During Cambodia’s long nightmare of civil war, genocide and foreign occupation, concern for its archaeological treasures took second place. But now, after more than a decade of peace, an international campaign to rescue Angkor Wat and other centuries-old temples is being hailed as a model for safeguarding the ancient sites of Afghanistan, Iraq and other nations enduring war.

Involving some 40 major monuments and hundreds of smaller sites spread over 160 square miles, the restoration work in the region may take another 25 years or more. Yet an initiative — led by France and Japan and coordinated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — has demonstrated a rare commitment to preserving a miracle of human ingenuity in a country too poor to do so itself. Around many temples are cranes, scaffolding and armies of workers. Archaeologists, architects and engineers from a dozen countries are also working at the sites, while Cambodian guards and police provide security. ”A system is in place that insures cooperation,” said Ros Borath, the deputy director-general of Apsara, the Cambodian government agency that has overall responsibility for the program.

There are already significant results. Since the creation of an International Coordination Committee in 1993, the area has been cleared of 25,000 land mines, including 3,000 inside temple grounds. Looting of statues and friezes has stopped, and the international traffic in stolen artifacts has been disrupted. Roads have been paved, and there is a new visitors’ center. So far $50 million has been spent on 100 or so restoration projects, with $5 million continuing to be invested here annually.

At a conference in Paris in November, Unesco’s director-general, Koichiro Matsuura, said, ”What has been learned in this decade, and is still being learned, could serve as a model for the rehabilitation of other ancient sites in post-conflict situations — such as Bamiyan in Afghanistan or the Mesopotamian legacy in Iraq — that have suffered from neglect, wanton destruction and the devastation of war.”

There is talk of creating a Charter of Angkor, which would detail the institutional structure and the new scientific techniques and ethical standards that have been applied here and that might also work elsewhere. There is no international campaign to protect and restore archaeological sites in Afghanistan and Iraq. Still, having survived the stranglehold of a jungle, occupation by Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge guerrillas and uncontrolled pillaging, the Angkor region is facing a new challenge posed by success.

The full article from the New York Times: After the Nightmare, Saving Cambodia’s Treasures