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Underwater Cultural Heritage in Asia-Pacific Waters

The objective of this project is the promotion within the Asia-Pacific Member States of the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage which was adopted by UNESCO’s General Conference during its 31st session on 2 November 2001. 

 

This project advances UNESCO’s global strategic objectives of “promoting the drafting and implementation of standard setting instruments in the field of culture” as well as “protecting cultural diversity and encouraging pluralism and dialogue between cultures and civilizations”.  Within this global framework, it builds on the regional pillars of “extending international protection to endangered, vulnerable and minority cultures and cultural expressions”; "localization and empowerment of the culture profession to develop and implement standards"; and "grass-roots mobilization for indigenous, sustainable management of cultural resources".

 

A significant aspect of history and fully a part of humanity’s common heritage, the underwater cultural heritage is coming under increasing threat. The progress made in exploration techniques has made the sea bottom accessible to many more people: its exploitation and the trade in the objects found there have become a more common and highly lucrative activity. It is a fact that marine archaeological sites are being heavily looted by treasure hunters and, in many cases, this results in the loss of materials of irreplaceable value for the study of the origins of humanity and the history of its civilizations. Consequently there was a pressing need to adopt a universal legal instrument to preserve their underwater cultural heritage in the interest of humanity as a whole.

 

The underwater cultural heritage is in many cases cultural property with an international dimension, above all as a result of the different origins of vessels and their cargo. Yet the existing law of the sea, principally the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Montego Bay, 1982), does not sufficiently ensure the protection of the underwater cultural heritage. Drafted with a view to offering general provisions for the law of the sea and to regulate the sea’s economic resources, it includes only two provisions (Articles 149 and 303) referring specifically to archaeological and historical objects and establishing a sui generis obligation to protect them. Furthermore the heterogeneity of content and (geographical) scope of application of national legislation’s and uncertainties of international customary law made the adoption of a specific convention on the protection of the underwater cultural heritage vital. UNESCO has been aware of the need to protect this heritage ever since its 1956 Recommendation on International Principles Applicable to Archaeological Excavations; which also applies to underwater sites. At the request of its Executive Board, experts met several times between 1993 and 2001 and drafted an international legal instrument for general application, adopted by UNESCO’s General Conference at it 31st session on 2 November 2001: the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage. Recognizing the importance of the underwater cultural heritage as an integral part of the cultural heritage of humanity, the Convention is intended to guarantee its preservation through international cooperation.


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