Protect our heritage
Short-term economic gains and lax implementation of Namibian law pose a major threat to prehistoric rock art in Namibia, with possibly hundreds of engravings already lost to history and the story of our origins.
Although Namibia has stringent laws in place to protect heritage sites such as those in the Erongo Region, people are often indifferent, ignoring the laws that would protect a global story, that of humanity’s first foray into art, spiritualism, writing and story-telling.
It took a farmer and a brave community’s activism to attract the attention of various authorities mandated to protect sites containing hundreds of drawings engraved into the stony mountains of the Erongo Region.
Mining companies are an easy target to blame for the irreversible loss of rock art, some dating back as far as 30 000 years to 5 000 years.
But it’s the authorities tasked to implement laws, who issued mining permits and licences despite their glaring lack of legally required assessments of the impact on the rock art, who allowed these crimes to take place.
Even now, some authorities deny the withdrawal of permits while others give assurances that the sites are a no-go zone.
By allowing the destruction of prehistoric art, Namibian authorities, the keepers of priceless depictions carved into stone by humanity’s ancestors, are failing not only Namibians, but those, who thousands of years ago, at the dawn of humanity, displayed our innate desire to tell our story and leave behind footprints saying: We were here.
Many rock paintings have already vanished, their only trace the dust left behind by large-scale mining operations.
Slowly, but surely, our authorities are allowing our story to vanish, their inaction an unforgivable crime against humanity and future generations who will not be able to fathom the casual disregard towards preserving precious rock art in favour of the short-term monetary gains of mining granite and marble.
Although Namibia has stringent laws in place to protect heritage sites such as those in the Erongo Region, people are often indifferent, ignoring the laws that would protect a global story, that of humanity’s first foray into art, spiritualism, writing and story-telling.
It took a farmer and a brave community’s activism to attract the attention of various authorities mandated to protect sites containing hundreds of drawings engraved into the stony mountains of the Erongo Region.
Mining companies are an easy target to blame for the irreversible loss of rock art, some dating back as far as 30 000 years to 5 000 years.
But it’s the authorities tasked to implement laws, who issued mining permits and licences despite their glaring lack of legally required assessments of the impact on the rock art, who allowed these crimes to take place.
Even now, some authorities deny the withdrawal of permits while others give assurances that the sites are a no-go zone.
By allowing the destruction of prehistoric art, Namibian authorities, the keepers of priceless depictions carved into stone by humanity’s ancestors, are failing not only Namibians, but those, who thousands of years ago, at the dawn of humanity, displayed our innate desire to tell our story and leave behind footprints saying: We were here.
Many rock paintings have already vanished, their only trace the dust left behind by large-scale mining operations.
Slowly, but surely, our authorities are allowing our story to vanish, their inaction an unforgivable crime against humanity and future generations who will not be able to fathom the casual disregard towards preserving precious rock art in favour of the short-term monetary gains of mining granite and marble.
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Namibian Sun
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