Libya before and after the conflict: what future for its cultural heritage?

Before the confl ict in Libya (March 2011), the major threats to its cultural heritage were represented by oil exploitation, infrastructures and tourism. From a theoretical viewpoint there is a great difference on how to deal with Libyan cultural heritage, considering the site-oriented, more ‘northerner’ perspective or the landscapeoriented approach well attested in the South. Considering the dissimilarities between the North and the South, as well as the different impact(s) that the war had on their respective cultural heritages, it is easy to imagine a two-tier approach by local stakeholders and international organisations for handling the post-confl ict situation. If in the North, funding will be invested for the restoration of damaged areas—very likely the coastal towns of classical age—the ‘cultural landscape’ in the South runs serious risks of remaining barely considered; it is necessary to defi ne the potential of this heritage and to isolate the best practices to guarantee its future.