A Unesco-Protected Site in Mali Is Becoming a Burden for Locals

Known for its mud-brick architecture, the town of Djenné is struggling to attract tourists and maintain buildings that have been damaged by floods.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
A UNESCO Protected site in Mali is becoming a burden
for locals by Diacaridia Dembele and yinke Bukun read by
Ramesh Methane. In one of Mali's oldest towns, poverty and
climate change are eroding the resolve of residents to safeguard
as slice of the world's architectural heritage. Janet has existed

(00:21):
since at least two hundred and fifty BC. Its iconic
mud buildings were designated at UNESCO World Heritage Site in
nineteen eighty eight, meaning they cannot be destroyed or modified,
But in recent years, extreme reigns have made the buildings
harder to maintain, while political turmoil and safety fears have
also diminished the town's appeal to tourists. Some local people

(00:45):
say the UNESCO designation has imposed a burden they're struggling
to bear. Mamadou Truffo, a fifty seven year old builder
who's been restoring Jannet's mud brick houses since he was
a boy, wants homeowners to be allowed to abandon tradition
masonry techniques passed down by generations. The international community should
free the people of Jennet of its status as a

(01:07):
heritage site. He says, the responsibility is too heavy for
us to carry. Trufo comes from a lineage of mud
brick masons known as Barret, spanning seven generations. The work
of the Beret is more than just a job. Their
bare hands have patted every inch of the unique buildings
that are constructed from a mix of mud and rice

(01:29):
brand plaster. That craftsmanship has earned them a special place
in the quainta nostalgic town. But Truffo, who quit the
Bariton Guild of Masons five years ago, is now an
advocate for building in concrete and part of a growing
movement looking to break with the centuries old tradition. If
I were to get enough money tomorrow, I'd destroy my

(01:51):
houses and rebuild them in concrete, he says. Janet flourished
as a gold trading hub for Arab merchants traveling on
caravans from Western Africa to Mediterranean economies, where the demand
for the precious metal was high. That northern influence shaped
the town into a center for Islamic scholarship. Today, the
un status extends to the Great Mosque of Jena, widely

(02:14):
considered to be the world's largest Earth breake building and
the greatest feat of Sadano Sahelian architecture. It's a question
of responsibility and of what's at stake, says Ali Cola Dao,
the Culture program officer for UNESCO and Mali. Jene meets
every criterion for a World Heritage Site as a product
of creative genius, a cross road of human civilization, and

(02:38):
for its unique building style. The town is listed as
endangered due to various threats, including insecurity and the spread
of concrete construction. He says, the UN body has released
some funds to protect the site, but support has been
focused on restoring the mosque and houses close to it.
It's not a huge amount of money, but we're providing

(03:01):
other types of assistance, says Dao. Mali sits at the
heart of the sahel a climate hotspot at the southern
fringe of the Sahara Desert, which has been experiencing weather extremes.
Last year, devastating floods destroyed at least two hundred houses
in the old quarter of Jenne and sixty six thousand
homes across Mali. Heat Waves have killed cows and reduced

(03:25):
rice production, hurting livelihoods and making rice bran, an ingredient
that helps the plaster of mudhouses stick more expensive. If
you have to maintain your house every year, when your
family doesn't even have enough to eat, imagine the burden
it places on the head of household, says Trufo, who
keeps two households, one for each of his wives and

(03:47):
a total of eight children. While Trufo's main source of
income is as a cement bricklayer, he also makes ends
meet by fishing and growing rice. With agriculture, you can't
win these days, he says. It's either there's too much
rain or too little. It is arguable that houses made
from earth are harder to maintain than those in concrete,

(04:09):
says Mari mc, the founder of Archie, an architecture firm
based in Mali that promotes the use of compressed earth bricks.
Adding ingredients such as sheer, butter, oil, gum, arabic and
hay to the earth and rice brand mix makes the
brick more water resistant. All these things are getting more
and more expensive, says see. But erecting concrete buildings as

(04:33):
an alternative is impractical. While the houses don't crumble, they
feel like ovens and require costly cooling. From air conditioning
or fans. She says. Concrete is an inert material that
blocks air. She says, the earth continues to breathe. Despite
Janet's rich history, its people live in poverty, Barefoot children

(04:56):
wander in dusty streets. The city was one once a
bustling tourist attraction that attracted an average of five thousand,
six hundred visitors annually. After two French citizens were kidnapped
four hundred kilometers two hundred and fifty miles from the
town in twenty eleven, numbers plunged to a few dozen.
The security crisis worsened after Mali President Amadou Touret was

(05:21):
deposed in a military coup in twenty twelve. I used
to sell my beads to tourists, says Fatu matan Napo,
a mother of five, stringing tiny red and blue glass
beads at a roadside stall. Now I have to go
to other villages to sell. All the women in Jennet
know how to bead. Why would they buy from me?

(05:41):
The finest mud houses belonged to the wealthy or to Barret,
who could maintain them. Many others struggle. Some just want
to break with tradition, but flouting the rules is a risk.
Eighteen homeowners who replace their earth houses with concrete structures
are being prosecuted under a new law that stiffens penalties

(06:02):
for altering listed cultural assets. They could face jail time.
We reported them to authorities because it is our job
to protect heritage sites, says Mussa mouri Badyakite, head of
Janet's Cultural Mission. The community consented to the UNESCO listing,
accepting both the benefits and restrictions. The problem is that

(06:23):
many of these people weren't born then. By the time
Truepo and a dozen allies gathered to discuss their cause
in a shaded courtyard. Last month, a petition to delist
Jane had gathered six thousand signatures. It's a fight for
our survival, says lawyer Bubakar Garba Kulibali thirty six. If
they want to send people to jail for building in concrete,

(06:46):
they'll have to jail the whole town. Regardless of their
stance on the mudhouse debate, everyone agrees the mosque should
be preserved. Built in the thirteenth century, it was abandoned
under Fuber Emperor Seguamadu of Massina, who believed it had
been tainted by animist rituals. To win support from the
inhabitants of the prosperous town, French colonizers allowed it to

(07:07):
be rebuilt sometime between nineteen o six and nineteen o eight.
This year, an annual festival to replaster the mosque kicked
off on May twenty fifth, with the sacrifice of a ram.
Workers climbed wooden sticks planted on the sides of the
mosque to serve as scaffolding. Despite his views on the
town's UNESCO status, even Truffau mixed mud for the celebration.

(07:31):
Why not free the rest of the town and keep
only the Great Mosque as a heritage site? He said,
For as long as I live, I will always participate
in fixing our mosque.