UNESCO World Intangible Cultural Heritage in Algeria

Algeria has a legal arsenal covering all aspects of cultural heritage protection, and is considered one of the first countries to sign the World Cultural and Natural Heritage Convention in 1972, which was considered an important start in the protection of cultural heritage. This was followed by another step no less important than the first, embodying the implementation of this convention, which is the issuance of the National Cultural Heritage Protection Law, under which the provisions of Order No. 281-67 dated December 20, 1976, related to the research and preservation of historical and natural sites and monuments, which had been in effect for 37 years, were cancelled. Under this new law, the concept of cultural heritage has undergone a significant expansion, as it includes many types of cultural heritage, between tangible and intangible. At first, the focus was more on tangible heritage, so it was provided with various implementing texts for the articles of the aforementioned law. At the beginning of 2003, Algeria signed the Convention for the Protection of Intangible Heritage. Through this research paper, we will try to answer the following question: What is the status of intangible heritage in Algeria? What are the strategies adopted to preserve its most important elements in the face of challenges?