A Trans-Boundary Legislative Impact Assesment of the Kailash Sacred Landscapes Interpreting Legal Adaptation Through the Cross-Stakeholder Interface
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Abstract
The Kailash Sacred Landscapes evokes a deep rooted religious affiliation for the Hindus in India, Nepal and the Buddhists in India, Nepal and Tibet Autonomous Region or the Xizang Autonomous Region. A myriad of international conventions, charters, declarations and guidelines emanating from UNESCO and ICOMOS and IUCN, pertaining to cultural landscapes and sacred sites have been documented and applied but the issues pertaining to the transboundary integrated approach remains abstract and obscure and remains to be evolved. In India, China and Nepal, since the ratification of World Heritage Convention, 1972, there are national legislations that recognises the notion of cultural heritage, relics, monuments and sites but does not recognise the notion of cultural landscapes, primarily because the interpretation of heritage is often monument based conservation or of built heritage. In the domain of natural heritage, the environment and the biodiversity Acts function in water-tight compartments and are not in coordination with their cultural counterpart.
The article aims to investigate and study the coherent issues pertaining to the nature-culture linkages and conservation relating to transboundary cultural landscape of Kailash Sacred Landscapes. The legislative framework of China, Nepal and India are taken into account, by exploring, comparing and distinguishing the vagueness in the creation and representation of cultural landscapes as defined or interpreted in the international conventions and charters. While studying the modes of adaptation, the article also explores the constitution and the role of the stakeholders (actors and institutions), local, intra-national and trans-national in the adaptation of a harmonious legislative framework.
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