Abstract
In recent decades, there has been increasing recognition of the economic, environmental and social importance and value of cultural heritage. At the same time cultural heritage has come under increasing pressure as the processes of modernization and globalization have been compounded by environmental degradation, with the threat of further losses due to climate change. The international community has responded with a rapid expansion of international law concerned with protecting all aspects of cultural heritage. In the past, greater attention was given to monumental heritage but more recently the focus has turned to include intangible elements, providing greater universality in the coverage of international heritage law. This chapter will focus upon the small island developing states of the Pacific and the approaches taken to cultural heritage conservation in that region. Particular attention will be drawn to governance gaps and the opportunities that the Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage may offer. Barriers to implementation will also be explored as they remain significant issues for the small island developing states in the Pacific region which have considerable cultural heritage but less legal recognition and protection of it.
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Notes
- 1.
This definition appears in the Preamble to the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, 2001: see unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001271/127160m.pdf. It is noted there as being in line with the conclusions of previous conferences and reports including the World Conference on Cultural Policies, held in Mexico City in 1982; the report of the World Commission on Culture and Development, Our Creative Diversity, 1995; and the Intergovernmental Conference on Cultural Policies for Development, held in Stockholm in 1998: see notes to Preamble, p. 12.
- 2.
Article 1, UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, 2001 .
- 3.
For example, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966 (see http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/cescr.htm) refers to the freedom to pursue cultural development. In addition, indigenous collective rights in respect of culture are articulated in ILO Convention No 169 Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries, 1989 (see http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/cgi-lex/convde.pl?C169) and in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2007 (see http://www.iwgia.org/sw248.asp) including respect for and protection of cultural values and practices and the right to practise and revitalize cultural traditions and customs.
- 4.
For example, the World Intellectual Property Organizations (WIPO) Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore met in July 2010 to discuss draft text for an international agreement on the protection of traditional cultural expressions and expressions of folklore (WIPO 2010): see http://wipo.int/meetings/en/topic.jsp?group_id=110.
- 5.
Declaration of Belém, 1988 which is also well known for being the first international instrument to note the “inextricable link between cultural and biological diversity”: see www.ethnobiology.net/global_coalition/declaration.php.
- 6.
These are the Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict 1954; UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property 1970; UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, 1972 ; UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects 1995; UNESCO Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage 2003; UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage 2001; and UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions 2005. For access to the full text of the treaties see http://portal.unesco.org/culture/.
- 7.
These include the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Other island jurisdictions in the region include American Samoa, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Pitcairn Islands, Tokelau and Wallis and Futuna; however, these are overseas territories of other countries, and not independent states.
- 8.
Personal Communication Adi Meretui Ratunabuabua, Department of Culture and Heritage, Fiji, 24 May 2010.
- 9.
Personal Communication Setoki Qalubau, Ministry of Indigenous Affairs, Fiji, 26 May 2010.
- 10.
Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems in a Global Society.
- 11.
- 12.
For example, in Fiji, Levuka has been on the tentative list for some time; but it has not yet been nominated for inscription.
- 13.
Section 35(a).
- 14.
Section 12(1)(a).
- 15.
Preservation of Sites and Artefacts (Amendment) Act 2008.
- 16.
The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) has 16 member countries and is the intergovernmental organization that coordinates the implementation of the Pacific Plan: http://www.forumsec.org.fj/.
- 17.
The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) was founded in 1947 and provides technical, research, educational, and planning services to its 26 member states: http://www.spc.int/.
- 18.
- 19.
Collaborators include SPC, Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program, and World Intellectual Property Organization.
- 20.
- 21.
Preamble to the Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
- 22.
Article 1 of the Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
- 23.
In particular noting that it must be “recognized” by a community, group or individual and is being “constantly recreated”; also that it includes associated tangible heritage such as “cultural spaces” and “instruments, objects and artefacts”: Article 2.
- 24.
Articles 5 and 7 of the Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
- 25.
Particular reference is made to establishing training and documentation institutions and ensuring access to the intangible cultural heritage while respecting customary practices: Article 13 of the Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
- 26.
Articles 14 and 15 respectively.
- 27.
Article 29 of the Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
- 28.
Article 19.
- 29.
Articles 20–24.
- 30.
Articles 25–28.
- 31.
Such list to include items previously listed as Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity: Article 31.
- 32.
Articles 16 and 17 respectively.
- 33.
- 34.
- 35.
- 36.
Intangible cultural heritage and civil society http://www.facebook.com/pages/Intangible-cultural-heritage-and-civil-society/123664631007622?v=wall.
- 37.
State signatories to CSICH, in the Pacific region, include Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Vanuatu: http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=en&pg=00024.
- 38.
The Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands has also been inscribed but for its significance as a nuclear test site rather than indigenous cultural heritage. Regionally there are three other sites all of which are inscribed for natural values: East Rennell in the Solomon Islands, the Phoenix Islands in Kiribati and the Lagoons of New Caledonia. There are, however, many sites in the region on the tentative list.
- 39.
- 40.
Article 13.
- 41.
Article 14.
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Techera, E.J. (2011). Ensuring the Viability of Cultural Heritage: The Role of International Heritage Law for Pacific Island States. In: Baldacchino, G., Niles, D. (eds) Island Futures. Global Environmental Studies. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-53989-6_4
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