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Jordan Times With the high season approaching for tourism in Petra, thousands of tourists will pass through the Nabataean city's Siq each day, unaware that segments of the fragile sandstone gorge are at risk of collapsing. 
The Siq, Petra's main thoroughfare, which stretches for 1.2 kilometres leading to the iconic Treasury, has become a warning signal that the stability of the 2,000-year-old site requires urgent attention, according to experts.The geophysical stability of the park has long been an area of concern, according to conservationists, an issue that was brought to the fore in March 2009 when a several-metre-long crack was discovered in a rock formation in the Siq. One month later, a 150-kilogramme rock fell from the walls of the Siq, according to the Petra National Trust (PNT) and the Petra Archaeological Park (PAP). Although the incident, which occurred ahead of visiting hours, did not harm any visitors or park personnel, it served as a sign of the urgent need for greater attention to the geophysical status of the ancient city. The discovery of the crack in the side of the Siq led to the formation of an emergency committee headed by Department of Antiquities (DoA) Director Fawwaz Khraysheh and including the heads of the PAP and the PNT, the secretary general of the Ministry of Tourism, and others to prevent the rock from falling, according to the PNT. An expert from UNESCO with extensive experience at the Bamiyan site in central Afghanistan visited Petra in spring last year and suggested immediate intervention to anchor the unstable stone, according to the DoA. Six months ago, the crack was sealed to prevent water from seeping in and further destabilising the rock, and gauges were emplaced to monitor the rock's movement while officials awaited funding, PAP chief Emad Hijazeen told The Jordan Times. However, one year after the crack was discovered and the committee formed, experts have yet to anchor the rock, a delay the PAP attributes to a persistent lack of funding. The DoA recently secured JD200,000 from the government for the grouting and anchoring of the rock, with a selected bidder to be announced soon and work to commence by June, according to Khraysheh. The selected team will need two weeks to complete the work, according to the DoA and the PNT, with the "costly" and "sensitive" procedure to be carried out in the evening hours so as not to disrupt tourists' activities. "We need the right people doing this. Not many people in the world have experience in taking on such a project, especially with sandstone," Khraysheh said. In the meantime, officials are monitoring the gauges, he said, stressing that in the last six months the rock has been stable and that the latest report, received last week, indicated no changes. Khraysheh indicated that the department is committed to maintaining the integrity of the Siq. "Many countries would have simply destroyed the rock, but we want to keep it because it is part of the nature and essential character of Petra," he said, underlining that the intervention will provide a good opportunity to train local staff on such procedures. More work needed' While awaiting the intervention, another event last month highlighted the urgency of the issue: the collapse of a monument in the Thneib near the Turkmaniyya road. The monument, a small burial chamber and façade, was in "a bad state" due to excessive use by local residents, according to Khraysheh. Ghassan, a tour guide in Petra, said the collapse killed a young camel belonging to a resident of nearby Um Sayhoun, which was using the area as shelter from the sun. There were no other casualties reported. "It's sad; we have never seen anything like it," the guide told The Jordan Times, stressing that despite the recent collapse, the rose-red city is safe and currently witnessing a "renaissance". Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA) Chief Commissioner Nasser Shraideh acknowledged that further work is needed to ensure the integrity of the site. "According to the new law, for the first time we have 10 per cent of our budget allocated to conservation and we are now in the process of forming a scientific committee - which will be headed by the DoA, the [PAP], the park commissioner and other concerned entities - working in Petra to set out priorities for conservation and archaeology," Shraideh pointed out. With 3.5 per cent of overall park revenues reserved for conservation, the committee will work on a plan to boost conservation, map archaeological excavations, highlight monuments in danger and clarify priorities for the park, he added. New phenomena? Experts have questioned whether the rock falls and widening fractures have been due to normal wear and tear over two millennia, or the result of modern development and increased tourist traffic to the UNESCO world heritage site. The park's geophysical stability may have been compromised by the destruction of Petra's ancient water system, Hijazeen theorised. "The Nabataeans had an excellent system, but due to urban development in the last decade, some of the water trails and routes have been damaged and the water is not stopped before coming to the park," he claimed, noting that the altered path of water makes the rose-red city, situated in the valley of Wadi Musa, the final destination for the majority of rainwater in the area. Khraysheh, however, suspected that the most recent monument collapse may have been caused by minor seismic activity, noting that the nearby Jordan Rift Valley is a seismically active area. He said the department has called for the Jordan Seismology Observatory to establish a station in Wadi Musa in order to monitor the area. "We need to look back at the last 10 years, and to see what type of activity is occurring in Petra and what type of stress is being placed on the park," he said. A combination of natural and human influences may have weakened the structure, according to experts, including the vibrations created by tourists and horse-drawn carriages entering and leaving the Siq, placing a "double stress" on the ancient ravine. An alternative exit route should be examined in order to alleviate pressure in the Siq as part of several measures to protect the park, Khraysheh said, underlining the lack of research so far on the effect tourism has had on the Nabataean city. "This site is over 2,000 years old, it is very fragile," Khrayseh said. Risk assessment According to the PNT and environmental groups, an overall risk assessment of the Siq is needed to determine the immediate and long-term threats in the gorge and eventually the entire park in order to protect monuments and visitors alike. According to PNT Executive Director Aysar Akrawi, the first step would be to survey "every single rock" in the Siq area, followed by the introduction of a monitoring system in areas of concern. Based on the survey, officials would need to introduce mitigation measures based on a priority - namely, what is most likely to fall. Surveying, which would take up to five years, and mitigation measures will be costly, according to the PNT, and officials must raise funds to preserve the rose-red city for future generations. "The government has allocated JD150,000 for the one unstable rock alone. For the entire Petra park, we are talking about millions of dinars," Akrawi said. The situation in Petra is "very urgent", Akrawi said, noting that other monuments in the park may be close to the point of collapse, such as some façades of the royal tombs. "This is the future of Petra," she said. The PNT and DoA have requested the help of UNESCO to obtain funds to conduct a risk map of the Siq. UNESCO officials were unavailable for comment despite several attempts by The Jordan Times to contact them. The concern over the Siq has raised the overall question of the balance between preservation and tourism in the rose-red city, as tourist traffic to Petra has increased from "thousands" 30 years ago to over 700,000 annually. Over 116,000 tourists visited the site in January and February of this year. In the last few years alone, the collective breath of visitors was found to be damaging the interior of the Treasury, while deterioration of the 3,000-seat Nabataean theatre has worsened, leading the department to close both areas off to visitors. The steps to the Monastery, meanwhile, have been visibly eroded by the hooves of donkeys and the footsteps of thousands of tourists each day, Khraysheh and others pointed out. While the Siq, a core part of the Petra experience, will not be closed, experts hope the incident places a focus on the urgent need for Petra's preservation. "This is the jewel of Jordanian archaeology and heritage. Even if you consider it a product, this investment needs to be protected," the DoA head stressed, "because this is a site for all peoples."
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