The importance of heritage preservation in natural disaster situations

Disaster management for cultural heritage has been gaining recognition as an important issue for the long term management and conservation of these assets. Natural disasters are localised events and have the ability to cause widespread loss and destruction to a community s cultural heritage. The social benefits of heritage preservation are often cited as the justification for developing disaster management plans. These social benefits are generally presented in relation to the disaster recovery phase. However, these benefits are also attributable to the initial stages experienced during a disaster event. Applying these existing arguments to this initial stage may assist to transcend the existing attitudinal barriers and present the issue of disaster management for cultural heritage in a manner which is relevant to the diversity of stakeholders.