Paris, March 22 (No.2001-45) - Governmental experts representing some 100 states from around the world will meet to examine the Draft Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage destined to protect such valuable heritage (shipwrecks and archaeological sites) - increasingly vulnerable to pillaging by treasure hunters as ever more efficient underwater excavation equipment becomes more accessible - at UNESCO Headquarters, from March 26 to April 7.

In many cases, pillaging has already led to the loss of material of inestimable value to the study of the origins and history of civilizations. However, the protection of the underwater cultural heritage lacks an adequate universal legislation. Existing maritime legislation, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982, does not adequately cover heritage protection.

Three meetings of governmental experts to discuss the Draft Convention have already taken place (in 1998, 1999 and 2000). Considerable progress was achieved during these meetings but further consultations were required on some areas. In dealing with the urgent need to protect cultural heritage, the experts are facing the challenge of having to integrate different concerns including: respect for existing international laws touching upon this subject such as the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea, the particular interests of States, cultural, scholarly, environmental and scientific considerations, the rights of the public and the interests of private entities.

Experts attending the meeting will include 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), the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and the Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), The World Conservation Union (IUCN), the World Underwater Federation. Non-governmental organizations concerned by sea-issues will also be represented.

Some important issues are still to be resolved during the coming meeting, notably whether to place sunken warships under the Convention; how to deal with cultural heritage vestiges located on the continental shelf beyond the 12-mile territorial waters; and whether rivers and lakes should be covered by the Convention. UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura has expressed the hope that this Fourth Meeting of Governmental Experts will be the final one, paving the way for the adoption of the draft Convention by Member States of UNESCO at the 31st session of the General Conference at the end of 2001.

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Contact: UNESCO’s Press Service, tel (+33) (0)1 45 68 17 44, fax (+33) (0)1 45 68 56 52