Paris, July 7 (No.2000-65) - Two-hundred nine governmental experts representing 84 countries ended their third meeting on the Draft Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage at UNESCO Headquarters today reporting progress towards a consensus, notably fine-tuning the definition of cultural heritage to be covered by the Convention.

While there is unanimous agreement on the need to protect underwater cultural heritage from destruction and pillaging, more negotiations are required in several areas, including: whether to place warships under the Convention; how to deal with cultural heritage vestiges located on the continental shelf beyond the 12-mile territorial waters; regional agreements; and whether rivers and lakes should be covered by the Convention.

Speaking at the opening of the meeting, on July 3, UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura said that “there is an urgent need to act in this area, since our underwater cultural heritage has traditionally received little or no protection in many parts of the world”. Existing maritime legislation, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, UNCLOS of 1982, does not cover heritage protection.

Mr Matsuura pointed out that although UNESCO has “successfully created a set of legal instruments” for heritage protection, he considers it “a matter of priority to encourage further ratification of these instruments by our Member States. It is not sufficient to adopt a Convention on the international level,” he argued, “if it is not given legal force in as many countries as possible by national governments.”

Mr Matsuura warned against the threats on cultural heritage, saying: “Deliberate attacks on cultural heritage have become a feature of many contemporary conflicts and art trafficking continues to be a major problem.”

Experts attending the meeting agreed that the present salvaging operations tend to be a free for all. Robert Grenier, Director of the International Committee on Underwater Cultural Heritage (ICUCH) of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), explained: “Salvage legislation gives freedom of action to look for things underwater while disregarding cultural heritage preservation, as salvage law was conceived to protect vessels, goods and the interests of owners as well as those conducting salvaging operations.”

In a presentation to the meeting Mr Grenier spoke of the numerous 18th century wrecks of British and French ships which have been pillaged and destroyed off the shores of Nova Scotia (Canada). After lying undisturbed on the seabed for over two centuries, increasingly inexpensive and sophisticated diving equipment over recent decades has led to the obliteration of these vestiges at the hands of treasure hunters and others. The wrecks at Louisbourg Park, also in Nova Scotia, were held up as an example of efficient protection, as federal legislation there has ensured the preservation of twelve 18th century shipwrecks.

During the experts meeting, UNESCO and the French Ministry of Culture published Volume II of “Background Materials on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage” a 616-page book with texts in English, French or Spanish which contains legal information and examples of the best and worst practices concerning underwater cultural heritage.

Experts attending the meeting included representatives of the United Nations Division of Ocean Affairs and Law of the Sea (DOALOS), the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the International Seabed Authority (ISA), ICOMOS, the World Underwater Federation and non-governmental organisations concerned by sea-issues.

UNESCO was asked by its Executive Board in 1993 to consider the feasibility of an international convention to protect underwater cultural heritage. The General Conference, UNESCO’s main decision-making organ, decided to proceed with the project. Governmental experts started meeting in June 1998 and they will hold a fourth meeting during the first six months of next year.