Paris, July 10 (N° 2001-81)- A major step has been taken to ensure the protection and ban the commercial exploitation of underwater heritage, including archaeological sites and shipwrecks which have become vulnerable to unscrupulous treasure hunters in recent years. Experts appointed by the governments of close to 90 countries reached agreement this weekend on a draft convention to this effect.

The fruit of a 4-year process of negotiations, the draft will be submitted for the approval of the General Conference of UNESCO in November. It seeks to protect heritage situated in the territorial waters of states, as well as further away from their shores, on the continental shelf and in countries’ Exclusive Economic Zones, as well as on the deep sea bed. The text stipulates that in situ preservation must always be the first option. Before becoming an international convention, it will have to be approved by two-thirds of UNESCO’s 188 Member States.

Underwater heritage includes not only sites such as the Lighthouse of Alexandria (Egypt) but also ships wrecked more than 100 years ago, such as the galleons of colonial Spain which feature among the estimated 3 million shipwrecks that dot the world’s seabeds after many thousands of years of seafaring.

“Protecting this heritage is extremely important and increasingly urgent as no site or shipwreck is now out of bounds for treasure hunters, whereas in the 1960s sites and shipwrecks situated in the deep water were inaccessible,” explained Lyndel Prott, Director of UNESCO’s Cultural Heritage Division who has been responsible for work on the draft Convention since the Executive Board launched the process in 1993. “New technologies have made deep water wrecks available and this technology is becoming cheaper,” Ms Prott added.

The experts had to contend with a number of sensitive issues, notably the protection of sites of spiritual significance and war graves. Sites of spiritual significance include areas of great importance to indigenous people, for example. “Their recognition testifies to a growing awareness regarding intangible cultural heritage”, said Ms Prott.

The text furthermore enshrines the need to respect human remains in an article of general principles, which also covers war graves, for example ships that sank during battle. While many countries, such as the United Kingdom and Germany, protect sunken warships in which there was loss of life, others claimed that all should be equal before death. They explained that they were reluctant to distinguish military underwater graves, objecting to the granting of special status to shipwrecks that carried slave traders and invading armies.

The responsibilities of states over ships flying their flag which might be undertaking activities directed at this heritage and the responsibilities of states over heritage on the continental shelf off their coasts was the subject of much debate. Some states were concerned that the convention could undermine the existing legal order based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982. In the event, the draft stipulates that the Convention will be interpreted and applied in the context of, and consistent with, international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

If adopted by the General Conference the Convention will become the first multilateral text on this subject and the fourth heritage Convention of UNESCO, after the 1954 The Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict; the 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property; and the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

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