Germany supports Indonesia and UNESCO’s efforts to safeguard the Borobudur World Heritage Site

On 11 June 2012, Germany and UNESCO signed an agreement at the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture office, in order to formally agree continued close cooperation in safeguarding the Borobudur World Heritage Site. The German Government contributed over 130,000 USD to UNESCO for this project.

The agreement which was signed by H.E. Norbert Baas, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Indonesia and Hubert Gijzen, Director and Representative of UNESCO Office, Jakarta, defines an outline how the funds will be put to use. The signing of the agreement was witnessed by H.E. Wiendu Nuryanti, Vice Minister for Cultural Affairs of the Ministry of Education and Culture, H.E. Melba Pria, the Mexican Ambassador to Indonesia and a member of the steering committee of “Friends of Borobudur”, who has been instrumental in raising funds for the Save the Borobudur Project and Francesco Bandarin, Assistant Director-General for Culture of UNESCO.

The funds will be used to continue UNESCO’s 2nd Phase activities through inviting a total of six international conservation experts – in stone conservation, microbiology, structural engineering and chemical engineering – to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the Borobudur temple to ensure its long-term preservation. The project will consist of two in situ periods, one between 10_17 June and the second will be organised for September or October 2012.

This is the second time the German government has contributed to the ‘Save the Borobudur World Heritage Site’ project. In September 2011, the Federal Republic of Germany’s first contribution was used to invite two stone conservation experts to begin research at the temple in January 2012. Prof. Dr. Hans Leisen and Esther von Plehwe Leisen, analysed the temple for a ten-day period and made recommendations to ensure the site’s preservation. The supplementary missions in June and September/October will begin the conservation activities recommended in the January report and include capacity building activities to enhance the capacities of governmental staff and young conservation experts.

• 12-06-2012