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Laos
This Week in AsiaOpinion
Montira Unakul
Montira Unakul

Opinion | What the Plain of Jars in Laos tells us about disaster risk management in the era of coronavirus

  • Despite its recent Unesco World Heritage listing, the ancient archaeological landscape has suffered from Covid-19’s blow to tourism
  • But the pandemic has highlighted the fallout from unanticipated emergencies, and provided time to plan how to better manage the site

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An aerial view of Laos' mysterious Plain of Jars. Photo: AFP
Montira Unakul
Most sites see a dramatic change after being put on the Unesco World Heritage List. Visitor numbers shoot up, investors domestic and international flock to the location, and there is a flurry of media interest and community activity. Yet, a year after the July 2019 listing of the Plain of Jars in Laos, things have been quiet – largely because of Covid-19.
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While overenthusiastic development has been the biggest headache for many World Heritage Sites, too few visits and too little economic activity can be equally worrying.

Although conservation is the primary purpose for a listing, many countries seek recognition with a more pragmatic view of increasing a site’s international profile and earning income for communities. The pandemic is affecting the welfare of people and organisations in a listed area, and also efforts to safeguard it – a situation that is not limited to the Plain of Jars but pertains to World Heritage Sites worldwide.

Prior to its listing last year, Laotian authorities in cooperation with Unesco had been preparing the nomination dossier and management plan for 20 years. Local leaders had pinned their hopes on the new status lifting the fortunes of one of the country’s poorest provinces, which was one of the most heavily bombed areas in the 1960s and 1970s and still has a deadly legacy of unexploded ordnance.

The Plain of Jars is the collective name for the ancient stone jars scattered on hill slopes and ridges in more than 90 sites throughout the Xieng Khouang Plateau. The site isn’t just stunning, with hundreds of jars spread across the lush, rolling landscapes – it dates back to the Iron Age and is considered one of Southeast Asia’s most significant prehistoric sites.

Tourists walk past the remains of a prehistoric stone jar believed to have been broken during US aerial bombing at Site 1 at the Plain of Jars. Photo: AFP
Tourists walk past the remains of a prehistoric stone jar believed to have been broken during US aerial bombing at Site 1 at the Plain of Jars. Photo: AFP
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Nearby villages play an important role in the strategy to protect the site and stand to benefit from increased visibility. The hoped-for World Heritage effect has only had a limited impact so far, however, and life mostly goes on as usual for residents who eke out subsistence livelihoods in the rural areas near the ancient archaeological sites.

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