needs appear to be beyond the capabilities of the presentorganization of the Department of Antiquities. Their organization is focused onpreservation of archeological resources only with no cohesive means to controldevelopment, manage visitors and facilities, or work with local communities and thetourism industry.

It is therefore recommended that a separate agency be created to manage allfunctions (archeological resources management, visitor services and protection,education and information, commercial services) within the boundaries of PetraNational Park. This agency should be located in the proper place within thegovernment to make it a strong, effective management organization able to dealwith all the complex issues facing Petra. The agency needs to be either aseparate agency within the Department of Antiquities (DOA) or an independentagency with very strong ties to DOA.

The exact organizational location within the government for a Petra managementagency has been discussed and thoroughly debated for a long time. There is agood deal of consensus that management must be greatly strengthened on-site,at Petra itself. All agree that the current DOA organization is not established tomanage large visitor use facilities as found at Petra. DOA’s expertise is in theprotection of archeological sites. Its archeologists are not trained to mange thediverse functions at Petra. DOA does not have the full range of legal authorityneeded to comprehensively manage all functions at Petra. Yet there is concernthat DOA retain a strong voice in the protection of archaeological resourcesthere.

A separate authority has been recommended as a solution. The Petra RegionalPlanning Council was established in accord with this idea. While this is anexcellent first step, the council has economic and community developmentresponsibilities in addition to those it may have for Petra. The pressure ofdevelopment at Wadi Musa and the needs of the Bdul and other local peoplemay absorb it’s time in the immediate future. While these issues are closelyrelated to the protection and management of Petra, they do not fully encompassthe range of issues essential to Petra site management. It has been suggestedthat the Petra National Park Agency work for the Petra Regional PlanningCouncil.

A lawyer familiar with Jordanian law should develop the legal documents needed toestablish the Petra National Park Agency and make recommendations regarding itslocation within the government structure. The agency should be given the mission tomanage all functions related to archeological resources preservation; physicaldevelopment; visitor information and education; and visitor services and safety within

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the protected area boundaries only. Since DOA has the mission to protectarcheological resources within Jordan, it is logical to place the agency there.

The Agency Director should report directly to the Director of the Department ofAntiquities. The agency should not be buried within the present DOA organization.Issues related to both archeological resources protection and research as well asissues related to visitor uses, visitor safety, the tourism industry, and a large feecollection operation (all with the potential for controversy) will require that the Director ofDOA become frequently involved, and so will need to be well informed about suchissues.

4.1. Agency Director

The Agency Director will need to be able to handle the full range of issues found atPetra both those in the park and outside the park but related to it. The Agency Directorshould split his time between the DOA headquarters in Amman and on site at Petra.He must deal with all managerial aspects of the protected area including contracting forservices, site planning, and working with NGOs, universities, and other governmentaldepartments and agencies.

The Agency Director should be a member of the Board of Directors of the PetraRegional Planning Council.

4.2. Agency Authorities

The Director should be authorized to develop and implement policies and rules; tohire staff, conduct planning, and construct and maintain facilities necessary to meet themission and management objectives of the Petra National Park.

4.3. Agency Funding

The agency should be adequately funded from a portion of the entrance feesthrough the normal budget allocation process.

4.4. Implementation

a. Provide long term advisors: Two experienced overseas national park managers,for example retired superintendents from a U.S., should be hired to be on site in Petrafor a period of three years to advise the Agency Director and Deputy Director forArchaeology and Site Operations director site operations. This would provide the onthe job training and long term continuity needed to establish a new park managementagency.

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b. Establish a Management Partnership: A formal partnership should bedeveloped between the government, the Jordanian private sector, and the internationalcommunity to help manage Petra. The Petra National Park Agency should always bethe management agency for the site and the senior decision maker of the partnership.

The special strengths of all members in the partnership would complement each otherin the preservation and management of Petra. The private sector could provideadditional funding or acquire equipment more easily than could the government. Theycould also conduct discrete park programs such as storage and management of the allthe technical library and computer data bases. The international community could bringexpertise, training and advisors from countries with established cultural sitemanagement systems and national park systems.

In order to clearly define the partnership roles and provide for a long term commitmentby the partners it should be established by a formal written agreement. This wouldclearly describe the roles of the partners, what they would provide to the partnership,the decision making process, and the length of the commitment.

Partnerships are being used all over the work to achieve what could never beaccomplished by any single organization.

REFERENCES AND STANDARDS

United States National Park Service1993 Operations Evaluation Manual

United States National Park Service1996 Essential Competencies for National Park Service Employees

I. General Standards for ManagementThe management mission is defined within the following parameters:

1. Enabling legislation establishes the responsibility for protecting park resourceswhile making them available for public use and appreciation.

2. Other laws add to management responsibility in operating a park. For example,these include archeological resources protection, environmental protection, wildlifeprotection, and public health and safety.

3. All management actions must be consistent with the enabling legislation and theother applicable laws.

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4. The park should have written management policies which interpret the enablinglegislation and the legislative intent of the park purpose and management objectives.These policies provide the framework for establishing a park’s basic operation.

5. The park should have written standard operating procedures outlining the basicprocedures to be followed by each operating program in a recurring or periodic basis.

6. Establishing long term and annual goals are an integral part of a managementsystem. Long term goals are generally for non-routine issues, programs and projectswhich will take 3-5 years to accomplish due to funding, staffing and planning needs orto the scope and complexity of the issues faced. Annual goals are generally for non-routine tasks which can be accomplished in the coming year. Goals lead to budgetdevelopment and work planning.

7. Conduct periodic or annual reviews of the park’s operating programs to identifywhere modifications are warranted for greater effectiveness and efficiency.Reallocation of personnel, budget and other resources may result. These reviewsshould aim to assess how the management structure and programs are fulfilling thevarious aspects of the park mission.

II. Standards for Park Planning

1. Planning is fundamental to park management. Plans conform to the park enablinglegislation, with its stated purpose and management objectives, and to themanagement policies. Goals influence what is included in plans. Plans are the resultof a systematic process which should include consultation with other parts of thegovernment, concerned parties, and with public involvement.

2. Two basic plans for a park are the General Management, also called the MasterPlan, and a Strategic Plan, also referred to as the Statement for Management.

a. The General Management Plan is a very long term document, one with a 10-15year vision to guide park management. It is the result of a systematic process involvingpark management, interested public groups (NGO), and the general public especiallylocal people. The plan develops the basic strategy identifying in general terms thedirection of site development, resource protection, management of visitor uses anduses by local people, management of commercial activities within the park, visitoreducation, and public safety.

b. The Strategic Plan provides a clear statement of the general strategies the parkwill use to address pressing issues and to provide long term goals to guide parkoperations. It is developed by the Agency Director and his staff after a review of the

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current issues facing the park and the implementation needs of General ManagementPlan. The Strategic Plan should be reviewed and updated at least every two years.

3. A park may have other plans as needed to develop issue specific policies,programs and procedures. Examples of other plans which may be useful would be aArcheological Resources Management Plan, a Commercial Use Management Plan, astaff Training Plan, etc.

RESPONSIBLE PARTIES

Minister of Tourism and AntiquitiesDirector-General of the Department of Antiquities(after establishment) Director of Petra National Park AgencyChief Inspector for Archaeology

PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIRED TRAINING

1. Agency Director

First and foremost the Agency Director should have a strong background inmanagement and dealing with complex, sensitive issues at all levels of thegovernment. This person does not have to be an archeologist but should havesome a knowledge and appreciation of archeology. Most important, he or sheshould have a passionate desire to protect the site.

The Agency Director should receive training in cultural resources management , visitoruse management, and national park policy and regulations. He should exhibit strongcommunications skills, deal fairly and effectively with a wide range of people, be flexiblebut decisive, have had experience in building partnerships with other organizations, andbe politically aware.

On the job training should be provided by hiring a seasoned national park manager withfamiliarity with World Heritage Convention procedures, and preferably with substantialinternational experience, to advise the Agency Director for 2-3 years.

2. Deputy Director for Archaeology and Site Operations

Assisting the Agency Director by being responsible for all on-site operationswould be the Deputy Director for Archaeology and Site Operations. This position

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would spend full time at Petra and be responsible for the conduct of all dailyagency operations.

It will especially important for the Deputy Director for Archaeology and SiteOperations to have excellent communications skills and the ability to work withand motivate people from a wide variety of backgrounds. He or she should becompletely familiar with the significance of the site, site values, managementobjectives, and all aspects of park operations. He or she should be providedtraining in supervision, managing the budget for the park, park planning, publicinvolvement, visitor use management, and visitor safety. He or she should be anarchaeologist with a deep understanding of cultural resource management.

On the job training should be provided, as in the case of the Agency Director, byan overseas park manager (see above).

3. Chief Inspector for Archaeology

The Chief Inspector for Archaeology should be the on-site specialist in all aspects ofarchaeology and cultural resource management. He or she should work closely withboth the Agency Director and Deputy Director, advising them on cultural resourcemanagement and reviewing and approving all actions occurring in the park that mightaffect cultural resources. He or she should oversee the Petra Monitoring Officer (if heor she is not acting as the Monitoring Officer).

The Chief Inspector for Archaeology should be familiar not only with the archeologicalresources of Petra, but with cultural resource management. His or her knowledge ofpark significance, values, and management objectives should be thorough. He or sheshould be trained in cultural resource management, supervision, and publicinvolvement.

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ISSUE STATEMENT

THE NEED FOR A COMPREHENSIVELY ORGANIZED PETRA SITE OPERATION

The current Site Inspector at Petra is nominally responsible for the protection andmanagement of the site itself and other archeological sites in the entire region. Whilehe has authority over the DOA personnel on the site, he has no authority over the otheractivities or agencies or commercial services on site. The Petra National Park Agency,previously recommended, would establish the single agency needed to provide theunified authority needed on the site. Previous discussions described the establishmentof the agency and its policy needs. These recommendations will address the on-siteoperation organization components needed by the agency.

Management should have two tiers: one at the policy level, the other at the sitemanagement level. Policy provides broad direction by statements interpreting themission on specific issues, by setting standards of performance, and by establishingstrategy to be carried out by operational managers. Involvement of the public andNGOs usually occurs at the policy level. Site operations managers ensure that the dayto day tasks implementing the strategies developed by policy makers are carried out.Operational managers should work for the policy makers. Recommendations below areaddressed to the operations level.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Operations management should have five primary functions:

Management should have five functions to carry out in the daily site operations for apark such as Petra. These can be organized in many ways. The simplest organization,and the one recommended here, has each program director managing one of the fivefunctions and reporting to the Deputy Director for Archaeology and Site Operations.Each program will conduct its business in compliance with the standards set forth for itin the next part of this discussion.

The function of the five programs, to be managed by five program managers are:

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1. Manage Archeological Resources

This will be done by the Chief Inspector for Archaeology who will supervise theMonitoring Officer, Museum Curator, and other staff archaeologists with responsibilitiesfor preservation, research, conservation, and collections.

2. Protect Visitors Use Management and Protection Programs

This will be done by the Chief of Visitor Use Management and Protection who willsupervise the Tourist Police, Desert Police, and the Commercial Uses Supervisor. TheChief will have responsibilities to enforce laws and regulations especially those for theprotection of natural and archeological resources; to provide medical and rescueservices; to manage special uses such as large gatherings and movie companies; andto manage commercial uses (vendors) in the site.

3. Education, Interpretation and Visitor Information

This will be done by the Chief of Education and Information who will be responsibleto: operate visitor centers; teach guides site specific information; develop schoolprograms; and develop brochures and other written publications on the site.

4. Facilities Maintenance

This will be done by the Chief of Maintenance who will be responsible for providingcustodial cleaning and removing trash; maintaining roads, masonry, and trails;maintaining buildings and utilities, especially ensuring water, sewage, and electricservices are provided to the site.

Generally facilities design and construction is developed, approved in theDepartment of Antiquities through the Agency Director's Office.

5. Collect fees and regulate entrance to the site.

This will be done by the Chief of Fee Collection who will be responsible for thecollection and deposit of fees; for ensuring that those people entering the site pay theappropriate fees; and for fee audit programs.

6. Finance and Administrative Support

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This will be done by the Chief Finance Officer who will be responsible for budgetdevelopment and tracking; for bookkeeping and purchasing; and for personneladministration.

Many site operations functions are Interrelated. For example, education andinformation are not the sole functions of just that operational arm of the organization orof the professional guides. Custodians and security personnel as well as technicalspecialists and even vendors will be asked questions by park visitors. They should beprepared to answer them in an informed, service oriented manner. They should knowthe location and information about main park features and facilities as well as facilitiesin the local communities. Education will need excellent custodial functions andmaintenance to keep its facilities up to the highest standards. They will craft messagesto inform visitors of park rules and regulations to help protection and security personneland archeologists implement strategies of resource protection. They will develop thepamphlets needed by the fee collectors to hand out to inform the visitor about parkrules and regulations.

The Agency Director and Assistant Directors may decide that some functions are moreeasily carried out by contracts rather than by hiring personnel to do the work. Forexample, the maintenance contract presently in place at Petra to do custodial work.

2. The Petra Park Agency Organization

1. Organizational Criteria: There is no single way to organize the basic operationalfunctions. All functions need to be carried out. Organizational design needs to meetcurrent needs in order to be efficient and effective. In designing the organization twobasic criteria must be

A. The most critical criterion is to keep the organization as simple as possible, withthe least number of layers possible between the Agency Director and the most juniorworker at the site.

B. The second critical criterion is to have one manager for all functions on site atPetra full time.

2. Recommended Petra Park Agency Organization: We recommend an organizationwhere the Director has his office in Amman at the ministry and splits his time betweenAmman and Petra. The Director would be assisted by the Deputy Director forArchaeology and Site Operations who will spend full time at Petra and manage all dailysite operations. This arrangement will allow the Director the opportunity to be involvedwith all the policy and development issues related to Petra. He or she can then adviseDirector of the Department of Antiquities and the Minister on issues. He or she will beable to work closely with partners on issues related to Petra

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management and funding.

Each of these positions must have a long term (2-3 years) advisor to help assist in thedevelopment of an efficient, effective organization at both levels of management. Theadvisors must be a team and should relate to each other just as the Director and theDeputy Director do.

3. The next page is a recommended organization chart for the Petra Park Agencyshowing the interrelationships between the Agency Director, his or her superiors, andthe operational functions. It will also show the relationships between the Petra ParkAgency and the Petra Regional Planning Council, as well as with agency partners.

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ORGANIZATIONAL CHART GOES HERE

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Implementation Recommendations

During the many meetings and conversations we participated in with Jordanian officailsat all levels, NGOs, and other concerned parties in Jordan we heard and understoodthe need to do something right now at Petra and not wait for a formal, sequential stepprocess to take its course before something is done. The recommendations we makein this report will take some time to put into place.

Therefore, in this section we will make additional recommendations for immediateactions to be taken in the short term. One must understand that immediate actions willnot be thorough solutions. The object is to do something right now to stop negativeeffects to resources and improve the visitor experience at Petra. Taking one small stepnow is much better than waiting to take the big steps that are needed. Doing this doesnot mean that the best solutions, stated in long term recommendations, should not besimultaneously implemented. They should be. The Short Term Recommendations willuse existing authorities, responsibilities, personnel, financial and other resources orthose that can easily be obtained. As long term efforts are completed, the short termactions should be adjusted to meet the requirement's new situation.

The Implementation Recommendations follow a two-track approach;

A. Begin implementing the long term recommendations so a solid park andassociated management agency are established, and at the same time;

B. Immediately implement the short term recommendations in order to guide sitedevelopment and begin organizational development, understanding that these actionswill need to be adjusted in the future.

Long Term Recommendations

1. Have a lawyer familiar with Jordanian law and government develop draft legislationto establish a Petra National Park and to establish a park management agency. Decidewhere it fits into the government bureaucracy.

2. Establish a Management Partnership with the ministry, NGOs and internationalpartners.

A. A formal partnership should be developed between the government, theJordanian private sector, and the international community to help manage Petra. Thegovernment Petra National Park Agency should always be the management agency forthe site and the senior decision maker of the partnership.

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The concept of the partnership would be to have the strengths of all membersused to help preserve and manage Petra. The private sector could provide additionalfunding or acquire equipment more easily than government. They could also conductdiscrete park programs such as storage and management of all of the technical libraryand computer data bases. The international community could bring expertise, trainingand advisors from countries with established national park systems and acknowledgedexperts.

In order to clearly define the partnership roles and provide for a long termcommitment by the partners it should be established by a formal written agreement.This would clearly describe the roles of the partners, what they would provide to thepartnership, the decision making process, and the length of the commitment.

Partnerships are being used all over the work to achieve accomplishments wellbeyond what one partner could achieve alone.

3. Select a Petra National Park Agency Director and Deputy Director for Operations.Directors, develop management policies, train personnel etc.

a. Provide long term advisors: Two experienced national park managers, foran example retired superintendents from a U.S., should be hired to be on site in Petrato advise the agency director and deputy director site operations. This would providethe on the job training and long term continuity needed to establish a new parkmanagement agency.

Immediate Action Recommendations

1. The Minister should use all his authority to bring those functions and people underhis present authority under one "Director" for Petra. This person could work for himdirectly or could be under DOA. Then, for political reasons as well as good direction,there would be a Senior Level Person in Amman in charge to oversee and coordinateall aspects of Petra Sanctuary management.

a. The person selected for this position should have the same qualificationsas listed in the personnel section of this report which include skills in management of acomplex organization, decision making in the political atmosphere of high levels ofgovernment, archeological resource management, and a passion for the preservation ofthe site. The person should be someone like Dr. Suleman Farajat.

2. In addition to the senior level person in Amman there should also be a singleDeputy Director in Petra to manage daily site operations.

3. The Minister issues a written policy statement for management of the PetraSanctuary which states that it is in effect until legislation passes and includes;

a. a mission statement that Petra is managed for resource protection and visitoruse;

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b. a list of management objectives for the site;c. standards for site management.

4. The Minister works with or through the Petra Regional Planning Council (PRPC) to:a. Have the PRPC, and all associated ministries and level of government,

recognize and accept the mission statement and management objectives for Petra.b. Have all ministries and other organizations with personnel at Petra assign their

personnel to work under the immediate supervision of the Petra Director. This would beon a seconded or detail basis where the personnel would still be part of their respectiveagencies and work in their specialties but get immediate direction from the PetraDirector.

5. Translate the mission statement, management objectives and managementstandards into Arabic.

6. Hold a series of short 1-3 day training sessions on how to use the missionstatement, management objectives, management standards for ministry personnel, sitemanagers, the PRPC.

7. Develop a 1-2 week, escorted, tour to the US for Petra decision makers in order toorient them to the concept of National Parks in the US; a broad overview of how theyare managed; and how NGOs partner with US parks to do things the NPS cannot easilydo. Those who should take this tour are: the Minister, Dr. Saleh S. Rusheidat MP; theSecretary General, Dr. Akram Masarweh; Director of DOA, Dr. Ghazi Bisheh; PetraAntiquities Inspector, Dr. Suleman Farajat; Director of the Petra National Trust, AysarAkrawi; and, a technical representative of the PRPC.

8. Develop the operational organization at Petra to improve service and efficiency.Have an advisor on site for two to three years.

9. Provide appropriate staff training courses as soon as possible.

10. Work through the PRPC to reduce encroachment of construction and businessdevelopment as well as visual impacts to the Petra Sanctuary.

11. Take steps to stop using the Roman Road within the Petra Sanctuary for vehicletraffic.

12. Implement the monitoring plan.

REFERENCES AND STANDARDS

United States National Park Service1993 Operations Evaluation Manual

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United States National Park Service1996 Essential Competencies for National Park Service Employees

The following standards relate to each major program area within the Petra ParkAgency organization. Each set of standards for a specific program is described ingeneral terms the main actions that each program manager should be taking.

1. Standards for Archeological Resources Management.

Note: These are basic standards for program management only. A much moredetailed discussion on archaeological resources management is discussed in theCultural Resources Management section of this report.

1. The program has a written policy and long term and annual goals which covers thehigh priority issues which need to be addressed in the next 3-5 years. Budget, staffing,and work planning are designed to address those goals and routine tasks which need tobe performed. This information is communicated to all employees as are all programpolicies and procedures.

2. A research evaluation at the appropriate levels must precede all planning andconstruction decisions involving archeological and cultural resources. Alternatives aredeveloped and evaluated to preclude or minimize harm to archeological and culturalresources. The final decision on all is the responsibility of the Agency Director or his orher superiors.3. All ground disturbing activities are monitored by a qualified archeologist. This mustbe either a staff member or an archaeologist approved by the Chief Inspector forArchaeology.

4. All research is conducted by qualified individuals and conforms to internationalprofessional standards. All research data, reports, and collections are made part of thepark museum and archival collection. A copy of all reports and data must be given tothe park.

5. Research projects budget for the proper storage, cataloging, and conservation ofthe artifacts and documentary material generated by the projects and for theconservation of sites exposed by the project.

6. The park maintains a baseline survey which identifies and evaluates archeologicalresources and assesses the changes and threats to them. This includes thedevelopment of archeological base maps and photographs.

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7. Archeological sites are monitored to international professional standards, includingUNESCO World Heritage standards, on a regular basis. Reports of that monitoring arekept in the park archive or library.

8. Historical contexts and character defining features of cultural landscapes areidentified and documented in the appropriate cultural landscape studies.

9. Maintenance personnel are given the appropriate orientation and training to theneed for and sensitivity to archeological and cultural landscape preservation. Thetraining should include guidelines on when to consult with an archeologist beforeproceeding with any given part of a work project or other undertaking if and whencultural material is exposed or may be impacted by project activities.

10. The entire park staff is oriented to the significance of the archeological and culturallandscapes in the park and given a guide to identify major threats, erosion impacts, anddamage from any other source to those resources and a procedure to report thosethreats. The same is done for park vendors and guides.

11. A collection management plan is developed and implemented for the museumcollection which addresses the storage, exhibit and conservation of objects. A scope ofcollection statement is prepared for the museum and archival collections. All artifacts,objects and documents are accessioned and cataloged in accordance with internationalstandards. This includes all objects and documents which may be kept at otherrepositories or institutions other outside of the park. These are documented by outgoingloan procedures. Steps are taken to prevent the illicit traffic in cultural objects. Adviseon the development of artifact exhibitions and on the interpretation of the items in thecollection.

12. Ethnographic resources, traditionally associated people, especially the Bdul, andresource uses, and cultural affiliations to the park and museum artifacts aredocumented through studies and consultations. Consultation with traditionallyassociated groups is conducted during studies and planning.

2. Standards for Visitor Use Management and Protection


2. The concept of visitor service and resource protection is instilled into every memberof the program staff.

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3. All personnel receive at least a minimum level of training before assuming theirduties.

4. There are written basic personnel qualifications, a written scope of duties and basictraining curriculums. There are written Standard Operating Procedures dealing with allaspects of law enforcement, including what types of equipment will be used and when.This is especially important for use of defensive equipment.

A. The highest levels of accountability and training need to be adhered to. Aregular series of announced and unannounced inspections should occur. Correctiveaction to remedy deficiencies should be determined and implemented quickly.

B. All enforcement and emergency service incidents and use of defensiveequipment should be documented by written reports.

5. Patrols are scheduled and conducted on a regular basis to protect significant andsensitive resources and to protect visitors and provide emergency assistance. Patrolpersonnel should have hand held radios to call for assistance and coordinate activities.

A. In Petra at least 1-2 protection staff members (Tourist Police or Desert Police)should always be in each major use zone of the sanctuary during the main visitor usetimes of the day, for example in the area of:

The Bab as-Siq

The Al-Khazna to Roman Amphitheater;

The Royal Tombs;

The Qasr al-Bint;

The Ad-Dayr;

The High Place of Sacrifice

B. Strenuous trails or routes such as the trail to the Ad-Dayr and to the High Placeof Sacrifice and the Roman Tombs should be patrolled at least twice a day; once in themorning and once in the afternoon. Changing out personnel could have them patrolledfour times a day.

C. Additional patrols are scheduled to provide maximum coverage during times ofgreatest park use (time of day, day of week, season of the year) and when patternsindicate that most incidents occur.

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6. Intrusion alarms or 24 hour patrols should be used to protect especially sensitiveresources nor locations with valuables.

7. Regulations and information of possible hazards should be conspicuously postedand readily available to visitors through other appropriate means, for example in thepark brochure or through an associated handout given to each visitor on entrance to thesite.

8. A program is in effect to ensure timely and effective emergency response to visitorsin need of assistance. An Emergency Operations Plan is developed and implementedwith training and regular drills.

A. All personnel are given basic emergency first aid training.

B. Procedures are established to identify key emergency response teams. Theyare trained and practice regularly in difficult terrain search and rescue. All associatedgroups of Bdul, the medical clinic, and area law enforcement personnel have rolesidentified and made part of the system.

C. All emergency service incidents are documented by a thorough written report.

9. In order to be prepared in case of a structural fire the following standards apply.A. The park has an organized fire brigade composed of all park employees.

People know their roles and responsibilities in case of fire. They are provided with theappropriate training and equipment. The equipment is maintained in operatingcondition and inspected regularly.

B. The park also has a structural fire plan which provides for fire protection infacilities and structures. The plan includes information on all on all structures includingthe location of hazardous materials. An annual fire inspection is conducted and fireevacuation plans are developed for all buildings with egress routes posted. The planshould also list who to contact in the event of a fire or major emergency and detail theroles and responsibilities for members of the fire brigade.

3. Standards for management of commercial activities and vendors



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3. All park personnel receive at least a minimum level of training before assumingtheir duties.

A. Senior personnel should have education and experience in business practicesand be well oriented to park protection and visitor service needs.

4. Communication between park management and commercial operators in the parkshould be open and maintained on all matters of mutual interest. Communications witharea businesses outside the park and in the industry should be established andmaintained.

5. All commercial operators should have a permit or proper authorization to do work inthe park. This should come from the Park Agency.

A. All permits should have a fee attached with the amount commensurate with thesize of the business.

B. For large businesses a contract may replace the permit. It would identify whatbusiness is carried out and what responsibilities the business would have in facilitiesmanagement, infrastructure development and maintenance, size of the fee.

C. All permits should be given after it is determined that the applicant hasexperience in the field, financial capability, and can conform with terms and conditionsof the permit.

6. Only those businesses compatible with the park purpose and managementobjectives should be authorized.

7. Commercial uses, such as vendors and restaurants, should be authorized only inlocations identified for those uses in the General Management Plan or other appropriateplan.

8. All permit holders should be regularly monitored for quality of service, appropriatesales items, and impact on park resources and visitor experience.

4. Standards for the management of special park uses

Special park uses are those uses which are not part of normal visitation and researchactivities. These may be large gatherings or meetings, weddings, movie making,parades, and other events.

1. All special park uses should have a permit.

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A. The permit should have a fee attached to it. Fee amounts should becommensurate with the cost of park staff time and effort plus clean up costs plus a feefor use of the park.

2. Only activities compatible with park purposes and management objectives shouldbe authorized and permitted.

3. All events should be analyzed for their impact on park resources and visitorexperience.

A. No events should be authorized that potentially could impact park resources ina permanent or significant manner.

B. Events should have their time and location selected to minimize the impact tothe visitor experience. If mitigation is not possible, the event should not be authorized.

4. Events should be properly monitored by park staff to ensure compliance with permitstipulations.

5. The Standards for Education, Interpretation, and Visitor Information1. The program has a written policy and long term and annual goals which covers thehigh priority issues which need to be addressed in the next 3-5 years. Budget, staffing,and work planning are designed to address those goals and routine tasks which need tobe performed. This information is communicated to all employees as are all programpolicies and procedures.


3. All personnel must have university level education, preferably in the fields ofteaching or archeology. They should receive a detailed level of orientation and trainingin order to function in their assigned duties.

4. Park education or interpretive themes are established in the General ManagementPlan or other appropriate plan. These themes are based upon the park purpose andsignificance, management objectives, archeological and ethnographic information andtheories, visitor needs, and management goals. Interpretive themes should act as aguide for all program, exhibit, and publications.

5. Personnel should have frequent access to staff archeologists, visiting archeologists,and other subject matter specialists to keep up to date on archeological theories andcurrent activities in the park. Current research is integrated into the park educationprogram.

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6. The park should have a library on site with books and research reports sufficient touse for development of education programs and for profession development ofeducators. The library should be part of the park collection under the management ofthe Chief Inspector for Archeology. This library would also be useful to researchers andstudents.

7. Educators and guides are able to converse and give presentations in several keylanguages, especially English and possibly other languages such as German, French,Italian, and Spanish.

8. The park provides a balanced education program with guided walks, talks andpresentations in the visitor center, at selected sites, and in the evenings at the visitorcenter or other locations.

9. Educators and guides should develop presentations which demonstrate the use ofsound park education and interpretation principles and skills. The programs must bekept up to date and reflect current research and scholarship including close linkages topressing management issues being addressed by the park.

10. All education facilities, exhibits, brochures, signs and other media are kept inoperational condition and in good repair. The information on them is kept current andaccurate. They receive regular inspections and routine maintenance. Exhibit and signrehabilitation and replacement needs are reviewed at least annually. These needs areprioritized and efforts made to meet the most critical needs through government fundsor through partnership sources.

11. The role of school education programs are to work with schools to teach childrenabout the park education themes and instill an understanding and appreciation of thesignificance of Petra and its role in the history and culture of the region and the world.Education curriculum and teaching materials are also prepared and distributed toschools who cannot visit the park. Programs are developed to train teachers in usingthose materials.

12. Clear guidelines and standards are developed in cooperation with the Departmentof Tourism to ensure quality, accuracy, and appropriateness of programs offered bycommercial guides.

A. Programs are monitored annually to ensure quality, accuracy and technique.

B. In service will be made available to guides to keep them up to date oninformation and archeological research.

6. Standards for the Maintenance of Park Facilities

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3. All personnel receive at least a minimum level of training before assuming theirduties.

4. Weekly work schedules are developed which address tasks that need to beperformed, who is responsible, when and where the work is to be done, and whatsupplies and materials are needed to support the work.

5. The Park Agency Director should ensure that evaluations of the maintenanceprogram are completed at least annually, or as often as necessary, to assure economy,safety, quality, and condition.

6. All facilities are inspected for condition and repair needs at least annually.Corrective action is prioritized, planned for, and taken as soon as possible given thesize and scope of the problem and funds and personnel available.

A. Safety deficiencies are identified during these inspections and the highestpriority plans are made to eliminate the deficiency and reduce the hazards.

7. Materials are inventoried and protected against loss, misuse, or degradation.

8. Toilets are neat, clean, odor free and kept free of trash and debris. Toilets are keptclean at all times with needed supplies present.

A. It is very important as a critical service to visitors that all toilets are kept open allthe time during the daytime use hours. When the custodian goes to lunch, he shouldbe replaced during that time rather than locking the toilets.

B. If toilets are broken, temporary toilets should be brought to the site during therepair period.

C. Solid waste collection systems are maintained in good operating condition at alltimes. Septic and other systems are inspected regularly and pumped as needed.

9. Trash and debris are removed from all grounds and facilities daily, especially in andaround monuments and on trials. Ensure that vendors keep the area around theirrestaurants and stands clean and uncluttered. This should be done at times when such

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services will not intrude on the visitor experience at the site. Trash removal equipmentshould not impact on the fabric of archeological monuments and on other archeologicalsites.

10. Inspect monuments regularly for evidence of marking or possible vandalism areregularly removed from around and on all monuments. Marking removal and vandalismmust be reported and all removal work must be planned and coordinated witharcheologists before work commences. Personnel collecting trash around monumentsshould report new marks and preservation problems as soon as they are noticed.

11. Trails are maintained with consideration for safety, condition of surface, drainage,debris and litter. They are inspected regularly, at least annually and more often forheavily used trails. Patrol and maintenance personnel are to report problems as soonas they are noticed.12. Boundaries should be clearly marked. Monuments and signs must be in the correctlocations and clearly visible and legible.

13. Buildings should have their weather surfaces and interior surfaces in a sound andproperly finished condition. Buildings are sealed from the weather. Electrical,mechanical, and safety equipment are regularly inspected and maintained and serviceto accepted standards.

14. Ditches, drains, culverts, and other drainage devices are maintained free of debrisand inspected for serviceability on a regular basis.

15. Roads and related structures are maintained to original design and safetystandards. Roadsides are free of trash and debris. Paved surfaces are maintainedfree of cracks, potholes and bumps. Gravel and dirt surfaces are maintained free ofruts, ridges, and excessive loose material.

16. Park vehicles are regularly serviced and maintained to manufacturersrecommendations. Vehicles are replaced at the end of their service life. Areas offlimits to vehicle use or where use is regulated should be clearly marked and limitsenforced for staff and others.

7. Standards for Fee Collection.

1. The fee program should be designed to assure that:

A. Fees charged should be appropriate for the activities. Note that fees at Petraare appropriate to the significance of the site and the number and type of visitors.

B. Methods of fee collection are appropriate for maximum revenue income;

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C. All fees should be deposited in the appropriate accounts as often as possible.

2. A minimum amount of cash should be exchanged at the site. For example, asystem should be developed with commercial tour companies in which the park billsthem by invoice on a regular basis for the number and class of visitors they bring ontheir tours. A system of reports from the park entrance station will need to beestablished to implement this type of system.

3. The two person rule must be in effect at all times. The system of fee collectionstations and deposit boxes and safes should be designed so that no single person hasaccess to the fees or accountable documents at one time.

A. During fee collection activities and during reconciling the day's business twopeople are involved in cash receipt and cash count. It is best if at least one of thepeople doing the remittance is different from those who did the cash collection.

B. Fee collectors should never leave the entrance station with less than twopeople in it at all times during working hours. The station should never be unattended.Access to the station should be controlled.

4. Entrance permits are valuable and should be accountable property. They shouldhave an individual number for each permit and a regular record kept of all permits soldwith the date and class of visitor and amount of the permit fee on each permit.

A. One of the best and recommended way to get these permits is to use a cashregister based system where the machine prints a permit as a receipt for each visitor.All pertinent data can be automatically put onto the permit by the machine. A record iskept of all transactions and by which fee collector for reconciliation. There are noprinting and accountable property procedures or costs associated with the system.These types of machines are readily available from a variety of vendors.

B. If cash registers are used, one fee collector at a time should use the machineand check in and out with their own cash drawer as in any business.

C. All accountable property should be managed with the use of control logs tosafeguard against misuse and theft.

5. Regular field audits are conducted at random locations throughout the park.Visitors are asked to show their entrance permit and it is inspected for date and class ofvisitor and, possibly number in party if there is more than one person per permit,although this is discouraged.

6. Fee collection duties are documented in a written Standard Operating Procedure.Personnel are trained and certified that they know and are capable of carrying out theirduties before they begin work.

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7. Fee collectors should be formally designated with their authority and have thedesignations rescinded when they are no longer required to conduct those duties.

8. All people in the park should have either a permit or proper identification asemployees, vendors or others in the park on business. This identification should beissued by headquarters with a record kept there.

9. The entrance gate should have a counter to monitor the number of people enteringthe gate. Each permit should have a copy or stubs at the bottom to be torn off and keptat the gate. These types of counters are readily available and should be purchased assoon as possible.

A. Reconciliation between the gate counter, permit stubs and permit sales shouldbe done on a regular basis.

B. Reports should be made by each entrance gate shift with permit stubs and gatecounter numbers and gate keeper names.

10. Regularly scheduled and random audits should be conducted by both sitemanagers and staff from the central office.

11. Cash shortages are to be documented and promptly reported to the properauthorities.

12. Safes and cash storage facilities must be secure and regular deposits made to alocal bank or other repository.

RESPONSIBLE PARTIES

PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIRED TRAINING

The basic qualifications in terms of knowledge and skills needed to carry out the duties'of positions in the functional programs are described below. These provide the basicknowledge, skills and abilities needed by a person in the identified position. Basicknowledge and abilities needed by all staff members are grouped at the beginning butmust be added to the specifics given for each position. Training courses should bespecifically designed for the Petra staff. The qualifications listed below provide thetraining objectives for those courses.

1. Basic knowledge and abilities needed by all staff members

A. Mission Comprehension: All staff members should have a thoroughunderstanding of the law establishing Petra National Park and the World Heritage

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Designation and the World Heritage Treaty. A thorough understanding of the parksignificance, park purpose, and mission objectives. An orientation to the antiquitiesprotection laws of Jordan, applicable tourism laws, and other laws while may beapplicable. Staff should be oriented to the park's General management Plan andStrategic Plan as well as other appropriate plans and reports.

B. Archeological Resource Protection: All staff members should have a basicknowledge of the resources being protected by the Park Agency and the responsibilitiesof the agency in managing those resources. They should be oriented to the basicprocesses the agency uses to protect and manage those resources and with theirpersonal role in the agency mission.

C. High Quality Visitor Service: All staff members should have a basic knowledgeof the park agency duty to park visitors and in the agency's role in tourism for Jordan.They should have basic skills, ability, and attitude which are needed in dealing with thepublic. A basic knowledge of English should also be possessed. Knowledge ofadditional languages would be desirable.

D. Petra National Park Agency Orientation: All staff members should have a basicknowledge and understanding of the agency structure and organization and its place inthe larger government organization. Each person should know their role in theorganization and how it relates to other positions in the organization. They should learnwho the Agency Director, Deputy Director, and other members of the organization areand how they relate to each staff member.

2. Archeological Resources Management

There are several key professional positions which may be needed by the park agencyin carrying out its responsibilities in archeological resources management including:archeologist, architectural conservator, curator, conservator, and archivist.

A. Professional Education: A professional level employee has at least abaccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university in their respective field ora related one; for example curation or archaeology.

B. Preservation Law, Philosophy, and Practice: A professional level employee hasa detailed knowledge of Jordan's antiquities laws and international treaties, charters,preservation philosophy, and practices as they apply to the management of cultural andarcheological resources management.

C. Research, Inventory, and Monitoring: A professional has knowledge of thetheories and procedures with skills in the practice of research, inventory, monitoring,and evaluation of archeological and cultural resources at Petra. This includesknowledge, skills and abilities in analysis and documentation of resources.

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D. Preservation, Treatment, and Maintenance: The professional has theknowledge and skills to develop and implement treatment plans and preservationprograms.

E. Program and Project Management: The professional has the ability to plan,direct, and carry out if necessary, their portion of the archeology and cultural resourcesmanagement program at Petra, including overseeing projects, permit compliance, andevaluation of potential impacts to archeological resources from proposed projects.

F. Training and Communication: The professional has the abilities to develop,conduct and coordinate training sessions and courses for other professionals and fornonprofessional Petra staff members and others.

3. Visitor Use Management and Protection

Staff positions and skills fields in the visitor use management and protection programinclude protection and security, search and rescue, emergency medical, commercialuse management, visitor use studies, and management of special park uses (largegatherings, movie making, etc).

A. Visitor Protection and Security: The staff member has the knowledge of allapplicable laws and regulations and the ability to interpret and apply those to specificsituations with the park philosophy of public service and education of visitors, who maynot know or understand the regulations, but with firm compliance by all people. Thestaff member is also skilled in all applicable law enforcement techniques includinginvestigation, uses of defensive equipment, arrest techniques, and report writing.

B. Search and Rescue: The staff member has the ability to search for and rescuelost persons and victims of accidents. These skills include proper informationgathering, hasty search, aerial reconnaissance search, technical rock rescue, roughterrain evacuation techniques, helicopter rappel and rescue techniques.

C. Emergency Medical Services: The staff member is trained in basic first aid andfirst responder techniques with pre-hospital skills to stabilize and move a severelyinjured or sick person to the hospital without causing further injury. Emergency MedicalTechnicians or Doctors educated and trained in advanced and professional levelmedical assistance may also be assigned to the park staff.

D. Visitor Studies: The staff member has professional level education in socialsciences with emphasis on recreational use studies and is capable of designing,conducting, and analyzing monitoring and researches of visitor use patterns,demographics, and preferences. The staff member also has the capability developingterms of reference for contracts and managing visitor studies contracts.

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E. Commercial Use Management: The staff member understands parkmanagement objectives and policies as they relate to vendors and other commercialuses; has the ability to relate to people and communicate and negotiate effectively; hasthe ability to conduct financial studies with a knowledge of accounting and bookkeeping;has the ability to read and interpret bookkeeping and accounting done by others;understands the hospitality and tourism industry.

4. Education, Interpretation, and Visitor Information:

Staff members have professional education and training in education or mediaproduction, either print or video and should have some education or training inarcheology or a related field. It is also desirable in the opposite with someone havingeducation in archeology or related fields and training in education or media production.

A. Talks, Demonstrations, Exhibits, Video and Print Media: The staff member hasthe ability answer questions informally and on an individual or in a small group setting;to develop and deliver talks to large groups of people using successful techniques andtelling a compelling story and using props or audiovisual media such as slides or video.The member has the ability to plan and develop exhibits, including video and movies,and to oversee their completion under contract. The member also has the ability todevelop, layout, and ensure production of brochures and other written media.

B. Education Programs: The member has the ability to plan, develop and managean education program which is integrated into school curriculums. Basic educationprograms include organized pre-visit packages, conducted activities on site, a follow upprogram in the school to assure that learning has taken place; and development ofeducation packages and training for teachers in schools that cannot travel to the park.

C. Program Planning and Management: The staff member has the ability todevelop comprehensive educational program, exhibit and media plans. The memberpossesses the ability to supervise other and to manage a visitor center and visitorinformation program. The member has the ability to develop and work with privatesector partners.

5. Facilities Maintenance

Facilities maintenance includes a broad range of professional and trades skills toonumerous to list. The program manager should be a professional in civil engineering orarchitecture or a related field. The program manager and other professionals shouldhave professional level education preferably with advanced degrees. Staff members inthe trades masons, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, painters, and motor vehicleoperators should be have at least basic skills when hired. If these are not available, thepark should develop partnerships with schools, trade organizations, appropriategovernmental entities, and others to develop programs to provide people with theseskills.

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A. General Skills: In addition to the professional and trade skills discussed above,all staff members should have the ability to read and follow schedules; to properly andsafely use the equipment assigned to them; to identify the correct materials called for ina task; to be aware of safety hazards presented by the assigned task and take actionsto prevent accidents; and to report safety issues and the results of work assignments.

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SECTION III: Cultural Resource Management

Petra is most essentially an archaeological site. It is a treasure-house of informationabout the ancient world, and about the development of some of the most influentialaspects of today’s world. This information, in its material form, is both vulnerable andirreplaceable. It must be preserved and carefully explored in ways that, themselves,advance the goal of preservation. The principal intent of the management structure,policy, and procedures recommended in this report, and presented generally in SectionII, is to protect the cultural resources of Petra by embedding them in a managementstructure that will sustain them.

In Section III, recommendations will be made about the most pressing issues andproblems that have to do more specifically with the practice of cultural resourcemanagement. Cultural resource management is intended to bring the academic rigorassociated with the fields of archaeology, history, art history, materials conservation,and other traditionally scholarly fields to the service of resource protection.

Issues dealt with in Section III will therefore be those most essential, beyond theestablishment of the basic park infrastructure, to effective cultural resourcemanagement at Petra. Recommendations will be made for the establishment andstaffing of a park infrastructure capable of 1.) Acquiring and making accessible baselinedata, 2.) Establishing and enforcing research priorities and procedures, 3.) Monitoringthe condition of park resources and employing monitoring results to trigger remediation,4.) Establishing and conducting effective treatments for preservation that are consistentwith globally accepted preservation standards, 5.) Guiding interpretation and tourismstrategy to the benefit of resource protection, and 6.) Conducting park affaires in a waythat will encourage the public involvement and support that will be essential to thesuccess of park programs. The position taken here is that the technology,management infrastructure, and scholarship required to preserve and understand Petrashould be supported by constituencies drawn from visitors, local groups, and theJordanian people.

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ISSUE STATEMENT

ACQUIRING AND MAKING AVAILABLE BASELINE DATA

A prerequisite to the effective management of cultural resources is an orderedknowledge of those resources. It is not too much to say that the essence of culturalresource management is the construction of baseline data--of context--that allowsmanagers to understand the value of material remains and to prioritize preservation (inall its forms, including preventative maintenance, housekeeping, periodic monitoring,and treatments), research, and interpretation efforts accordingly. Baseline data alsosimply makes managers aware of the cultural resources that must be managed, ofthreats to the resources, issues pertinent to the resources, and previous efforts topreserve the resources.

At present at least 16 organizations are conducting archaeological research at Petra.Over the past decades, many more groups have also conducted research, andnumerous reports, maps, photographs, drawings, and other sorts of records have beenproduced. Often this material has been taken back to the country from which theresearcher has come, or it is placed on file at the research office of the investigator’scountry of origin. While these offices may be located in Jordan, these records are notreadily available to those currently most responsible for the preservation of Petra’scultural resources. Records of previous efforts to preserve sites, including monumentsand structures, have generally been treated in the same way. It will be imperative in thefuture to all such material (described in greater detail below) available to Petra sitemanagers.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Construct an easily used cultural resources data base

An inventory of sites at Petra, both those with standing structures and those completelysubterranean, must be constructed in such a way as to make it easily used by Petra sitemanagers, researchers, and others with legitimate interests in the cultural resources atPetra. This inventory should include the ancient hydrological structures there. In thisSite Management Plan, the definition of a cultural site will be that used by the JordanAntiquities Database and Information System: an isolated or an integrated complex ofhuman-built features older than 50 years. At minimum, an inventory must record:

*Site location (with the greatest possible precision)

*Site size

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*Topographic situation

*Characterization according to cultural/temporal periods (for Petra these should be aslisted in the Jordan Antiquities Database and Information System)

*Type of use

*Condition

*Any immediate or expected threats to the site.

*What is known about the history and culture of the groups that occupied the site orcomponents of the site.

The utility of this inventory should eventually be enhanced by providing relevantbibliographic references, and by more complete information about the environmentaland cultural context at the times of site occupation. Therefore, the inventory should beconstructed in a way that facilitates the addition of this information. At some futuredate, location and nature of sites as well as environmental and cultural informationshould be placed in a computerized geographical information system (GIS).Appropriate training in the use of GIS hardware and software (and the acquisition of thehardware and software itself, of course) will be essential in establishing an operativeGIS data base. (See below.)

The eventual construction of sophisticated (GIS) inventories, however, depends upon apreliminary gathering, sorting, analyzing, and filing of existing information,supplemented by some very basic fieldwork. At every phase of inventory construction,it is crucial that the information contained by the inventory be easily accessible tomanagers and other decision makers during the day-to-day operation of Petra. Suchinformation provides the baseline against which changes to the condition of resourcesas revealed by monitoring can be detected. This provides the basis for takingappropriate management decisions and actions to arrest detected deterioration ofresources. (See Monitoring, below.)

Procedure

1. Collecting the Data

A great deal of information exists pertinent to the location, nature, and condition (todayand in the past) of cultural resources at Petra. This information must be gathered andmade accessible as described just above. To begin with, it should be filed in a safecentral location by site.

The sorts of data to be collected and filed should include:

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*All reports, maps, drawings, and photographs produced by the variety of researchersactive at Petra over the years, including archaeologists, historians, architects, historicalarchitects, architectural historians, ethnographers, landscape historians, geographers,geologists, and biological scientists whose research reports are relevant to the culturalresources of Petra;

*All drawings and specifications prepared for previously done stabilization,consolidation, restoration, or reconstruction work and all associated plans or researchdocuments;

*Aerial photographs of Petra on file at the Royal Geographic Society, the JordanDepartment of Antiquities, the American Center for Oriental Research (ACOR), theFrench Institute for the Archaeology of the Near East (IFAPO), and similarorganizations;

*Drawings, maps, and written descriptions of Petra made in historical times, and in thenumerous more recent studies of the area;

*The List of Petra monuments compiled by Laila Nehme' (numbering about 3,000),copies of which are on file at the American Center for Oriental Research (ACOR) inAmman and at the French Institute for the Archaeology of the Near East (IFAPO) inAmman;

*The more complete base map of archeological site in Petra under preparation byIFAPO, listing perhaps 15,000 to 16,000 sites, accompanied by any commentaries onthese sites written as a part of this effort;

*All visitor surveys that have been conducted in the past five years thorough anyorganization, including the Ministry of Tourism and UNESCO;

*GPS positions tied to obvious landmarks as recorded by members of the JordanSustainable Tourism Development Team, ACOR researchers, researchers from IFAPO,GTZ, other research organizations;

*Jordan Antiquities Database & Information System (JADIS) inventory information forareas inside Petra;

*All studies that have been conducted for the conservation of the stone that occurs atPetra, some of which are on file at Yarmouk University, ICCROM, and GTZ;

*All existing condition surveys of monuments and standing structures (for example, the"Pre-Feasibility Study of the Qsar al-Bint Monument," dated April 25, 1996);

*All surveys or evaluations of the Nabataean hydrology system and proposals to restorethat system. (For example the surveys of the system in various areas in Petra,

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including the area of the Siq, currently being accomplished under the direction of thePetra National Trust);

*All proposals for the restoration of structures and landscapes (for example, the "PetraRoman Street Proposal," submitted by Zbigniew T. Fiema, American Center for OrientalResearch (ACOR) Consultant, January 29, 1996);

*All proposals for archaeological research.

2. Guide and Index to Data

A guide to the data should be constructed, which should include for each site a list ofthe materials that have been gathered pertinent to that site. Materials should beidentified by title, author, date, and a brief description of content. In addition, site formsshould be prepared for each site that succinctly provides all of the information listedabove as essential (site location, size, topographic situation, characterization, etc.) Intime, bibliographic references should be added to these forms. Finally, sites should beindexed according to location in Petra, an index that includes management zones.

3. Detailed Archaeological Base Map

Each site should be further indexed by location on a base map of cultural sites at Petra.Maps should be at a scale of 1:500 with contour intervals at a maximum of 1meter for areas known to contain concentrations of highly important sites (thePetra Basin, Beida, Siq Al-Barid), and 1:2,500 with a maximum contour interval of5 meters for all other areas. The maps might most cost-effectively be produced bycontracting with a firm that utilizes aerial photography. The contract should specify theproduction of not only printed maps, but as importantly maps in electronic, CAD format.This format should be one of the industry standards. If the format is not AutoCAD, itshould be one that translates easily and accurately into AutoCAD.

4. Conversion to GIS

Steps 1 through 3 above provide solid groundwork for the production of a GIS database, into which additional material may continually be added that will increase theutility of the data base. The archeological base maps in CAD format can be broughtinto one of several different GIS programs, which will allow the gradual inclusion ofinformation contained in the indexed cultural sites data base. This information caneventually include photos and drawings that have been scanned into raster image files.It is recommended that software employed in producing the GIS data base be of thesort that can be used in easily obtainable and relatively inexpensive computers (of the"desk-top personal computer" sort).

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It is imperative that the GIS data base not be regarded as a replacement for paper datafiles. None of the latter should ever be discarded. The useful life of many forms ofelectronic data storage is not known: will the information contained on the floppy disksand CD-ROMs of today be easily accessible twenty years from now? Almost certainlynot. This implies the constant and never-ending maintenance of electronic data files,including the transformation of files from one format to another in order that theinformation they contain be useable. Yet we must realize that any organizationalprogram, indeed any human undertaking, is neither constant nor never-ending. Giventhe likelihood that at some point in the future an electronic data base might not bemaintained and so will become unusable, the original, paper copies of all data must besecurely archived.

This is not to say that construction of a GIS data base is not worthwhile. It most surelyis of great value because of its utility to management and research. Rather, this is tosay that GIS should be regarded as a highly effective tool for management andresearch, not a way to archive data.

References and Standards

Ammerman, Albert J.1981 "Surveys and Archaeological Research." Annual Reviews of Anthropology

10:63-88.

Ammerman, Albert J. and M.W. Feldman1978 "Replicated Collection of Site Surfaces." American Antiquity 43:734-740.

Asch, David L.1975 "On Sample Size Problems and the Uses of Nonprobabalistic Sampling."

in Sampling in Archaeology, James W. Mueller, ed. Tucson, Arizona:University of Arizona Press.

Camilli, Eileen L. and Linda S. Cordell1983 Remote Sensing: Applications to Cultural Resources in Southwestern North

America. Washington, D.C.: National Park Service.

Comer, Douglas C.1994 “Identification.” in The SPAFA Integrated Cultural Resource Management

Guidelines for Southeast Asia, Volume I: Material Culture. Bangkok:SEAMEO Center for Archaeology and the Fine Arts (SPAFA).

Flannery, Kent V.1976 "Excavating Deep Communities by Transect Samples," in The Early

Mesoamerican Village, edited by Kent V. Flannery, pp. 68-72. New York:Academic Press.

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Heimmer, Don H.1992 Near-Surface, High Resolution Geophysical Methods for Cultural Resource

Management and Archaeological Investigations. Denver, Colorado:National Park Service, Rocky Mountain Regional Office.

Hirth, Kenneth G.1978 "Problems in Data Recovery and Measurement in Settlement Archaeology."

Journal of Field Archaeology 5:125-131.

Judge, W. James and Lynne Sebastian eds.1988 Quantifying the Present and Predicting the Past: Theory, Method, and

Application of Archaeological Predictive Modeling. Denver, Colorado:United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management.

Lyons, Thomas R. and Thomas Eugene Avery1977 Remote Sensing: A Handbook for Archaeologists and Cultural Resource

Managers. Washington, D.C.: National Park Service.

Matson, Richard G. and William D. Lipe1975 "Regional Sampling: A Case Study of Cedar Mesa, Utah," in Sampling in

Archaeology, James W. Mueller, ed. Tucson, Arizona: University ofArizona Press.

Redman, Charles L.1974 Archaeological Sampling Strategies. An Addison-Wesley Module in

Anthropology No. 55.

United States Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and the United States NationalPark Service1988 Identification of Historic Properties: A Decisionmaking Guide For Managers.

Washington, D.C.: Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

Responsible PartiesThe Chief Inspector for Archaeology under the immediate direction of the DeputyDirector for Archaeology and Site Operations at Petra will have overall responsibility forcompiling and making available to management, qualified researchers, and otherlegitimately interested parties the baseline data. He will work with Petra staff; friendsorganizations and NGOs; volunteers, interns and students with universities in Jordanand based in other countries; and will coordinate with organizations and individualsconducting research at Petra to accomplish this.

Organizations and individuals conducting research at Petra will be responsible forproviding copies of all reports and other materials pertinent to the inventory (describedabove) that they produce, or have produced.

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Personnel Qualifications and Required Training

The Chief Inspector for Archaeology shall hold an advanced degree in a field directlyrelated to archaeology (e.g., anthropology, history, art history), preferably a Ph.D., andshall have a thorough knowledge of field methods appropriate to archaeological surveysand inventories. If needed, the Chief Inspector for Archaeology shall be providedtraining in compiling and managing geographical information systems, and relatedtechnical skills such as the analysis of aerial photography and other aerial imagery andthe use of other remote sensing devices. The Chief should also be given training in thenegotiation skills he will require in working with research organizations that have workedor that are active at Petra.

Staff archaeologists assigned to compiling the baseline data shall be provided technicaltraining of the sorts mentioned just above as needed. At least one of the staffarchaeologists should be fully qualified in the archiving of documents, photographs, andsimilar materials, and should be provided training in this as required.

As a good deal of the work of collecting, archiving, and computerizing data willexpectedly be accomplished by students and interns under the direction or in closecoordination with Petra park staff, the Chief Inspector for Archaeology and staffarchaeologists should be provided training in supervisory skills as needed.

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ISSUE STATEMENT

RESEARCH PRIORITIES AND PROCEDURES

The first and most important objective of Petra National Park will be to “preserve thearchaeological artifacts, monuments, and sites at Petra” (see Management Objectives,above). While much research has been done at Petra over the years that isindisputably excellent from a scientific and scholarly perspective, preservation, per se,has infrequently been a primary component of this research. This is not to say by anymeans that scholarship and science are incompatible with preservation; it is to say,however, that research should be conducted in a way that explicitly attends to sitemanagement objectives.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Formulate an Archaeological Resources Management Plan

In order to integrate research with management objectives for Petra, an archaeologicalresources management plan for Petra should be formulated, and then updated eachfive years. The plan should be the responsibility of Petra site management, whichshould ensure that it advances management objectives. It should be written with inputfrom organizations with research interests at Petra, including Yarmouk University, theAmerican Center for Oriental Research (ACOR), the British Institute of Archaeology(BIA), Friends of Archaeology (FOA), the Petra National Trust (PNT), and the InstitutFrançais `d Archéologie du Proche-Orient (IFAPO). The archaeological resourcesmanagement plan should be revised every five years. It would be beneficial, in fact, tohold a symposium on the previous five year plan to review the results of the plan and toformulate the next five year research plan.

Recommended Research Priorities

Recommended here is that the highest priority for research, beyond the establishmentof baseline data for Petra, should be given to the study of the Nabataean hydrologicalsystem. Increasing the functionality of at least portions of the system would amelioratethe intermittent flooding of the site and the damage produced by the flooding itself andthe residual water, which is responsible for chemical changes in the sandstone oftombs and other structures that hasten deterioration of these monuments. Perhaps theportions of the hydrological system most essential to site preservation are theagricultural terraces, which themselves constitute significant cultural landscapes andshould be preserved and replanted with vegetation that would facilitate absorption ofrainwater there, and drainage devices that would divert water from the vicinity of tombsand other monuments, or protect these structures from water that might find its way tothese locations. It may be found during these investigations that some terraces,including those in the core historic area of the site and specifically terraces on either

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side of the Colonnade Street, are of more recent origin than the Nabataean period. Elia(1993) suggests this on the basis of historical accounts that the Bdul establishedagricultural fields in the area, as reported by Ken Russell (1992) and by eyewitnesseswho say that the Bdul grew barley and wheat in Petra until about 1961. Despite theirrelatively recent origin, it is possible that such agricultural terraces have lessened thedestruction of cultural resources that might have occurred in their absence. Also of thehighest priority is research associated with maintenance and the soon to beginconsolidation and restoration projects (listed in the Maintenance, Consolidation, andRestoration sections of this document).

Research required for interpretation or conservation of areas that are to be givenemphasis in the presentation of the site to the visitor are of the next highest priority. Asnoted in the Venice Charter, Article 5, “The conservation of monuments is alwaysfacilitated by making use of them for some socially useful purpose.” Site visitation is ahighly socially useful purpose, although it is essential that visitation not result in damageto the site’s fabric or alteration of the site’s essential character.

Petra can be protected from the undesirable effects sometimes associated withvisitation by enhancing the experiences available to visitors in the site’s core area. Thiswill encourage visitors to remain at Petra for an additional day, thus providing the sitewith greater revenue with which to provide site protection and maintenance. It will alsodivert some visitor pressure from the more fragile and vulnerable back country (theareas away from the “spine” of the site that runs from the Siq al-Bab through theRoman Colonnade Street to the Qasr al-Bint area and the restaurant there). Anotherbenefit of this strategy will be to lessen the chances that visitors will be injured inunstructured, unguided rambles over the rough terrain of Petra.

Thus, research like that currently under consideration along the Roman ColonnadeStreet should be encouraged; the excavations underway at the Byzantine church andthe Southern Temple (also known as the Great Temple) have evoked great interestamong site visitors and promise to greatly enhance the experience available in thevicinity of the Roman Colonnade Street. As Joukowsky (1996:5) has said, “TheSouthern Temple was the religious heart of the Nabataean-Classical and Romancommunities.” Much the same statement could be made about the Byzantine churchlocated across the Colonnade Street during the later, Byzantine, period. Yet, there isnothing at present that would indicate to the visitor today the importance of the vicinityin these past times.

2. Formulate a written excavation policy for Petra

The excavation policy for Petra should be that archaeological excavation is permittedonly when it can be done in ways consistent with the site management objectives. Thiswould include providing a budget sufficient for conservation of the finds andarchaeological artifacts, and for stabilization of site terrain after completion of theresearch. Every effort should be made, also as a matter of policy, to use

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archaeological research as a means by which to further these objectives. For example,local populations should be employed whenever feasible in the execution ofexcavations and associated conservation efforts, visitors should be informed aboutresearch underway, and information derived from excavation should be disseminated tothe academic world and to the general public.

Excavation Standards

In addition to conforming with Petra excavation policy, outlined just above,archaeological excavations at Petra must be conducted in ways consistent with thehighest standards of the profession, as presented by UNESCO and elsewhere (seeReferences and Standards, just below). A research design that convincingly describeshow the researcher will comply with these standards should be a prerequisite forreceiving a research permit from Petra site management (see the Excavation Permitssection later in this site management plan). The research design should include(revised from Comer, 1994:48-49):

* a basic description of the cultural property under study and the characteristicsthat make it an appropriate locale for site excavation with the attendantcommitment of resources to that effort;

* explicitly stated hypotheses or research questions with a justification of theimportance and relevance of these to anthropological, archaeological,historical, or social scientific concerns;

* a determination of the property's spatial and cultural characteristics, includingvariability as it occurs intersite and intrasite;

* a plan for the public interpretation of the research results;

* a data recovery plan formulated for maximum retrieval of data relevant to theresearch hypotheses or questions posed in the Objectives section. This mustaddress the methods to be used in background research, fieldwork, analyses,and data management;

* a schedule for the research, including analysis, report preparation, anddissemination of findings;

* a proposed disposition of recovered materials and records, along with evidencethat an acceptable repository has agreed to curate the collection that will resultfrom fieldwork;

* the proposed methods for keeping the interested public informed about theproject, making the research available to the public, and involving the interestedpublic in data recovery, if feasible;

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* provisions for dealing with human remains and associated grave goods thatinclude obtaining necessary permits; consultation with tribal groups, ethnicgroups, descendants, or other interested parties, especially as might berequired under any applicable laws, and the treatment and disposition of thesematerials;

* provisions for treatments for structures and other landscape features thatwill remain in situ and artifacts to be removed;

* considerations for future excavations and identifying control areas to be leftundisturbed.

Looting

The intimate knowledge of a site gained by the conduct of fieldwork over extendedperiods of time often provide archaeologists with information concerning areas thathave been looted or are particularly vulnerable to looting. It is imperative that thisinformation be passed along to site managers as soon as possible, and thatarchaeologists participate in the formulation of strategies by which to arrest or preventsuch looting. As a last resort, sites highly vulnerable to looting for which protectioncannot otherwise be provided should be excavated by qualified archaeologists.

Joukowsky (1986:10) has provided a list of ethical standards for archaeologists that hasbeen widely accepted and should be applied to all archaeological excavations at Petra.Foremost among these ethical standards is that:

No member of an archaeological team may defy the national or internationalantiquities laws. He/she will uphold legislation to protect antiquities such as thebill to implement the UNESCO convention, "To Implement the Convention onthe Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transferof Cultural Property," or the “Convention for the Protection of the World Culturaland Natural Heritage." ....A staff member must not become associated withthose who do not conform to the standards of ethical practices discussed insuch proposals.

More generally, all personnel at Petra, archaeologists included, should endeavor inevery possible way to eliminate trafficking in archaeological materials. Among the mosteffective of these ways is the education of visitors about the full, destructive implicationsof looting--particularly the loss of information through removal of artifacts from sitecontext, information that can not be gained in any way other than archaeologicalexcavation and once lost can never be retrieved-- and of their role in disrupting thealliance between looter and purchaser of illicit antiquities.


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Comer, Douglas C.1994 “Excavation.” in The SPAFA Integrated Cultural Resource Management

Guidelines for Southeast Asia, Volume I: Material Culture. Bangkok:SEAMEO Center for Archaeology and the Fine Arts (SPAFA).

Dickenson, Russell E.1983 Archeology and Historic Preservation; Secretary of the Interior's Standards

and Guidelines. Federal Register 48(190):44716-44742

Hester, Thomas R.; Robert F. Heizer; and John A. Graham1975 Field Methods in Archaeology. Palo Alto, California: Mayfield Publishing

Company.

International Committee on Archaeological Heritage ManagementICAHM1989 “Charter for the Protection and Management of the

Archaeological Heritage” (Third draft of French and Englishtexts, submitted to 1990 ICOMOS General Assembly inLaussanne, Switzerland, ICOMOS Information, no.3: 20-24).

Joukowsky, Martha1986 A Complete Manual of Field Archaeology: Tools and Techniques of Field

Work for Archaeologists. Prentice Hall: New York.

UNESCO1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the

Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of CulturalProperty. Paris: United Nations Educational, Scientific, andCultural Organization.

1985 Conventions and Recommendations of UNESCO Concerningthe Protection of the Cultural Heritage. Paris: United NationsEducational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.

Responsible Parties

Ultimately the responsibility for the adherence of all researchers to research priorities(once they have been finally established) and to the preservations standards listedabove resides with the Director-General of Antiquities, to whom an annual report of thestatus of archaeological research at Petra should be addressed . The report shouldalso be made available for review by UNESCO. It should be submitted by the PetraNational Park Agency Director, and the principal author of the report should be theChief Inspector for Archaeology at Petra. At the discretion of the Petra Agency

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Director, the Annual Petra Archaeology Research Report can be combined with theannual report to be prepared for Petra.

The Research Plan and five-year updates should be prepared by the Chief Inspector forArchaeology at Petra.


The Chief Inspector for Archaeology at Petra should have a thorough knowledge of allaspects of cultural resource management, particularly knowledge of the properapplication of the international charters mentioned above and elsewhere in the currentreport as they apply to the archaeology of Petra. Training should be provided to ensurethis. The Petra National Park Agency Director and the Deputy Director for Archaeologyand Site Operations should be provided with periodic refresher courses in currentphilosophy in cultural resource management. Staff assigned to work witharchaeological researchers in Petra should be given similar training.

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ISSUE STATEMENT

MONITORING

Monitoring of site conditions is an essential element of site preservation. It alerts sitemanagement to the natural and social processes that threaten and erode culturalresources. It provides the basis whereby the most non-intrusive and most reversibletreatments can be planned and implemented. Processes, be they chemical, physical,or social, that are found to be contributing to the deterioration of site fabric can often bearrested by management actions, which might include routinized maintenance, if theyare detected in time. Visitation flow can be redirected to reduce pressure on siteresources, visitors can be informed about potentially destructive behavior, vegetationdisrupting structures can be removed, water drainage systems can be kept in repair,and other relatively simple and inexpensive steps can be taken if site management isalerted to emerging problems through monitoring.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Implement site monitoring procedures

An essential element of effective monitoring is that it be organized so as to triggermanagement action if destructive processes are discovered. Therefore, it is necessaryto ensure that destructive actions are documented and that documentation is used asthe basis for management action. Under the current management arrangement atPetra, knowledgeable persons on the site may be aware of destruction of resources orof threats to resources, yet this knowledge in itself is not always enough to promptmobilization of the expertise and funding required to correct the situation.

Coupled with the monitoring procedures that will be described later in this section,effective monitoring at Petra will require the following:

1. A rigorously followed procedure for reporting monitoringobservations; and

2. Adequate numbers of qualified personnel to carry out themonitoring.

Every incident of observation should generate a written document, whether theobservation is being done by Petra site personnel on daily rounds of the site or bytechnical specialists visiting the site during inspections scheduled at five year intervals.The form of the written documentation will of course vary depending upon the nature ofobservations made. Monitoring observation forms might be prepared for use by parkstaff during regular rounds at the park that would include spaces to be filled in with

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information about the exact location of the observance, the date and time, what wasobserved including any activities or conditions that have produced or may producedamage or deterioration, any preliminary recommendations, and the name of theobserver. Observations made by technical experts should include a summary that canbe easily used by Petra site management in taking subsequent steps to correct theobserved problem.

It will be the responsibility of the Petra National Park Agency Director to review eachwritten monitoring observation with the assistance of a Petra Site Monitoring Officer.The Petra Site Monitoring Officer will be selected from among the staff ofarchaeologists at Petra, and may be the Chief Inspector for Archaeology at Petra if thatperson’s workload permits this. The Monitoring Officer will keep a file of every writtenmonitoring observation, discuss each with the Agency Director, and prepare a reporteach year that includes each observation, actions taken to correct observed problems,and further actions required. The Petra Agency Director will also have the responsibilityfor requesting resources adequate to the task of correcting observed problems.

In summary, the procedure for reporting monitoring observations is as follows:

1. Written documentation is prepared for each monitoring observation.

2. Documentation is submitted to the Petra Site Monitoring Officer, who discusseseach observation with the Petra National Park Agency Director (the Monitoring Officer)also maintains a file on each observation.

3. Requests for funding, expertise, and equipment adequate to correction of problemsobserved by monitoring is made by the Petra National Park Agency Director.

4. Yearly report of each monitoring observation, actions taken to correct observedproblems, and further actions required is drafted by the Petra Site Monitoring Officerand approved and submitted by the Petra National Park Agency Director (the reportmay, at the discretion of the Park Director, be included in the Petra National ParkAnnual Report). This report should be submitted to appropriate officials in Amman aswell as to UNESCO.

2. Establish effective monitoring mechanisms

Several monitoring mechanisms should be put in place at Petra (some of these arediscussed in the Petra Site Carrying Capacity Study, as well). Establishment of thesemechanisms would ideally be preceded by a preliminary inventory of cultural resources,an evaluation of the stability of site structures, and the preparation of accurate sitetopographic and archeological base maps. In any case, however, these mechanisms,and the reporting system described just above, should be implemented as soon aspossible, even in the absence of this baseline data.

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Monitoring at Petra should be of two sorts: 1.) the day-to-day monitoring carried out bypersonnel assigned to Petra or assisting Petra staff, and 2.) periodic monitoring, whichwill be of a more intensive and dependent upon technologies that must be establishedat Petra or imported to the site over an indefinite time because equipment or techniquesemployed will remain highly specialized and costly. Periodic monitoring will be doneevery two to five years. While Petra staff must be involved in the monitoring, they willbe assisted by specialists who might be from universities, preservation organizations, orother groups based nationally or internationally. Even though this kind of monitoring isperiodic, the scope of monitoring is necessarily so broad that some periodic monitoringwill likely be underway at any given time. This monitoring might be of specific tombs ormonuments, of sections of the landscape, or of the Petra landscape as a whole, asdescribed below and at intervals also described there.

Day-to-day monitoring should be conducted as follows:

Numbers of daily visitors to the following locations that are particularly sensitive orsignificant should be determined, perhaps with the aid of electronic sensors. Suchmonitoring is required in order for three primary reasons: 1.) To alert site managementto degradation of the visitor experience due to overcrowding, especially at locales thatwould otherwise be conducive to contemplation (like Al-Khazna), 2.) To providestatistics needed to plan for visitor services within Petra and in the adjoiningcommunities, and 3.) To alert site managers to potential degradation of material fabricthat might be reduced by heavy visitor traffic in a given area.

Locations should include:

Al-KhaznaThe TheaterAd-DayrThe High Place of Sacrifice

Total number of daily visitors to Petra can be determined by ticket sales, which shouldbe sold as adult international, child international, adult national, child national, adultlocal, and child local tickets.

A count of the number of people at one time (PAOT) that can be seen from certain ofthe places most sensitive to overcrowding should be taken on Thursdays one week andFridays the next week during the months when visitation is markedly higher than inother months (March, April, May, August, and October at present). This count shouldbe taken at the same time for each place, but for all places between 8:30 a.m. and10:30 a.m. at:

A point to be established midway down the SiqAl-KhaznaAd-Dayr

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The High Place of SacrificeBeidaThe Edomite village at Umm el-Biyara

Daily monitoring should also occur at all the sites listed as monitoring locales (a fewpages hence in this document) as part of patrol surveillance. Among the tasksassigned to rangers making regular patrols should be recording any previously unnoteddamage or deterioration on appropriate forms (see above).

Periodic monitoring should be conducted at resources subject to subtle, incrementaldeterioration.

Tombs and other monuments carved from sandstone are such resources. Deteriorationto tombs and other monuments carved from sandstone is produced from:

1. Jointing of sandstone strata. This is the geologic shifting of the sandstone stratafrom which tombs and other monuments were carved. Jointing produces cracks thatare characteristically long and deep. Portions of the monument may break away fromthe main mass.

2. Water absorption into sandstone monuments that introduces salts, and perhapsother chemicals, which then crystallize, forcing apart the grains from which thesandstone is formed. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as "salt wedging."Gradual deterioration of the stone results, much as it would had the stone beenpenetrated by water and was then subjected to cycles of freezing and thawing.

3. Erosion of sandstone from wind borne sand, which occurs more rapidly at the baseof monuments. This can be observed at the base of most tombs in Petra. Theentrances to such tombs have generally assumed a characteristic "keyhole" shape.

4. Flash flooding that carries with it debris, soils, and stone that erode and crackmonuments.

5. Daily heating and cooling cycles, which can be extreme in the environment of Petra.

6. Seismic activity.

7. Graffiti and vandalism.

8. Vegetation that takes root in soils deposited in cracks in monuments.

9. Occupation by local groups or use as shops or as enclosures for animals.

Monitoring must begin from baseline information. Baseline data should include: 1.)The current condition of resources to be monitored; 2.) As much information as

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possible about how and why these resources have changed over time; and 3.)Background information pertinent to threats to the resources.

Geologic Maps

In regard to the latter, geologic maps of Petra have been prepared in the past andshould be gathered and used to form a part of the baseline data. All such maps andaccompanying reports should be filed in a way that will make them easily usable toPetra site management. A master geologic map should eventually be produced, andthen placed in a GIS. This map should be detailed enough to identify locations wherejointing is likely to occur, which can then be monitored in ways to be described below.

The master geologic map should be employed as a part of an effort to pinpoint tombsand monuments (or portions of tombs and monuments) that are most prone to materialdeterioration, based upon the sorts of sandstone from which they were carved.Depending upon composition, sandstone can be among the most resistant or the mostprone to deterioration of all types of stone. Deterioration of sandstone from whichmonuments have been constructed should also be monitored, again in ways to bedescribed below.

Photographs

A photographic survey of the condition of the facades at Petra is an essential part of thebaseline. These will constitute the first set of monitoring photos, and subsequentphotos should be taken in the same manner and from the same station. As importantly,a thorough and systematic search should be conducted for photographs and drawingsmade over the years of the facades of all tombs and monuments listed below. Allmaterials should be filed and made easily accessible to Petra site management.Eventually, these and all subsequently gathered files should be duplicated in acomputerized geographical information system.

Monitoring photos of facades will be of two sorts: The first of these will be monitoringphotographs of entire facades. These will help to reveal changes in the over-allappearance of the facades, which, usually being produced by incremental and slowprocesses, might otherwise remain undetected until irreversible damage has beensuffered. The facades of all sites listed below should be photographed, and thereafterphotographed from the same distance and perspective and, as much as possible,under the same conditions every five years for monuments made of sandstoneparticularly liable to deteriorate and every ten years for monuments made of highlyresistant sandstone. Monuments unidentified as to the characteristics of the sandstonefrom which they have been carved should be photographed every five years.

Care should be exercised when photos are taken so that the angle of observation be,as precisely as possible, at 90 degrees from a the plane formed by the facade beingphotographed. The camera employed should be a large format one. The photos

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should be black and white; color photos may be taken to supplement these. Photosshould be of a quality that would permit accurate drawings to made from the photos (ifthat proves to be necessary). Photos should be obtained by an experiencedphotographer, one who has previously taken photos from which CAD drawings havesuccessfully been made. Measurements should be taken of distances between at leastfour points on the facade that will easily be seen in the photos. If four such pointscannot be located, a two meter frame should be placed near the area that will be visiblein the middle of the photograph. The procedures described in this paragraph applyequally to the photo monitoring of the two by two meter squares, described in the nextparagraph.

Facade photos should be carefully examined for any changes that might appear.These changes might be due to encroaching vegetation, changes in elevation of theground surface, graffiti, vandalism, cracking or spalling, decay, evident changes in coloror texture, and so forth.

The second sort of monitoring photo will be larger scale, much more detailed, and willprovide documentation of the nature of processes that cumulatively produce changes inthe overall appearance of facades. Two by two meter facade monitoring squaresshould be selected at vulnerable locations on the facades of tombs, monuments, andother sites including natural sandstone walls highly accessible and visible to the public.These squares should be photographed every five years to document graffiti or othervandalism, as well as erosion or deterioration produced by natural causes. The first twoby two meter photograph taken at each locale should set the frame for subsequentphotographs. A print of the first photograph obtained at each monitoring locale shouldbe taken into the field when additional photos are being taken, and the field of view inthe initial photograph should be replicated as closely as possible.

Any additional graffiti or other damage caused by vandalism or natural processesshould be the basis for management recommendations that would curtail such damagein the future. These recommendations might include closer surveillance of the area byPetra staff or volunteers, placing the area off-limits to visitors, or focusing interpretiveefforts on the irreversible harm produced by vandalism. These managementrecommendations should be made as appropriate if they are indicated by the very first,baseline set of photographs taken, especially if comparison of these photos with historicphotos indicates deterioration.

Spalling, cracking, crumbling, erosion, changes in color, changes in texture, and anyother changes in appearance of the facade produced by natural processes like winderosion, flash flooding or other flooding, and rock falls should be similarly noted. Theseshould also prompt management recommendations (one would expect that therecommendations would be for the involvement of stone conservation experts who willprovide consultation about means by which to arrest destructive processes).

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All photographs should be examined by Petra site management within one month of thetime they are obtained. Any graffiti or other damage or deterioration that can be seen inthe photographs should be noted in a memo to the Director-General of the Departmentof Antiquities. Photos and any resulting memos should be provided to friends’ groupsand advisory committees on request, or at any scheduled meetings of such groups. Allof this should be done in addition to the normal monitoring reporting proceduresdescribed at the beginning of this recommendation section. This documentation will beextremely valuable to any effort to secure grants or other funding for the preservation offacades.

Summary of Monitoring Procedures for Facades

The following monitoring procedures and devices should be put in place at monitoringlocales to be identified for facades:

1. A full facade photograph should be taken (as described above).

2. Two meter by two meter photographic squares should be established andphotographs taken of these (discussed just above).

3. Synthetic sapphire studs (or studs of other materials) should be placed inunobtrusive locations, which will provide a benchmark from which to measure facadedeterioration. The studs should be inset, and the distance between the face of the studand the surface being monitored should be recorded. This distance should beremeasured at five year intervals, documenting the deterioration that a decrease in thisdistance would indicate.

4. Glass slides should be placed across the interface of each set of sandstone stratathat, based on the results of the geologic survey, are likely to joint (crack). The slidesshould be marked with a grid pattern that will allow the determination of the direction ofany movement that might be detected.Monitoring Locales

The monitoring locales are:

Bab as-Siq: one monitoring locale at each Djin block, the Obelisk Tomb, and the Babas-Siq Triclinium.

The Siq: at approximately every two hundred meters on alternating sides of the Siq.

Outer Siq: one monitoring locale at each facade along the "Street of Facades."

Wadi Mudhlim: at approximately every two hundred meters on alternating sides of thesiq.

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Al-Khazna: two exterior locales and two interior.

Ad-Dayr: two exterior locales and two interior.

Path to Ad-Dayr: one monitoring locale at each major tomb on the path.

The High Place of Sacrifice: at least one face of each obelisk and the alter itself.

Sextius Florentius Tomb: Two two by two meter grids, one of which should be of theinscription (the longest in Petra).

At each of the following, one monitoring locale:

Urn TombSilk TombCorinthian TombPalace TombCarmine TombThe Theater, lower sectionThe Theater, upper sectionThe NymphaeumTemenos GateQasr al- BintHabees High PlaceTurkmaniyya TombUnfinished TombColumbariumConvent GroupBroken Pediment TombRenaissance TombTricliniumGarden TricliniumRoman Soldier TombLion MonumentAl-Najr TombSnake Monument

At Siq al-Barid (Little Petra) near Petra, both full facade photos and two by two metermonitoring locale photos should be obtained at all major facades. Two by two meterphotos should also be taken of all frescos there.

A two by two meter monitoring locale should also be established at the fresco in thesmall tomb in Wadi e’s-Siyagh

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Archaeological Sites

Archaeological sites are as vulnerable to vandalism as the facades listed above if theyinclude standing structures. Those actively being excavated are arguably morevulnerable; they are more subject to damage because of visitors who might accidentallycollapse the walls of open excavation units as they walk over the site, or purposelycollect artifacts exposed by archaeological excavation.

Two meter by two meter monitoring locales should be established on the groundsurface at each archeological site. As with monitoring locales on facades and standingstructures, the locales should be photographed yearly and a report prepared describingany degradation of the resource revealed by comparison of photos with photos taken inprevious years. In this case, changes revealing degradation would include the loss ofartifacts (the pottery shards, lithic fragments, and other small artifacts commonly seenon the ground surface at Petra).

Archaeological Sites With Standing Structures

Standing walls at the sites listed below should be monitored in the same manner as thefacades. That is, photos should be taken of the full walls, and at least on a two by twometer monitoring locale on a representative wall for each site. Synthetic sapphire studsshould also be placed and monitored, in the way recommended above for tombs andother monuments, at representative spots in the walls of standing structures.

Part of the baseline data for standing structures should be a structural evaluation ofeach. As with other data of this sort, previous structural evaluations should be gatheredat a central repository, filed in a way that facilitates information retrieval (eventually byincorporation into a GIS system), and reevaluated in terms of what such evaluationssuggest in the way of structural monitoring. After this is done, it may be appropriate toinstall devices such as sensors that would detect changes in load at key points in astructure, or changes in the degree to which walls are tilting. Such changes providevaluable guidance to the design of eventual preservation treatments.

Aerial photos of these sites also be obtained, at a scale that would reveal anddocument any looting or erosion that might occur. Photos should be retaken every fiveyears, and compared with previously taken photos to document the nature and extentof site deterioration.

List of Archaeological Sites Requiring Monitoring

A partial list of archaeological sites requiring monitoring would include:

Temple of the Winged LionByzantine ChurchQsar el-Bint

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Great TempleBeidaEdomite village at Umm el-BiyaraPetra town dumpNabataean kiln sites located near the visitor center

Monitoring of the Cultural Landscape

The landscape itself it also subject to subtle and incremental degradation. Therefore, itis important to establish thresholds of sustainability, which, if approached, would signalthat degradation of the environment has progressed to an extent that would eitherproduce damage to the significant resources within a cultural area, or decrease visitorsatisfaction to an extent that would produce undesired economic effects.

Typical sorts of degradation to the environment of a cultural site include: intrusive noisefrom a variety of sources including vehicular traffic, music from portable radios and tapeplayers, crowds, vendors, restaurants, and business establishments; visual intrusions inthe form of incompatible development that can be seen from the cultural area, and litter;spatial "pollution" in the form of overcrowding, vehicular or pedestrian trafficcongestion, signage or architecture (including landscape architecture) that interfereswith or dominates vistas or the ambiance of place; and even intrusive smells fromsewage or garbage. Degradation of the social environment must also be monitored,including alterations of traditional life ways that if maintained would enhance theexperience of the site visitor, or crime often encouraged by dislocations in the previouseconomic order and opportunities presented by the presence of tourists. Finally,degradation of natural resources is typically a concern associated with tourism becauseof the dramatic increase in population it produces and the overburdening of existingpollution control mechanisms.

Environmental Changes

Monitoring of these sorts of environmental changes requires mechanisms quite differentfrom those described previously. They can be thought of as being of two sorts: 1.)mechanisms capable of detecting changes occurring throughout the entirety of theenvironment, and 2.) mechanisms that report changes in the experiences of the visitorsand indigenous groups occupying the environment.

Aerial Remote Sensing

Aerial photography and other sorts of aerial remote sensing, to deal with the first ofthese sorts of mechanisms, has proven to be a reliable indicator of environmentalchange. Simple black and white or color photography is often sufficient to detectchanges in vegetation type or cover, increasing or decreasing presence of water, water

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pollution, erosion, the encroachment of development, and, if the scale is sufficientlylarge, degradation of sites and standing structures.

Appropriate scale is determined by the sorts of resources and phenomena (erosion,vegetation cover, etc.) that are of interest. While details are more readily apparent inlarge scale photos, larger phenomena like vegetative zones, topographic features, andeven trail systems are sometimes difficult to identify at a close range. Certainly, photosat about the scale of 1:25,000 should be obtained and retaken at a minimum of fiveyear intervals of Petra and the region surrounding it, including Wadi Musa and UmmSayhun. (Aerial photos Petra of approximately this scale are on file with the RoyalGeographic Society and are very informative of alterations to the landscape of Petraover the past 40 years. Aerial black and white stereo pair photos of Petra on file thereinclude the following series: 1:30,000 taken in 1992, 1:10,000 taken in 1981, and1:25,000, taken in 1953.)

Even lower altitude and therefore larger scale photos of the historic core of Petrashould be obtained in order to identify in greater detail changes in topography orvegetation, inappropriate development, or looting activity. Excellent low altitudephotographs of areas in the core of Petra, particularly along the Colonnade Street, havebeen taken by J. Wilson Meyers and Eleanor Emlen Myers in the past few years, whichform an extremely valuable archive of current site conditions. Scales range from about1:3,500 to as large as 1:500. At this scale, it should be noted, accurate CAD drawingsof sites and features could be produced using readily available computer software.Similarly, large scale photographs should be obtained at time increments of, atmaximum, five years to chart the condition of the core historic area. Such photos couldbe obtained by balloon, as has been very well done in the past, or by radio controlledmodel airplanes or helicopters carrying photographic equipment.

Aerial photographs of the Petra area, because of its outstanding architecture, strikingnatural setting, and historical importance, have been taken at irregular intervals foralmost the entirety of the twentieth century. If recommendations made aboveconcerning the gathering and filing of data are followed, these photographs will providean impressive record of the changes to the site caused by recent developments there.This will be especially apparent in regard to the village of Wadi Musa, described in aMaster Plan prepared by the United States National Park Service in 1968 as an"unusually attractive terraced and well-watered oasis...its village life is a scene ofJordan which should be kept to satisfy the curiosity that international visitors have forother peoples, surroundings, and customs," but now is an undistinguished small citythat has maintained none of its original charm. Changes observable in the aerialphotos can be matched to the current scene on the ground, providing a useful baselineagainst which to measure future developments.

Other sorts of aerial surveillance may also be helpful in monitoring environmentalchange at Petra and its environs. If more information about vegetation type, variety,and health and water pollution is needed than can be obtained from an examination of

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black and white and standard color photography, the use of color infrared film to obtainimages may be helpful. Electronic multi spectral scanning can often detect topographicchanges, and so may be used to identify erosive processes underway. SPOT andLANDSAT imagery of Petra exists. Lower altitude color infrared photographs may havebeen taken of the Petra area, and the area may have perhaps been the subject of loweraltitude multi spectral scanning as well; often this imagery exists and the location of thedepository where it is being kept must simply be determined. A step in the formulationof baseline data would be to search out each likely repository for this information, file itin a central location, and eventually incorporate it in a GIS. A very small scale butnonetheless informative sort of image has been obtained as a part of the research forthis management document. This image was prepared from the radar data from aradar scan done by the space shuttle Endeavour has been obtained from the NationalAeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States, and will be madeavailable to the Petra National Trust for their use in researching the Nabataeanhydrologic systems. Such data, while small scale, can nonetheless be used to produceimagery quite sensitive to variations in topography. Also, one of the radar bandspenetrates up to five meters into dry earth, and so may reveal landscape patterns orlarger features associated with the hydrologic system. Again, this data shouldultimately be placed in the files established for Petra and in a GIS.

In order to register all the various imagery pertinent to the site, that is, in order to relateit to accurate surveying benchmarks and so facilitate the layering of imagery and dataderived from imagery, a static global position survey (GPS) should be done of the entiresite. A geodetic reference network should be constructed from this. Doing so wouldgreatly enhance the utility of the information contained in all imagery. Features andphonomania that would not otherwise be identifiable can be seen when this layering isdone.

The global significance of Petra is such that color infrared photography and multispectral scanning should be done there if this has not been accomplished previously.An appropriate scale of the imagery produced would be about 1:3,000. As important,radar scanning from lower altitudes should be conducted. This radar scanning mightreveal much more about the pattern of the Nabataean hydrologic system and thelocation of features in the system. Radar is especially promising in regard todiscovering sub-surface features associated with this system, which could be preservedif located. Low altitude radar scanning is done by NASA aircraft. A request to NASAfor the radar scanning might be prepared and submitted by the government of Jordan,or by interested preservation organizations with the support of the Jordaniangovernment.

Thresholds of Sustainability

Tolerance for environmental change inside the historic district of Petra is less than forthose changes outside Petra proper. Yet changes outside Petra can affect theenvironment and visitor experience in Petra by introducing incompatible sights, sounds,

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and smells there. Undesirable changes in the surrounding area might also ultimatelydiscourage visitation, too.

Deterioration in the following ways as indicated by aerial photography (or indeed anyother sort of monitoring) should trigger management action to arrest processesproducing the deterioration noted. That is, tolerance for resource degradation in thefollowing areas is zero:

*Erosion of archeological sites. (Evidence that some such erosion has occurred, andmay continue, has been noted in the area of the Southern Temple, for example, andmay be seen when comparing black and white stereo pairs on file at the NationalGeographic Society, of the area taken at different years.)

*Destruction of archaeological sites or features by development or other agencies.

*Erosion being brought about by the movement of goats or visitors over the landscape.The areas in which secondary trails will be constructed as a part of the JordanianSustainable Tourism Initiative project at Petra should be especially well monitored forseveral years after new trail construction in order to determine if altered circulationpatterns produce such erosion.

* Loss of artifactual material such as potsherds, lithic fragments, coins, or largercomplete items, through looting or casual collecting by visitors.

*Further visual, aural, or olfactory intrusion by modern or incompatible landscapeelements, occurring inside or outside Petra (see below). A indication of this will be seenin aerial photographs as development encroaches the borders of Petra, eliminatingbuffer areas.

Thresholds that should trigger management action for other phenomena are greaterthan zero, and are as follows:

*A reduction in vegetative ground cover such that it is likely to produce erosion. (Thearea between Wadi Musa and Tayibe should be especially well monitored.)

*A ten percent reduction in the tourist or local population satisfaction index (see below).

Experiential Changes

Aerial photography and other sorts of aerial remote sensing should be supplemented bydocumentation of landscape alterations as they are experienced by the visitor. Visualencroachment by modern landscape features or features simply incompatible with theambiance of place is jarring to the visitor, and ultimately produces an experience lesssatisfying than would a more unsullied landscape to the visitor.

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Photographic documentation of vistas should be made from various key points in thecultural landscape each year. These key points should include:

The TheaterThe High Place of SacrificeThe center of the Roman Colonnade StreetAd-Dayr

Other mechanisms that can detect changes in the experience of visitors and the localpopulation are surveys of these groups. Questionnaires should be prepared and suitedto each population. The questionnaire measuring customer (visitor) satisfaction shouldcontain the following two questions:

"In your last (current) visit to Petra, which best describes your experience?"Excellent............................................. Satisfactory .....................................Unsatisfactory

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1and,

"Would you recommend this tourist destination to your friends?" (This can be followedwith, "Why, or why not?)

These questions should be supplemented with others that deal with issues of specialimportance to Petra, such as satisfaction with visitor facilities like the visitor center,comfort stations at the site, accessibility of food and drink. Information about theeffectiveness of the interpretive program would also be helpful. This could be obtainedby questions about what the visitor expected to learn from his or her visit and what wasactually learned by the visitor.

It is important that surveys be conducted so that results are valid and useful. Theyshould be stratified according to groups about which information is required, that is,questions should be filled out by international, national, and local tourists who should beidentified as such on the questionnaires. Similarly, nationality, age, and length of stayinformation should be obtained on each questionnaire, and occupation and incomeinformation if possible.

It is equally important that questionnaires be obtained at different times of the day,week, and year. Visitor satisfaction may well vary considerably according to crowdingat Petra. Furthermore, satisfaction may be found to correlate especially well withcrowding at certain locations for which visitation figures have been obtained assuggested above (Al-Khazna, Siq, Theater, and so forth).

Local satisfaction should also be measured by questionnaires. It is important that thissurvey be carefully stratified, that is, that all groups in the local community bequestioned. In this case, responses of the residents of Wadi Musa and those of the

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Bdul should be identified as such and evaluated separately, as should the responses oftourist sector vs. non-tourist sector workers. But to all, these questions should beasked:

"What is your opinion of the tourism industry in your community?"

Excellent............................................. Satisfactory .....................................Unsatisfactory

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1and,

"All things being equal, would you like to see:a. more tourism?b. the same level of tourism?c. less tourism?”

Other, perhaps open-ended, questions might be asked about issues of currentimportance. What is important is that the local sentiment about tourism be monitored.


Jokilehto, Jukka1995 “Monitoring World Heritage Sites.” Draft manuscript on file

UNESCO, Paris

International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)1993 Tourism at Cultural World Heritage Sites: The Site Manager's Handbook.

Washington. D.C: United States ICOMOS

United States National Park Service1995 “Task Directive: Related Lands Evaluation, Rocky Mountain

National Park.” Manuscript on file, Rocky Mountain NationalPark, Colorado.

World Tourism Organization1995 “What Tourism Managers Need to Know: A Practical Guide to

the Development and Use of Indicators of Sustainability.”Manuscript on file, World Tourism Organization, Madrid, Spain.

Responsible Parties

Monitoring must be woven into the fabric of the site management at Petra, and as suchthe overall responsibility for implementing the recommendations made here resides withthe Petra National Park Agency Director. Yet the monitoring program as it should be

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developed is a complex one that demands a good deal of involvement by personsinside and outside Petra National Park. A key individual in the monitoring program willbe the Petra Site Monitoring Officer, who might be the Chief Inspector for Archaeologyat Petra if the workload for the Chief Inspector permits this. The initial organization ofthe monitoring program will demand a great deal of intensive effort, however, so it isrecommended that a consultant be brought to Petra to work on-site with the ChiefInspector for Archaeology to establish the monitoring program. After the program isestablished, the decision can be made to name the Chief Inspector for Archaeology asthe Monitoring Officer, or to designate as Monitoring Officer another archaeologist onthe Petra National Park staff.

Monitoring duties will be assigned to park staff who make regular tours of the site, aswell as to park archaeologists. The Monitoring Officer and park archaeologists will workclosely with technical experts who are brought into the park on contract, as interns, orby cooperative agreements to provide periodic monitoring, and with local persons whomight be employed on contract to provide day-to-day monitoring in some cases, andafter appropriate training.


It will be necessary for the Chief Inspector for Archaeology and the Monitoring Officer tohave a broad understanding of all the problems that might be revealed by monitoring,from soil erosion through devegetation of slopes to vegetative, seismic, and chemicalthreats to monuments. Their experience must be supplemented as necessary bycourses in:

Cultural resource managementStone conservationPreservation techniques for archeological sitesInterpretation of aerial photographyRemote sensingSocial survey instruments

Persons in these positions should also be trained in negotiation and supervisory skills(as recommended elsewhere).

Park staff, interns, local persons employed as monitors, and others who have beengiven monitoring responsibilities should be provided with on-the-job training byexperienced park staff.

Technical advisors brought on-site to provide periodic monitoring should be given abrief orientation to the park. In addition to providing a general knowledge of the parkand its operation, this orientation should review what is expected of the advisor and thetimetable under which it is to be accomplished.

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ISSUE STATEMENT

TREATMENTS FOR PRESERVATION

The information gained from the use of baseline data, research, and monitoring is usedto make decisions about preservation treatments. Such treatments are given to everysort of tangible cultural resource. Treatments must adhere to well establishedinternational standards like the Venice Charter and the Burra Charter (see appendices).

Preservation of Petra structures, sites, and the landscape as a whole will be difficult.Deterioration of structural fabric and erosion of soil are serious, scientifically complex,technologically demanding, and on-going threats, and development pressuresassociated with dramatically rising visitation will very likely be constant in the future.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Establish a Petra Conservation Facility

Accordingly, there exists an urgent need for a conservation facility at Petra, locatedoutside but near to the historic core of the ancient city. The conservation facility shouldbe permanent, well-staffed and equipped with state-of-the-art analytical and treatmentapparatus, as well as the heavy equipment like trucks and front-end loaders needed tomove large stone architectural elements safely. The facility should include adequateenvironmentally-controlled space for artifact storage. Stored collections should beeasily available for scholarly study. Architectural elements recovered during theexcavations of archaeological sites, including the Winged Lion Temple, Wuiera, andZantur, are now laying unprotected on the surface of the ground and will deterioraterapidly unless relocated to such a space. The design of this facility should beconsidered as a separate project, one vital to the sustainability of the site.

Artifacts must be provided with a controlled environment. Storage facilities must besecure, temperature and humidity cannot vary beyond certain limits, and artifacts mustbe afforded protection from other possible sources of damage like mold, dust, andinsects. Artifacts as well as structures must be continually inspected and maintained.Finally, provisions must be made to permanently associate research anddocumentation records to specific items of tangible culture resources, sites, structures,landscapes, or artifacts.

Documentation

Conservation at its core is the conservation of information. Such information iscontained in the original fabric of the tangible cultural resource, its original context, andthe findings of research into the resource and its context. Therefore, it is imperative

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that careful records be kept of all activities affecting fabric and context, including theactivities of researchers and conservators. As mentioned elsewhere, all research thatmight affect fabric should be subject to a permitting process that includes submittal of aresearch design. For such research, too, reports describing procedures and results aremandatory. Plans and specifications for all architectural preservation treatments mustbe submitted with adequate time for review by archaeologists and others withknowledge of how cultural resources might be affected as well as by those with a firmgrounding in applicable international conventions concerning preservation treatment(the Burra and Venice Charters as well as applicable portions of the ICOMOS Charterfor the Protection and Management of the Archaeological Heritage). All conservationtreatments must be recorded on forms that provide standard information about thetreatment.

2. Attend to Immediate Preservation Needs at Petra

Preservation needs at Petra are numerous and have been described very well in the1995 UNESCO Petra National Park Management Plan. What will be dealt with in thissection are those needs considered by the US/ICOMOS site management team to bemost pressing. The following preservation treatments should be taken in order toarrest deterioration proceeding at an unacceptable rate:

Preservation of the Site As A Whole: Remediation of Negative Effects to the CulturalLandscape

The experience provided to the visitor at Petra should be free of intrusions that distractone from the imaginative effort required to place what can be seen of the historicremains there in the context that existed at times in the past. As well, the landscapeshould not contain elements that are misleading to the visitors, that is, that implyconditions that were not a part of historic contexts. Intrusions and elementsincompatible with the context necessary to a quality visitor experience often result fromdevelopments and activities associated with the provision of services to tourists, therestaurants, roads, utility lines, and hotels that are constructed on-site or can be seen,heard, or even smelled on-site.

These sorts of intrusive and incompatible landscape elements are increasingly presentat Petra. Among the most serious of these are that:

1. Many vendors ring the viewing area for Al-Khazna;

2. Hotels and other structures are visible from places that otherwise invitecontemplation of the antiquities and natural beauty of Petra;

3. Modern vehicles are too frequently seen driving in the central historic area; and

4. Heavy vehicles are being driven over the Roman road.

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It is imperative that a program to eliminate these intrusions be initiated immediately. Itis equally important that this program be conducted in an open and equitable manner(see the issue statement entitled PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT AND SUPPORT). Therecently established Petra Regional Council should play a strong role in this regard, asit has a “broad legal basis which allows it to assume total responsibility for thedevelopment of the defined Petra region” (according to the Petra Priority Action PlanStudy Executive Summary, prepared by Dar Al-Handasah, dated June 1996).

Specifically:

1. There should be no further construction outside of the boundaries of the Petrapreserve visible from inside the Petra Sanctuary.

2. Steps should be taken wherever possible to conceal from view thoseconstructions already completed by using vegetation or neutral, preferably natural,materials to accomplish this.

3. Guidelines set out in the carrying capacity study currently underway should bestrictly observed.

4. Vendors should operate only in a few designated areas at Petra. It is essentialthat vendors displaced by this management action be provided assistance inrelocating their business to a desirable locale outside the boundaries of the parkarea or be given retraining for a job associated with tourism (as a guide, monitor, ordriver, for example).

5. Vehicles should be prohibited from traveling over the Roman road except inemergencies.

Maintenance

All graffiti that can be removed without damage to the surface to which it was appliedshould be removed. The appearance of graffiti prompts others to add their own.

Similarly, accumulation of rubbish on the site is more than an aesthetic problem; itprompts visitors to treat the site with less respect by communicating to them that it isuncared for.

Rubble should be removed from areas in front of gabions at sides of the Siq; thismaterial has collected during flooding and must be periodically taken away.

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Consolidation and Stabilization

Consolidation of standing structures in a rapidly deteriorating condition should takeprecedence over excavation of sites not immediately threatened by natural or culturalforces, such as erosion or looting. The following sites are those for which consolidationprograms should be instituted:

The Palace Tomb (from which a large piece of rock fell about ten years ago)

The Theater, especially the very fragile upper seats (consideration should be given toremoval of previous, inappropriate reconstruction at The Theater at the same time)

A tomb with fresco located just across from The Theater

The arched aqueduct

Qsar el Bint

Restoration

Portions of the Nabataean hydrological system that would, if made functional, divertwater from the vicinity of stone monuments should be accorded first priority amongpotential restoration projects. These portions should be identified during the survey ofthe hydrological network currently underway under an agreement among EDF-Mecenattechnologie, IFAPO, and the CNRS for the French government and the Department ofAntiquities (DOA) and HCST for the Jordanian government, as well as the research intothe system being overseen by the Petra National Trust that is being carried out byMiddle East Engineering Management (MEEM).

The fresco in the tomb just across from The Theater

The frescos and water harvesting features at the Siq el Barid

The fresco in the small tomb in Wadi es-Siyagh

(Restoration of frescos must be preceded and followed by thorough documentation;restorations should be undertaken only after a full understanding of the reasons fordeterioration and careful consideration of all possible techniques. Restoration appearsnecessary because soot that has accumulated over frescos from fires used for cookingand heating by Bedouins over the years must be removed. Motifs in these frescos areimportant expressions of the Nabataean religion and ideology system, and so should berecorded in great detail before they deteriorate further.)

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Reconstruction

Reconstruction is not recommended for any structure or landscape in Petra proper orassociated with Petra.

Concrete

Reinforced concrete should not be used for any preservation at Petra.


Australia International Council of Monuments and Sites ( Australia ICOMOS)1988 The Burra Charter (revised). Manuscript on file, US/ICOMOS,

Washington, D.C.

International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)1964 The Venice Charter. Manuscript on file, US/ICOMOS,

Washington, D.C.

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)1985 Conventions and Recommendations of UNESCO Concerning the

Protection of the Cultural Heritage. Manuscript on file, UNESCO, Paris.Responsible Parties

Ultimate responsibility for adherence to international standards lies with the PetraNational Park Agency Director, although the Deputy Director for Archaeology and SiteOperations and the Chief Inspector for Archaeology will certainly also haveresponsibilities in this regard. The Chief Inspector for Archaeology should write aportion of the annual report that deals with any observed deviation from internationalstandards, and steps being taken to correct such deviations.


It is essential that all park staff who have any involvement in preservation treatmentbecome thoroughly familiar with international preservation standards. Such staff wouldinclude, but not be limited to, the Petra National Park Agency Director, the DeputyDirector for Archaeology and Site Operations, and the Chief Inspector for Archaeology.

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ISSUE STATEMENT

INTERPRETATION

Surveys of visitor satisfaction indicate a rate of satisfaction with the experience ofvisiting Petra that is lower than one would expect given the spectacular nature of thesite. This undoubtedly is related to the quality of interpretation at the site, which isuneven. Some visitors leave with at best a partial grasp of what they have seen, whobuilt it and why, and why it is important. There is also widespread concern that visitorsare not spending enough time at the site to provide income to hoteliers, restauranteurs,and others associated with the tourism industry in the area. While very rigorous studiesof visitor behavior have yet to be made, of those who have taken a day or two toobserve this behavior one has estimated that only 35% of visitors continue to tour Petrapast Al-Khazna, while another less informal study concluded that 5% of visitors do noteven reach Al-Khazna, 80% reach the Theater, only 60% go beyond the Theater, and amere 20% reach Qasr al-Bint. While the strenuous nature of the walk through Petra isone reason for these low percentages, another reason is that visitors simply are notmuch aware of the significance of the sites beyond Al-Khazna, or, in some cases, thatthese sites even exist.

Quality interpretation is precisely what is implied by the word itself, a means by which toallow the site to convey its significance to the visitor. It should not be another story thatoverlays and obscures the site's own, although too often this is what passes forinterpretation. The visitors to Petra comprise a kind of audience, one that (as describedbelow) is sophisticated enough to recognize and appreciate true quality in thepresentation of the site, and, correspondingly, able to spot and reject irrelevant andoverdone presentations.

Quality interpretation is essential to the viability of a cultural site. As discussed in moredetail later in this section, it sensitizes the visitors to the frailties and needs of the site,and educates them in ways that prevent the sorts of damage that is often inflicted bythe uninformed visitor. Moreover, a successful interpretive program produces theeconomic and political constituencies that a cultural site requires. A satisfying andthought-provoking visit often galvanizes visitors to act in ways that, upon theirdeparture, yield long-term benefits to the site. Such visitors tell their friends to visit (themost effective form of advertising), contribute financially and in other ways to supportivegroups, and return for yet another visit.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Provide effective site orientation

A site cannot be understood unless the visitor understands his or her relationship to it.Thus, effective interpretation demands that basic questions certain to occur to visitors

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be answered as soon as possible in order to establish this relationship. Some of thesequestions are typically asked even before the trip to the cultural site begins, others uponarrival. They are as follows:

Information Required Prior to Arrival

* Why should I go?

* What can I see, learn, or do there (and nearby)?

* What facilities are there (lodging, camping, eating, provisions, rest room,shopping, etc.)?

* How do I get there?

Information Required Upon Arrival

* Where am I?

* Why am I here?

* What makes this place special?

* What can I see, learn, and do?

* What facilities are there (lodging, camping, eating, provisions, rest room,shopping, etc.)?

* How do I get to the attractions and the facilities?

* How do I arrange to see, learn, and do the things that interest me?

Answering these questions is a vital first step in the interpretation of material culture.That this is not recognized as such is why some interpretive programs at cultural sitesfail despite the fact that the sites have a wonderful "story" to tell.

Any number of means can be used to answer the questions. Some of the best waysare publications and, recently, Internet "web" sites that are made available to theappropriate "market" for the site (see the discussion of this to follow); clear signage tothe site; a visitor center or visitor contact station with maps and other basic informationabout the site, brochures, displays, orientation lectures, slide shows, videotapes, andfilms (all of this in the languages one might reasonably expect visitors to speak); and

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specialized tours and lectures for identified segments of visitors, like foreigners, localpeople, children, senior citizens, scholars, and so forth.

2. Derive interpretive themes from site significance, site values, and managmentobjectives

Interpretive programs should inform the visitor about the significance and values of asite and involve him or her in their preservation. The statement of significance and thetype of management values enumerated previously in this document suggest a numberof themes that should be developed in the Petra interpretive program in order to providethe visitor with the context he or she will need to better understand and appreciate thePetra experience. These themes include:

The reason for the occupation of the Petra area by different groups that displayedcultures unusually complex and sophisticated for their times over almost 10,000 yearsof human history (with special attention to early Neolithic inhabitants, biblical Edomites,and Nabataeans).

The geology and biology of the Petra region, and how this is related to the theme justabove.

Development and control by the Nabataeans of a key segment in the trading networkthat linked the great urban centers of East and West.

The technology necessary to live and travel in the desert, and the uses to which thiswas put by the Nabataeans in establishing their empire.

The construction of the complex hydrological system at Petra, how and when thetechnology was acquired, how the construction of the system was accomplished, andhow this is related to the establishment of a city by a nomadic people.

Important aspects of Nabataean cultures visible today in the practices of the Bedouin,specifically the Bdul.

The on-going program of ruins stabilization and conservation of artifacts.

The role of the visitor in preserving the site.

The influence of Mediterranean, mid-Eastern, and Eastern civilizations as seen in thematerial culture, especially architectural, of Petra.

Features in the landscape of Petra, both natural and those made by humans, related totraditional Islamic, Christian, and Jewish histories.

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Current research at Petra, addressing questions and issues such as these:

Why was the first pottery produced by the formerly nomadic Nabataeans of suchhigh quality?

What characteristics of Nabataean culture can be traced to the influence of theprevious occupants of Petra, the Edomites?

The nature of Petra: was it a necropolis, ritual and political center, caravanserai, orprincipally a habitation area for 15,000 to 30,000 people?

Who lived in Petra, what did they do, and how did they live?

How did the Roman annexation of Petra in 106 B.C.E. affect the city?

Petra in the Byzantine era.

Global trading systems and their role in the exchange of cultural traits, particularlytechnology and belief systems.

The origin and development of agriculture and its affect on human society.

3. Interpret original fabric in the context provided by research

In regard to historic sites, the richest source of information is original fabric in originalcontext. It is obvious that most of the original fabric of Petra, along with original context,has been lost long ago. What remains is precious.

Interpretation based on rigorous research in a real way supplies that missing fabric andcontext. Artists’ depictions of the original appearance of structures and landscapes ormodels, some of which can be generated by computer, informed by research and theexperience of researchers at similar sites, are one example of this. So is informationprovided by scholars to interpreters concerning the social, economic, ideological, andtechnological contexts of the periods of the site’s occupation. Scholars can also explainhow the indigenous populations seen by visitors are related to the original siteinhabitants, and to the history of the site itself. Yet all of this must be clearly identifiedas being, to some extent, speculative. Further, it is crucial that speculative interpretiveefforts must not destroy or in any way threaten the continued existence of remainingoriginal fabric, as some such speculative interpretive efforts, particularly reconstruction,often do. This, then, points up the essential boundaries beyond which interpretationshould not be permitted to cross: it may not intrude into the ambience of the site, thestory told by the site itself, or cause irreversible change to the fabric of the site.

4. Interpret research and preservation

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Preservation is a part of a cultural site's story that if properly presented can effectivelyengage the site visitor. This is especially so because the visitor can be led tounderstand that he or she is a part of preservation; that his or her actions taken on thesite and support provided after leaving the site help to decide whether or not the site willcontinue to exist and to enrich the lives of generations to come. This understandingprovides an aspect of immediacy and involvement to the experience of being at the siteavailable in no other way.

Interpreting preservation also lends an element of honesty to the visitor's experiencethat engenders his or her respect and trust. The visitor should be made aware of whatis original and what is not, and how alterations to the original came to be made. Itbecomes clear then that the intent of the preservation effort is not to deceive but toinform.

The background to preservation is often of considerable interest to the visitor. At Petra,the relocation of the Bdul is especially provoking. Being aware of the sacrifices thisgroup has made to the preservation of Petra underlines the serious nature of thepreservation effort, and that it is not undertaken without substantial cost. It alsoprepares the visitor to better understand her or his encounters with the Bdul: why, forexample, the Bdul still frequent the site, why Bdul occupy some of the tombs as shops;the modern aspect of Umm Sayhun; the Bdul children offering artifacts and trinkets forsale.

Visitors to cultural sites are likely to be the from the sectors of populations in countriesthroughout the world most concerned with the environment and cultural preservation.They are also often well educated in fields that permit them to appreciate thetechnology employed in preservation. Some discussion of conservation methodsshould therefore be at least available to visitors. Beyond enriching the experienceavailable to the visitor, it may well be that a visitor with the appropriate background willsomeday volunteer knowledge, resources, or effort essential to the solution of aconservation problem. Two such problems at Petra, the conservation of the sandstonefabric of the monuments and water damage (both by flooding and the wicking of groundwater) are of such magnitude that serious consideration should be given to offers ofassistance from all sources. Therefore, mechanisms should be devised to facilitatesuch contributions. Visitor suggestion cards and invitations to join friends’groups are two such mechanisms.

Interpreting Research

Interpreting research consists of two parts: 1.) interpreting the research process, and 2.)interpreting research findings. The process of research is of interest to the visitors likelyto come to Petra for many of the same reasons these visitors will have an interest inpreservation. Research is and should be portrayed as the basis for preservation; what

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was said at the beginning of this section on cultural resource management should besaid, or be made available, to the visitor to Petra.

The research process, however, holds the potential to engage the visitor even morefully. First, the visitor can be offered the opportunity to observe research underway,and should be offered this opportunity whenever possible. An excellent example ofhow this is well done is provided by the paleontological research program at the LaBrae Tar Pits, in Los Angeles, California. There, visitors can observe through the glasswalls of an enclosed work area technicians working to free the bones of dinosaurs fromtar and soil matrices. A brief observation period conveys much of what is involved inthe research: the careful procedures, painstaking attention to detail, the complexity ofthe challenge, the specialized equipment required, the demeanor of the technicians.Similar opportunities for the visitor to observe research are often available at Petra.During archeological excavations, visitors can be allowed to observe the process from asafe distance. The same can be done in many cases with the treatment of recoveredartifacts in a field laboratory. An oral narrative description of what can be seen wouldmake this an especially instructive exercise. If the archeological research team doesnot have the personnel available to provide this, the team can provide an informationsheets to guides in the appropriate languages. This can be supplemented by writtenmaterials describing on-going or recent research, which should be made available atthe visitor center.

Research findings can also be presented in two ways. They can and should be "builtin" to the restored cultural landscape, and the visitor should be made to understandhow this has been done. The Byzantine church near the Colonnade Street offers anopportunity for this (as do the other sites in this area of Petra undergoing excavation, orthat have recently been excavated). There is a story to be told there concerning therecovery of fragments of the mosaics and marble screens, and the charred papyrusscrolls, one about how this material has been incorporated into and otherwise informsthe restored structure.

More formal presentations of findings form the second way in which research findingsare offered to the public. Books that deal with this are currently offered for sale at thesite, and provide an excellent medium for such presentations. These books can besupplemented by reprints of scholarly yet generally accessible articles dealing withrecent research findings. On the occasion of scholarly seminars dealing with Petra,someone, an academic or member of the staff at Petra, as appropriate, should betasked with the preparation of a one page information sheet summarizing the mostimportant of the research findings discussed at the gathering.

The most effective, accessible, and engaging means by which research findings arepresented is the oral presentation. In-depth exit surveys taken at a number of historicsites have indicated that what visitors find most satisfying is the relationshipengendered when an interpreter speaks to them. Staff interpreters at the NationalParks in the United States are among the greatest assets to those organizations for that

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reason. At Petra, paid guides instead of staff interpreters usually make presentations.Therefore, it becomes imperative that guides be well trained, informed, and madecapable of providing engaging and informative oral presentations. They should befluent in the language of the group they are guiding, provided with a solid background inthe history, architecture, and archaeology of Petra, and given a yearly refresher courseon Petra, the interpretive themes they are to address, the substance of those themes(including recent research findings), and presentation techniques.

A very effective way to supplement interpretation by guides is to have regularlyscheduled lectures presented to larger groups by experts in the archaeology, history, orarchitecture of Petra, as well as experts in the geology and biology of the area andanthropologists or ethnologists who might lecture about the indigenous populations ofthe region. Some of these experts can be found among the current and recommendedstaff of Petra. Others can be invited from Jordanian universities and foreign researchorganizations. It is important that these lectures not only be scheduled on a regular,predictable basis but that they be held as scheduled, so that tour groups can fit thelectures into their itineraries. Venues for lectures might include the lower tiers of seatsat The Theater during daylight hours, the visitor center, or facilities provided bycooperating hotels in Wadi Musa in the evening.

5. Devise a Petra tourism strategy

Tourism can be among the most destructive of phenomena to a cultural site.Somewhat paradoxically, it is also vital to the continued existence of most. Lack ofprovision for visitors does not mean that a site will go unnoticed by tourists (who mayvisit the site in an unstructured environment which renders it more vulnerable todamage), or by looters and eventually developers. The absence of tourists does notarrest the natural forces of wind and water erosion. What is needed at Petra and othercultural sites is a strategy that recognizes preservation as being of paramountimportance and structures tourism in support of that overall goal.

Marketing: Finding the Right Tourists

Marketing for archaeological sites should not be designed to produce a mass tourism.It should be thought of as matching an experience (designed to be non-intrusive) withthe audience that will value that experience. To market cultural sites as it should bedone is to demand that tourists not primarily be consumers, but that they enter into apartnership with site management for the preservation of the site.

Strategic marketing of a cultural site begins with determining what is special, and ifpossible, unique about that site, and then proceeds to identifying those that wouldappreciate the site's qualities and reaching that market segment. Petra occupies avery special place in archeology and history. The architecture found at the site,especially placed as it is in a spectacular natural setting, is practically unique. Tourismstudies indicate that people most interested in historic and archaeological sites tend to

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share certain other interests and to occupy specific demographic niches.Demographically, they are much better educated than average, more affluent, and likelyto have traveled much more widely than the average person. They are interested inconservation of natural resources and the preservation of historic sites. They are muchmore likely to have visited and to have an interest in visiting museums of all sorts,including art museums.

This market segment, while affluent, should not be confused with luxury travelers, whoare perhaps more interested in plush hotel rooms and fine meals than in the sites theyvisit. Tourists with interests in history and archaeology are likely to prefer what theyconsider to be culturally authentic surroundings and food to international luxury hotelsand gourmet meals. These are not bargain tourists, they are able to afford quality, buttheir perception of quality is that it resides in the authentic, small, and intimate ratherthan the luxuriously large and somewhat impersonal, and the local rather than theinternational. They will demand cleanliness in their lodging and meals.

Strategic marketing also is concerned with how the site is portrayed to potential visitors.Promising experiences incompatible with the preservation of the essential qualities of asite or even implying that such experiences are available through advertising, can in theend only produce dissatisfaction among visitors and encourage activities destructive ofsite resources.

Advertising should be seen as a part of a public outreach program for a cultural site.This would exclude immediately a mass-marketing campaign. Instead, the targetshould be a low-impact segment of the population, one less likely to engage in activitiesdetrimental to the resources of the site. Of course, interpretive programs and overallmanagement strategies should be geared as well to reduce impact to resources to thelowest possible level, and to eliminate any irreversible degradation of resources.

It is a fortunate fact that the Petra visitorship at present is largely drawn from high-yield,low impact segments of the population. Most visitors appear to be in late middle-age orolder. Thus, the Petra tourism strategy should be to maintain and increase visitorshipfrom among these population segments, and to encourage these segments to stay atPetra longer by providing a larger range of interpretive activities appropriate to thisgroup along with the facilities they require. All of this can be done in ways that will notthreaten the resources of Petra, and according to tried and proven site managementprinciples and procedures.

6. Enhance interpretation of more easily accessible areas

Enhanced interpretation should be offered of what are already the most readilyaccessible portions of Petra. These are generally also those that are less sensitive toincreased visitation or where increased visitation can be accommodated by increaseddirection of visitor activity, some of which would be provided by the interpretive programitself. Some examples are provided below:

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The Arrival Zone:

The walk from the visitor center to the Bab al Siq contains some of the mostinteresting architecture in Petra, including tombs that display Assyrian, Babylonian,and Egyptian motifs, and the Djin Blocks. Because visitors have not beenpresented with information about the significance of what they pass by in this areaand how it relates to what else lies beyond the Siq, the great majority simply rushby what if properly interpreted would operate much like the overture to a symphony.The arrival zone could not only be a rich experience in of itself, but could alsosensitize the visitors to the motifs he or she will encounter later on.

The Siq:

There is much information here that could contribute to the basic understanding ofthe site. The Siq itself was a vital element in the defense system of theNabataeans. Visible are portions of the hydrological system that brought waterfrom the spring at Wadi Musa. The side channels of the Siq could be a point ofdeparture for a discussion of the importance of the hydrological system to floodcontrol, as well as to the water harvesting function of the system. At the end of theSiq, of course, lies Al-Khazna. The view of Al-Khazna from the Siq is the "signatureexperience" in a visit to Petra. It is an experience that will be remembered, and soshould be tied to the overall Petra interpretive themes at the visitor center, inbrochures and other interpretive devices, and at the museums in the "Basin." Forthe sake of visitor circulation and the visitor experience, it is best that most of thisbe done elsewhere, since too many people gathered at once in the area of Al-Khazna not only impedes visitor circulation but degrades the experience of viewingthe structure.

The Theater:

The area of the theater introduces the theme of the incorporation of Petra into theRoman Empire. This is a provocative subject because it raises the issues of theposition of Petra and the Nabataeans in the on-going struggle for hegemonybetween at first Persia and Greece, and then Persia and Rome; how theNabataeans through their mastery of water were able to carve out fortresses in thedesert at Petra and elsewhere; and what became of Petra after it was taken byRome in 106 CE. This last is important because it prepares the visitor for thejourney from the theater through the "Elbow," where some context must beprovided in order that the visitor understand that the seemingly vacant landscape isactually the remains of numerous structures, and on to the "City Center." Thevisitor should be led to understand that more can be learned about theRoman/Nabataean interface at the City Center and that this experience will requireat least three additional hours, not counting the trip back to the visitor center. Thevisitor should also be reminded where water, food, and restrooms are, and

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presented with the idea that the City Center and its environs might be worthy of anadditional day's visit.

The Elbow:

The walk through the Elbow can be a thought-provoking experience if one is awarethat the immediate landscape contains the ruins of numerous standing structuresthat once occupied this area near the center of Petra. Brochures with writtendescriptions of what was once here, plan views taken from archeological researchdone in the area, and line drawings informed by scholarship of what the area mighthave looked like are perhaps among the most effective, non-intrusive ways toconvey this. Many visitors, however, by the time they have reached the Elbow aftera long walk from the visitor center, might be fatigued to the extent that they are lesslikely than were they rested to appreciate this experience. Adding to theirdiscomfort will be that they will probably be walking through this unshaded area inearly to mid-afternoon, if they have started their tour of Petra, as do most people, inthe morning. This is an area more likely to be appreciated on the morning of asecond day.

The City Center:

This area holds material that might be developed through interpretativepresentations and eventually though archaeological research sufficiently to drawthe visitor back for a second day or a second visit. Excellent line drawings of someof the more aesthetically impressive of the structures that once stood here have arein existence (see Iain Browning, 1989). These and similar materials should beprovided to the visitor to increase her or his understanding of the area.Archaeological excavations underway on either side of the Roman road will do agreat deal to enhance the visitor experience in the City Center. The currentexcavation of the South Temple (or Great Temple), located on the south side of theColonnade Street is intriguing in part because it is of a structure that appears on thelist of the world's most endangered cultural sites compiled by the World MonumentsFund in 1996. It also can be utilized in a discussion of the history of the occupationof Petra, since it seems that the remains of the temple are located over those ofearlier temples. On the north side of the Colonnade Street, excavations of aByzantine church are underway, which can provide a point of departure for theinterpretation of what happened to Petra in its late history. Because of theimpressive archaeological findings at the church, and its historical importance, itcould be the focal point for a tour or brochure of its own. These finds includedpapyrus scrolls charred in a fire that followed the earthquake of 363 CE, which arenow being conserved and translated, as well as mosaics and marble screens ofhigh aesthetic value, now being restored. Also on the north side of the ColonnadeStreet are the remains of the Temple of the Winged Lion. Artifacts received fromexcavations at this temple that illustrate important aspects of Nabataean religionshould be displayed at one of the museums in the nearby "basin" area, as should

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artifacts taken from the South Temple, the Byzantine Church, and otherexcavations that have been conducted in the City Center. The Colonnade Street iskey in providing the visitor an understanding of the changes that occurred at Petrain 106 C.E. In fact, along the road are stones inscribed in Greek proclaiming theannexation of the city by the emperor Trajan. (These stones should be moved to acontrolled environment, logically to one of the nearby museums where they cansupplement the interpretation of the City Center).

The Basin:

The Basin area contains many of the site facilities, including restaurants, museums,restrooms, and administrative offices. Museums display artifacts from all overPetra; while this is a logical location for such displays, more use of the museumscould be made to convey information pertinent to the adjacent City Center, and tothe ruins in the Elbow. Were this done, it would help to establish the area as onewith enough experiences for a separate day's visit. Visitors should be made awareof visitor services at the Basin by all appropriate media (at the visitors center, inbrochures, guided tours, and audiotaped tours, and by means of non-intrusivesignage).

Turkmaniyya Road:

Turkmaniyya Road provides another route to the City Center, one that is closednow to all but official traffic and those who have obtained special permission inadvance. It is slated to become an alternative means of ingress and egress to thesite. Expected use will be by those leaving the historic area who do not wish toretrace the rather lengthy walk through the Siq and Arrival Zone, and those enteringthe historic area on the second (or later) day of their visit; the latter would probablyleave via Turkmaniyya Road, also. Visitor access to the site through TurkmaniyyaRoad, then, will encourage a two day or longer stay at Petra by making it easier forthe visitor to revisit the City Center and the western part of the historic area ingeneral. Nonetheless, providing access via Turkmaniyya Road is not without threatto the integrity of Petra. Only small vehicles should be allowed to use the road (andthe road should be constructed so as to only accommodate small vehicles). Largetour buses would visually and aurally intrude upon the area of the road itself, alongwhich may be seen not only Turkmaniyya Tomb but also many smaller tombs, aswell as Umm Sayhun. Vehicles should not be allowed in an area from which theycan be seen from anywhere in the Basin. Visitors should be dropped off andpicked up over the first hill from the Basin. This would entail a short walk, orperhaps a ride on a camel or donkey for a small fee from a Bdul owner of such ananimal. Interpretive talks should be provided by the drivers of the smalltransportation vehicles. Part of the interpretation should be a presentation of whatvisitor facilities are available at the destination of the drive.

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7. Adopt an interpretive approach for less accessible areas oriented to visitorsafety

Trails (Near country)

Trails provide an opportunity to observe antiquities in the company of fewer people,and so in a quieter environment that might invite contemplation. They also guideone to some of the more spectacular views and constructions at Petra, like the HighPlace of Sacrifice and Ad-Dayr. But because behavior on trails is less likely to beobserved, vandalism and looting on sites near trails is more likely to go unchecked,and visitors who might be injured or suffer from health problems because of therugged and harsh environment of Petra are less likely to be provided assistancequickly. Falls and heart attacks are special problems on trails; site personnel haveindicated that four or five persons die each year from these causes. More becomelost. These people are often found by the local Bdul. Thus a vital part of theinterpretive program for trails should be to make visitors aware of both the dangersand their responsibility to the resources they will encounter. The trails to the HighPlace of Sacrifice and to Ad-Dayr, while they are not back country trails, areextremely demanding. It should be well publicized that only those in very goodphysical condition should take these trails. Trails should also be well marked.Markers can be keyed to interpretive brochures.

Trails (Back country)

Back country trails are all those from which some part of the central area of Petra(the Theater, the Elbow, the City Center, or the Basin) can not be seen at all times(excepting trails to the High Place of Sacrifice and Ad-Dayr, which for the purposesof this document are considered near country trails, if very challenging ones). Backcountry trails require a guide, and often a camel or donkey, at the guide'sdiscretion. Interpretation of back country trails should be provided by the guide,supplemented perhaps by a brochure. It should be expected that only a smallpercentage of visitors will experience backcountry, and only a minority willexperience any trails at all. The main thrust of the interpretive program at Petrashould be directed to the central area of Petra. Interpretation at and for trailsshould emphasize protecting resources and visitors.

8. Interpret the local population

An extremely effective way to help place the antiquities the visitor will encounter in amore vivid social and cultural context is to point out the relationship between thoseantiquities and the members of local populations that the visitor will meet. It can besaid, for example, that the Nabataeans were nomadic pastoralists prior to theestablishment of Petra and other settlements, and so probably shared many of thecharacteristics of Bdul life most evident to the visitor; a way of life that included the

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camels, donkeys, and tents that are even now apparent in the landscape of Petra. TheBdul have had a long and intimate involvement with Petra that should be made knownto the tourist. As Steven Simms and Deborah Kooring have noted (1996:25):

the traditional practices of the Bdul represent a modern analogy of theinfrastructure that supported the ancient city of Petra. In the hinterlands of thepark, the Bdul employ ancient Nabataean barrage dams for erosionmanagement in their fields. They utilize ancient threshing floors to processtheir harvests. Throughout history, the practices that the modern worldconsiders to be traditionally Bedouin, have always been associated with urbancenters such as ancient Petra. Before the city rose from desert sands, Bedouinlived there. During its urban climax, Bedouin inhabited the region, and after thecity fell in earthquakes in the fourth and sixth centuries A.D., the Bedouinremained.

There are further involvements as well. Historically, the Bdul have claimed rights to levyduties on travelers in the region and for a position in the trade there, as did theNabataeans (whom many Bdul regard as ancestors.) During the nineteenth centuryperiod of Egyptian hegemony in the area, Bdul vied for the "inherited" rights to carrysupplies from Egypt to the fort at Aquaba, to conduct "the Egyptian portion of the Haj,"and to guide foreign travelers to Petra for a fee (Kenneth Russell, 1993:24). And, ofcourse, until the mid-1980s when they were relocated to Umm Sayhun, many of theBdul lived in the tombs and caves of Petra itself. Such facts point up the connectionbetween the local people and the antiquities, and to the extent that the visitor mayempathize with the Bdul it is a connection the visitor can share.

9. Encourage handicrafts and local craft industries

Another aspect of the interpretative program that can make the past more vital is toprovide the visitor with more meaningful tokens of his or her visit. At present, much ofwhat is offered for sale at Petra is not of local manufacture. The population segmentsthat are likely to visit Petra are those would prefer to think of items they purchase whiletraveling as handicrafts rather than souvenirs. They would like what they consider to bean authentic expression of the people with whom they have visited, and they aregenerally willing and able to pay a bit more than they would for mass produced items.

This preference can be a building block in the construction of a revitalized local craftindustry. As recommended in the 1995 UNESCO Petra National Park ManagementPlan, such handicrafts might include weaving of carpets, bags, and kefiehs; stone andwood sculpture; making copies of archaeological objects (well and indelibly marked assuch); and making Petra sand bottles. Workshops in the production of these items aswell as establishing marketing outlets in conjunction with the interpretive program wouldbe valuable steps in the establishment of this industry.

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International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)1976 “Charter of Cultural Tourism.” Manuscript on file, US/ICOMOS,

Washington, D.C.

1993 Tourism at Cultural World Heritage Sites: The Site Manager's Handbook[Working Draft]. Washington. D.C: United States ICOMOS

McCarthy, Bridget Beattie1991 Cultural Tourism. Portland, Oregon: Bridget Beattie McCarthy.

UNESCO1977 The Man-Made Landscape. Museums and Monuments Series No. XVI.

Paris: UNESCO.

Responsible Parties

It will be essential that the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities target the tourism marketsegment described above. The Ministry should identify and employ the means bywhich to reach this most desirable market segment for Petra. These means and arationale for them should be presented in a marketing plan, perhaps prepared withassistance from technical experts.

At the level of Petra National Park, the Agency Director, the Deputy Director forArchaeology and Site Operations, and the Chief of Interpretation are responsible forformulating an Interpretive Plan that describes in detail the interpretive themes of thepark and how they will be conveyed. Covered in the Interpretive Plan will be the meansby which the visitor will be oriented to the site, both before and immediately uponarrival. It will be necessary to contract with technical consultants to formulate theInterpretive Plan. The Interpretive Plan should describe all media to be employed inconveying interpretive themes, including exhibits in the visitor center and interpretivekiosks, films and slide shows, signs, advertising campaigns, tours, lectures, stabilizedand restored structures and landscapes, brochures, displays, demonstrations, livinghistories, and educational outreach.

The Agency Director, the Deputy Director, and the Chief of Interpretation are alsoresponsible for formulating on a yearly basis an Interpretive Prospectus, which willdescribe the interpretive themes to be emphasized in the coming year and the meansby which they are to be conveyed. The contents of the Interpretive Prospectus shouldbe provided to all park staff involved with interpretation, and as importantly to tourcompanies and guides. This should be done by circulating the Interpretive Prospectusdocument, and more importantly, by offering a week-long guide training program duringthe time of lowest site visitation, in November, December, January, and February.

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It bears emphasizing that all park staff at Petra are in a real sense involved in theinterpretive program. It would be most desirable if every park employee that a visitorencounters, as well as the vendors on site, would be able to give basic directions (to therestroom facilities, restaurants, points of interest) and essential information (park hours,transportation schedule, distance to various points in the park, available activities andtours, and so forth).


Key Petra site management personnel, including the Agency Director, the DeputyDirector, the Chief of Interpretation, and the Chief Inspector for Archaeology, should beprovided training in the essentials of interpretation. (The essentials at Petra include theincorporation of the concerns of local groups, so training for this should also be given.This will be described in the next section, Public Involvement and Support.) Trainingin the preparation of Interpretive Plans and Interpretive Prospectuses is availablethrough the U.S. National Park Service and sometimes through organizations thatadminister large, privately-funded historic sites. Training should enable park managersto successfully contract for the preparation of Interpretive Plans and exhibition designand construction, and to carry out the preparation of Interpretive Prospectuses and thetraining of in-house interpretive staff. Formal courses, then should be arranged for:

Interpretive PlanningContract Management

It will be important to supplement these courses with first-hand experience, which couldbe gained by assigning one or more key park management persons to work with aBranch of Interpretation at a United States National Park comparable to Petra. Suchparks would include Canyon de Chelly, Grand Canyon, Chaco, or Mesa Verde. Alsodesirable would be to arrange for a current or retired Chief of Interpretation from one ofthese parks to work with park management at Petra for a year.

All park staff should be provided with training in their role in the interpretive program atPetra. It should be made clear during this training that visitor safety is an integralelement to interpretation at a park like Petra; that information regarding hazards thatmight be encountered (such as extreme heat, flash floods, or dangerous terrain) shouldbe presented to visitors repeatedly and in several different ways. This training is bestgiven on-site. Experienced personnel from a comparable U.S. park might best providethis training.

The relationship between park management and private guides and tourism firms willbe crucial in constructing an effective interpretive program at Petra. A number of parkpersonnel should be well enough trained in interpretation so that they in turn canprovide training to these individuals and organizations, in particular at the week-long

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interpretive orientation meeting with these parties to be held on an annual basis (seerecommendations above), during which the year’s interpretive prospectus will bepresented.

Training for local populations in handicrafts including the weaving of carpets, bags, andkefiehs, stone and wood sculpture, and making copies of archaeological objects shouldalso be provided. This will be discussed in greater detail in the next section of thisreport.

ISSUE STATEMENT

PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT AND SUPPORT

Involving many sectors of the public in the management of Petra will be essential,because the park cannot and should not exist apart from the local community and theeconomic interests of Jordan. This involvement is of various sorts, and would includeemploying or contracting with local and other individuals and groups to accomplish parkmanagement objectives, involving local business interests, and coordinating with localand other groups to advance common goals.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Employ and contract with the local populations

Employing and contracting with the local populations in various capacities in and nearPetra will be a key in the successful management of the park. It will, first of all, greatlyhelp to alleviate problems that are chronic in many parts of the world, including Jordan,in attracting and retaining well trained workers at park sites, which tend, like Petra, to bein rather remote areas.

Social changes set in motion by visitors to Petra are not well understood, given the lackof study they have so far received. It is likely, however, that dislocation from traditionallife ways and competition for emerging economic niches have exacerbated tensionsbetween the Bdul and the residents of Wadi Musa. Tensions have also arisen betweeneach of these groups and the government. Arranging ways for the Bdul and theresidents of Wadi Musa to share equitably in the benefits of tourism would do much to

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avoid conflicts that could seriously impair the tourism industry in Jordan and sowdiscord within the country.

Some of the actions that will be taken as a part of the site development in Petra willalter the ways in which local persons have gone about conducting business in Petra,particularly the limiting of the numbers of vendors there and the restriction of thesevendors to certain areas. The Bdul, who by acceding to their relocation from thehistoric area of Petra have contributed more than any other group to the site, will againbe asked to put aside their interests. Those who will be affected by these actions mustbe offered alternate positions within the tourism economy. They should be giveninviting choices, including opportunities to reestablish vending businesses in veryfavorable locations.It is often difficult to secure trained workers at areas like Petra at which servicescommon in urban environments are generally not as available. Compounding theproblem of finding and retaining skilled employees is that salaries paid by governmentorganizations are usually not competitive with those in the private sector.

Recommended here is the provision of training to local people, who would frequentlylike to stay near family and community, and so are less likely to be drawn elsewhere bythe hope of higher paying jobs. The Bdul and others in local populations may findpositions within or affiliated with the historic Petra more attractive than the smallvending businesses they frequently operate in Petra. Positions for which localpopulations like the Bdul might be trained exist everywhere and at all levels of parkoperation.

The monitoring program described in this management document will require a goodnumber of persons to conduct monitoring. Local persons are excellent candidates forthese positions, since they know the locations of the cultural resources very well andare adept at traveling through what can be a dangerous environment. On-going trainingin monitoring techniques could be offered at the conservation facility that wasrecommended be established earlier in this plan.

The familiarity of local people with the Petra landscape as well as the traditionalhospitality shown visitors make the Bdul and other locals prime candidates for positionsas guides and rangers in Petra. A model for a program of employing the Bdul asguides is available from one of the national parks in the United States, Canyon deChelly. There, although visitors are free to travel on main roads in the parkunaccompanied, from which they can see the park's main attractions, visitors whoexplore the park away from the main roads must be accompanied by a National ParkService employee or a guide belonging to the group that traditionally occupied thecanyon, that group being the Navajo. Trained Navajo guides escort groups of 30 to 50visitors on tours of a half-day to a full day's duration. Moonlight tours are also offered.The program is extremely successful. Guide positions are the most lucrative of al jobsavailable in the remote region in which Canyon de Chelly is located. Visitor satisfactionis very high. Most feel that the experience of being at the canyon, which includes the

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architectural remains of many Anasazi archaeological sites, is greatly enhanced by theframework the Navajo guide provides. Navajo guides frequently point out places theyor their relatives have lived and recount personal stories. By doing this, they convey asense of intimacy with the environment and its history available in no other way. ACanyon de Chelly Guide Association has been formed by the Navajo Nation, whichregulates in beneficial ways the activities of guides.

Vending

For local persons who choose to continue vending activities, interaction with visitorscould be structured so as to maximize both economic benefits and to enhance thevisitor experience. The interpretive program should present the traditional interactionbetween local groups and guests. This can begin at the visitor center and will preparethe tourist for his or her encounters with local vendors on and off site. A part of thispreparation can be conveying information about handicrafts traditionally produced byindigenous groups. In Umm Sayhun a small informational center should be establishedthat would provide information about the history of the town (including that it wasestablished largely after the Bdul were relocated from Petra), and provide locations inthe town of places that sell traditional handicrafts. The information center should alsostrive to lead visitors through Umm Sayhun in ways that are non-invasive and, overall,to enhance opportunities for the visitor to learn about Bdul culture from what willprobably be a brief stay there. Even a brief, stay, however, will lengthen the overalltime spent by the visitor in the region of Petra.

Training classes should also be provided that will assist the Bdul in enhancing theirtraditional craft industry. As recommended in the recent UNESCO 1995 report,weaving, stone and wood sculpting, and reproduction of antiquities could beencouraged by providing assistance in product development and marketing.

2. Involve hotels, restaurants, shops, and other local businesses

At present the relationship between the management and development of Petra andbusiness interests is somewhat disconnected. Perhaps the most striking is theproliferation of hotels, restaurants, and shops in the area of Petra at a rate that mustproduce economic disappointment for investors in these businesses. Theseestablishments are often, too, situated in places that impinge upon the visitorexperience at Petra. Ways must be found to coordinate with such entrepreneurs so asto benefit all parties involved.

The current proliferation of businesses that seek the patronage of visitors to Petra is inall likelihood not economically viable. It is also intrusive the Petra experience, whichshould be one of undeveloped vistas, tranquility, and a night sky in which the stars donot suffer from unfair competition with artificial lighting.

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Petra site management should embark as soon as possible on a Related LandsEvaluation (RLE) initiative. This will first involve contacting all property owners andresidents within one kilometer of the Petra park boundaries to invite their participation inthe evaluation. This initial contact should emphasize the mutual benefit to be realizedfrom the evaluation, especially in regard to attracting visitors, lengthening time ofvisitation, making visitors more aware of services to be provided by local businesses,retaining the values of Petra that will maintain visitation, and the possibility of trainingprovided to local individuals and businesses that would assist them in attractingcustomers and managing their business concerns. The following steps would then betaken:

1. Establish issue resolution teams for the following issues:

Scenic VistasWildlife HabitatCultural Resource ProtectionNight LightingAccessOn-site VendingLocal HandicraftsBusiness ManagementWater Management

Teams will be comprised of approximately 10 persons from the local community and asrequired from local governments and groups, NGOs, and universities. members shouldhave a keen interest or expertise in the particular issue. Support for each team will beprovided by a staff member from Petra National Park with expertise in the issue.

2. Identify existing problem areas.

3. Identify potential future problem areas.

4. Define desired future condition. Each team will identify the conditions that must bein place in order to both protect the values of Petra and to honor the interests of localpopulations. Solutions might involve providing training or educational materials,formulating agreements, or establishing regulations.

5. Geographic Information System (GIS) Mapping and Database Development. TheGIS to be developed for Petra should include neighboring lands. Existing and potentialfuture problem area for each topic should be mapped on the GIS.

6. Develop educational information and arrange for training where necessary. A majorgoal of the Related Lands Evaluation is educational.

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7. Arrange workshops. Workshops will be held for each topic for the purpose ofsharing the findings of each Issue Resolution Team, sharing information about thetopic, and more fully explore and debate the issue. The ultimate goal is “informedconsent” in regard to the topic.

Volunteers

Volunteers could be a valuable resource at Petra, especially in providing assistance inmonitoring, research, and interpretive efforts. Some such volunteers could be recruitedfrom among Petra visitors, who might be offered means by which to join a Petra friendsgroup, perhaps an international adjunct to the Jordanian Friends of Petra group.Subsequently they could be informed of opportunities to return to Petra where theycould engage in such voluntary activities.

3. Involve other interest groups

Friends’ Groups and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

Other groups exist with interests that are not economic, but that coincide more preciselywith the preservation concerns of the park. Especially valuable to the sustainability ofPetra are friends’ groups and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). They should beconsidered as partners in all future research, monitoring, design, and planning effortsthere, and be provided ample opportunity to participate and contribute to such efforts.More formal coordination than has existed in the past should be established with theQueen Noor Foundation/Liwan, Friends of Petra, the Petra National Trust, Society forthe Development and Rehabilitation of Rural Women, and the Wadi Musa LadiesSociety Shop. They should also be given every encouragement to make the public,both inside and outside of Jordan, aware of the immense value of Petra. Aninternational friends group, for example, would appropriately put out a newsletter andoffer opportunities to its members to participate in the preservation of Petra in a varietyof ways.


United States National Park Service1995 “Task Directive: Related Lands Evaluation, Rocky Mountain

National Park.” Manuscript on file at Rocky Mountain NationalPark, Colorado.

Responsible Parties

The Petra National Park Agency Director is not only ultimately responsible for issuesrelated to the recommendations made above, but expectedly will spend a substantial

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portion of his time dealing with such issues. Perhaps his primary concern should be tousher all parties with interests in Petra into a collaborative relationship. The DeputyDirector for Archaeology and Site Operations will be delegated a good deal ofresponsibility in this regard, and will provide invaluable information to the AgencyDirector about relations with local groups by virtue of his presence in the community.


The Petra National Park Agency Director and the Deputy Director for Archaeology andSite Operations should be given training in public involvement. Classes in publicinvolvement are regularly offered by the United States National Park Service, amongother organizations. Although public involvement is the primary responsibility of theAgency Director and the Deputy Director for Archaeology and Site Operations, publicinvolvement should be a hallmark of the Petra National Park. Crucial activities, like theRelated Lands Evaluation, will necessitate that many park personnel become involvedwith teams comprised of local citizens and experts and with public meetings. Thus thetraining in public involvement would best offered at the park, so that as many aspossible of the permanent park staff might attend.

PNT - PETRA NATIONAL TRUST

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