Worcester Telegram & Gazette
MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., April 8, 2004: When John H. Stubbs, vice-president for field programs at the World Monuments Fund, first visited the historic City of Angkor in Cambodia in 1992, he describes his reaction to the beauty and grandeur of Angkor as speechless. Little did he know that the World Monument Fund would be involved at the historic site for 15 years plus another proposed five years. The article says, “Angkor was constructed more than a thousand years ago to serve as the capital of the mighty Khmer Empire. By the 16th century, the empire had declined and Angkor was abandoned, only to be rediscovered in 1860 by French botanist Henri Mouhot.” The city was the spiritual center for the Hindu-Buddhist culture of that time and many shrines and temples adorned the city. By the middle of the 20th century, Angkor was an attraction for both wealthy travellers and East Asian scholars. However the war in Cambodia put a halt to work being done at Angkor and it was not until the late 1980’s that preservation and restoration started once again. Mr. Stubbs, who has a graduate degree in historic preservation from Columbia University, explains the work at the site, “The WMF has used a light touch conservation approach and has employed local Cambodians, who understand the environment and have a stake in what happens to the complex. Our aim is to stabilize the buildings’ remains and not to restore them to make it look like new, which is technically impossible.” To WMF’s credit, the organization also has a mandate to preserve the natural surroundings to support wildlife and vegetation. The article says that present day Angkor is fast becoming a favorite destination for travellers, and the site can absorb tens of thousands of visitors a day.