Abstract
At the request of the municipality of Figuig, a team of scientists, working under the supervision of Professor Jean-Pierre Vallat of the University Paris Diderot and the School of architecture Paris-Val-de-Seine, was entrusted with the task of drawing up and inventory and making an analysis of the cultural properties of the oasis. This program has been led in order to assist the local authorities in the preparation of the nomination file for the inscription of the oasis on the World Heritage List. The oasis is regarded as a matter of fact as a cultural landscape, composed by an important cultural heritage, both material and immaterial. Figuig is indeed characterized by a rich architecture, particularly the ksour (fortified villages) with mud brick houses. Figuig also comprises a palm grove irrigated by a complex network of canals and “foggaras” (pits). Moreover, all the individual and collectives practices connected to the palm grove and to the ksour constitute an important immaterial cultural heritage. The bulk of scientific data (from archaeological, geographical, historical, anthropological investigations) calls for a coherent archiving in order to insure the heritage, environmental and tourism management of the oasis. For this purpose, a GIS would be useful. As a scientific and management tool, the GIS is a precious device which makes it possible to produce thematic (archaeological, historical, touristic, etc.) mappings and inventories. In parallel with these scientific initiatives, the training of the various stakeholders in the practice of the GIS is being developed. Individuals from the municipality, the cooperation offices and the tourism sector are thus developing new competencies. In this respect, the GIS should be a shared tool with multiple applications: scientific researches, heritage management, urban development, tourism management, etc. In this context, this paper sets to analyse the stakes, perspectives and applications of the GIS regarding the necessary development of the oasis whilst protecting its heritage, and ensuring good governance, transparency and justification in the framework of generally binding protective measures.
Highlights
Professor Jean-Pierre Vallat of the University Paris Diderot and the School of architecture Paris-Val-de-Seine, was entrusted with the task of drawing up and inventory and making an analysis of the cultural properties of the oasis
Diderot was contacted by Figuig‟s municipality, almost 5 years ago, to assist it in its heritage protection policy, concretized by its will to inscribe the oasis on UNESCO‟s World Heritage List (WHL)
Due to the lack of data, we could not finish the geodatabase, which only relates at this stage to the sector of Ouled Jaber. This geodatabase was mainly designed for the purposes of heritage management and in order to give advice to Figuig‟s municipality in respect of the rehabilitation of the site, at present transformed into a rubbish tip
Summary
Figuig is an oasis situated in the south eastern tip of Morocco, approximately 400 km south of the Mediterranean Sea and 7 km away from the Algerian city of Beni Ounif. The oasis of Figuig is a coherent, material and cultural set, based on the complementarity between the architecture and the spatial organization of the ksour, the palm grove and its irrigation system, and all the social and cultural practices, which constitute an immaterial heritage of a great importance. The oasis is a valuable natural and environmental heritage, as witnessed by its water springs and palm grove This heritage suffers a lot of degradation. This paper discusses the methodology and the uses of the GIS, in the context of the preparation and submission of the nomination file of the Figuig‟s oasis on the World Heritage List, and more widely in the context of the heritage, environmental, tourist and urban development management of the oasis. We shall present the available sources and describe the methodology applied to assemble these data and establish cartographic databases
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