4TS.9

 

9. Socio-economic constraints for water management

This group made the following recommendations:

• Take necessary measures not to upset but instead to “improve the farmers’ living conditions and preserve the communities’ food supply, while preparing them for the arrival of tourists”;
• Take necessary measures to strike a balance between rural development and the development of tourism, by attempting specifically to help communities involved in rural activities achieve similar standards of living to that of communities involved in tourism development;
• Implement participatory socio-economic surveys. This should include designing a participative research methodology for this purpose;
• For the development of the area, apply a methodology based on small pilot projects that are relevant to the local communities and support the development and gradual introduction of new economic activities;
• Implement the Committee decision on the integration of local communities in conservation and restoration projects;
• Support and strengthen efforts to raise awareness and train local population as well as the people in charge of promoting the site.

Mr. Dupavillon stated that the proceedings from the symposium will be published by UNESCO.

Regarding the organization of other symposiums, Mr. Dupavillon indicated UNESCO was considering a workshop on stones to answer a request from the Minister. France has proposed organizing a symposium on Angkor and religions.