The U.S. Mission in Nigeria has started a preservation project for the Busanyin Shrine at the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove.

The U.S. Mission’s partner CyArk, a California-based non-profit, is leading the 3D documentation of the Busanyin Shrine. The first phase of the project kicked off on Thursday. 

U.S. Consul General Claire Pierangelo joined the Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Oyetunji Laroye, as well as officials of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) to mark the opening of this project.

“The United States is a strong supporter of efforts to preserve Nigerian culture,” Ms Pierangelo said, adding that “We have funded over $770,000 for preservation projects across Nigeria through the AFCP in the last four years.”

The U.S. Mission to Nigeria has a long history of supporting the protection and preservation of local cultural heritage through the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP).

At the event, Ms Pierangelo explained that the AFCP project will provide an accurate record of the current conditions of the shrine to effectively plan restoration work.

On Tuesday, Peoples Gazette reported that the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria donated $127,000 to the preservation project in the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove.

Directly under the supervision of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the AFCP preserves historic buildings, monuments and museum collections that are available to the public and protected by its host country’s law. 

Other sites to be preserved include the 14th-century Sungbo Eredo earthworks of the Yoruba Ijebu Kingdom; documentation of the Ifa oral traditions in Oyo State; rock art preservation projects in Cross River and Jigawa states, among many others.