The International National Trusts Organization (INTO) is an international network of National Trusts and NGOs, sharing the commitment to conserving and sustaining our heritage – built and natural, tangible and intangible. Through cooperation, coordination and comradeship between the National Trusts, INTO seeks to develop and promote best conservation practices, increase the capacity of individual organizations, establish Trusts in countries that lack them, and advocate in the interests of heritage conservation. INTO holds a biennial conference, ICNT, hosted by one of its member Trusts. Thus, the 18th edition took place in Bermuda between 27 and 30 March 2019.

As president of Petra National Trust (PNT) dedicated to Petra site in Jordan, Princess Dana Firas, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Cultural Heritage, was invited to speak. During her intervention dedicated to protecting Heritage sites in conflict zones, she recalls that if her region is considered the cradle of civilization, it has also been the scene of numerous conflicts, especially since the end of the second world war. Those conflicts create important damages to the cultural heritage of the region. However, damages can also come from natural disasters that cause moments of chaos and which will happen more often due to climate change, or even mass tourism. Princess Dana Firas then called for more international regulation.  “The key to the protection and preservation of cultural heritage lies in a better understanding of its value and importance to our daily lives, our understanding of our past, our journey as people and our interconnections past present and future.”

Defending Heritage sites at risk is one of the priorities of UNESCO. For instance, in 1954, the UNESCO-led first Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict was adopted. Lately in 2017, UNESCO, in cooperation with the Iraqi Ministry of Culture, launched the Plan “Revive the Spirit of Mosul”, the most important reconstruction campaign undertaken by UNESCO in recent times.