Activities >> Sites

Gambia: JAMES ISLAND and related sites

The site

James Island and its related sites are the vestige of the conflicts between various European traders, which settled in the region since the 15th century to exploit the rich lands of Gambia.
Built in 1651, the Fort provided a strategic defensive position and an effective staging post for the shipment of slaves.
The fort suffered many raids and counter raids between the French and the English, who fought over its control for more than hundred years. Partly destroyed and reconstructed several times, the fort was destroyed by the French in 1779 and finally abandoned in 1829.
James Island has now become a major tourist attraction in the Gambia with more than 15 000 visitors per year, mainly Europeans and African-Americans. James Island is related to 5 other sites testifying of the Afro-European encounter along the river: Fort Bullen, CFAO building and a Portuguese chapel in Juffureh, San Domingo ruins and the 6-gun battery in Banjul.

Objectives

- reinforce NCAC's capacities through practical and scientific experience offered to the conservators and local actors
- implement conservation works on James island and the 5 sites related to the history of colonisation by the Europeans
- prepare a management plan and a nomination file for the World Heritage List.

Allocated budgets (US dollars)

Results

Training
- 83 people trained to preventive conservation techniques on several sites
Conservation
- important conservation and preservation works implemented on the sites (drainage, wall reinforcement, capping, sea defence works, cleaning, …)
- purchase of equipment for the site maintenance teams
Nomination / Management
- the preparation of the management plan has clarified the role of the stakeholders and has valorised the community's role
- enormous historic, technical and photographic documentation accumulated on the sites
Mise en valeur
- printing and selling of 8 postcards and a leaflet
- preparation of an exhibition room in Fort Bullen à Barra
- new road signs placed
- several newspapers articles, radio and television programmes organised to promote the sites and promote NCAC's work

Complementary activities within the Projet cadre

- participation of Baba Ceesay, NCAC, Principal Cultural Officer and co-ordinator of the projet situé activities, to the Africa 2009 regional course held in Mombasa, Kenya (5 July au 3 September 1999)
- participation of Momodou C. Joof, NCAC director to the Africa 2009 Director's seminar held in Mombasa, Kenya (30 August to 1 September 1999)

Problems encountered

- working on an island implies heavy logistics (transport of materials is time consuming and labour intensive)
- need to organise works according to tide tables, …
- difficult communication between the tour-operators in Banjul, principal financial beneficiaries of the tourism industry and the villagers staying around the sites who feel that the local benefits of tourism are insufficient

Implemented Activities

1996	May	Identification mission 10 days	NCAC / CRATerre-EAG
1997	July	Programming and preparation mission1 week	NCAC / CRATerre-EAG
	Aug-Nov	Preparation work	NCAC /
	December	Preventive conservation works on James Island (on-site training) 1 month	NCAC / CRATerre-EAG
1999	July-Sept	Participation of 2 NCAC staff to the projet cadre activities in Mombasa, Kenya	NCAC / CRATerre-EAG
2000	April	Programming : 1 week	NCAC
	May-June	Preparation work	NCAC / CRATerre-EAG
	July	Preventive conservation works on James Island and 5 related sites 1 month Preparation of the nomination file for inscription of the site on World Heritage List	NCAC / CRATerre-EAG NCAC / CRATerre-EAG, Iccrom
2001		Finalisation of the nomination file for inscription of the site on World Heritage List	NCAC / CRATerre-EAG, Iccrom