World Heritage Review; Vol.:66; 2013

This is the published version

Smith, Anita 2013, World heritage in small island developing states: culture as the fourth pillar of sustainable development, World heritage review, vol. 66, pp. 6-12.

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In Focus World Heritage in Small Island Developing States World Heritage in Small Island Developing States Culture as the fourth pillar of sustainable development

Anita Smith La Trobe University, Melbourne (Australia)

Old Havana and its Fortifications is one of the nine Cuban World Heritage sites.

6 World Heritage No. 66 In Focus

World Heritage No. 66 7 In Focus World Heritage in Small Island Developing States

t the 36th session of Although all the SIDS are characterized Pearling, Testimony of an Island Economy, the World Heritage by island geographies and environments celebrates the traditional harvesting of Committee (2012), Rock and their shared social, economic and pearls from oyster beds in the Persian Gulf, a Islands Southern Lagoon environmental concerns, they exhibit a cultural tradition that shaped the economy of (Palau) and Pearling, great diversity in cultures and languages. Bahrain for millennia and dominated the Gulf Testimony of an Island Economy (Bahrain) In the Pacific Island nations, traditional between the 2nd and early 20th centuries. were inscribed on the World Heritage indigenous systems of knowledge and land The serial property includes the oyster beds List. This brought the total number of tenure shape the island landscapes and themselves, the seashore and built heritage, World Heritage properties in Small Island seascapes, while elsewhere cultural diversity a tangible manifestation of the major social ADeveloping States (SIDS) to twenty-eight, and hybridity are the result of African, and economic institutions of pearling society. eleven of which have been inscribed since Arab, European and Asian influences in Rock Islands Southern Lagoon, an the adoption of the World exquisitely beautiful marine and Heritage Programme for Small terrestrial landscape, was inscribed Island Developing States by the as a mixed site for its outstanding World Heritage Committee in marine biodiversity and evidence 2005. of past human settlement. The The SIDS are thirty-seven archaeological remains of villages, self-governing island states in the settlements of ancestors of the UNESCO regions of Africa present-day Palauans, are found on (five – see box page 10), the the small mushroom-like limestone Arab States (one), Asia and islands. These small communities the Pacific (eighteen), and the survived for over three millennia Caribbean (thirteen). They have in this remote and marginal island been identified by UNESCO as a environment while maintaining special cluster of nations on the the outstanding biodiversity of the basis of the common issues they surrounding ocean. face in achieving sustainable Although vastly different in their development. These arise tangible expressions, both the from their small size, relative Bahrain and Palau sites are out- remoteness, narrow resource standing examples of traditional base and vulnerability to global marine-based economies and hu- environmental and economic man interaction with the environ- challenges, in particular climate ment that have enabled communi- change. This special status was ties to flourish on small islands that reaffirmed at the United Nations have shaped their cultural identity Conference on Sustainable all the way to the present. Development – Rio+20 held in Ribeira Grande, renamed Cidade Velha (Cape Verde) in the late 18th The inscription of Rock Islands century, was the first European colonial outpost in the tropics. Brazil in 2012. Southern Lagoon is a particular © Erik Cleves Kristensen landmark for the Convention in Diverse island nations The SIDS are 37 self-governing island that its Outstanding Universal These island states include states in the UNESCO regions of Value directly acknowledges the some of the most beautiful Africa, the Arab States, Asia and critical role of cultural practices, places on Earth – atolls of white the Pacific, and the Caribbean. traditional systems of resource sand beaches ringed by blue seas management and traditional and coral reefs, mountain ranges knowledge in maintaining covered in cloud forests, historic sustainable human existence on ports and towns and cultural landscapes the histories of these islands. In all, their small islands in the distant and more recent created through traditional agricultural rich and interconnected maritime histories past and into the future (see page 30). practices. The SIDS are some of the smallest reflect successive waves of willing, and nations – the Pacific Island of Niue has a in some cases unwilling, ocean voyagers Sustainability and the population of only 1,269 and Tuvalu a total who created the unique societies of these SIDS Programme land area of only 26 km2 – but also some nations within a diverse and rich tapestry The promotion of culture as the ‘fourth of the most densely populated, such as of natural, cultural and intangible heritage. pillar of sustainable development’ and the Bahrain and Maldives, which respectively The recent inscriptions of the Bahrain and need to ensure that policies for sustainable have a population of over 1,600 and 1,030 Palau sites are emblematic of the unique development in the SIDS are underpinned per square kilometre. contribution of the SIDS to global heritage. by culture and cultural practices were key

8 World Heritage No. 66 Pearling, Testimony of an Island Economy, celebrates the traditional harvesting of pearls from oyster beds in the Persian Gulf, a cultural tradition that shaped In Focus the economy of Bahrain for millennia.

Muharraq is part of the Pearling, Testimony of an Island Economy site in Bahrain. © Rapid Travel Chai

World Heritage No. 66 9 In Focus World Heritage in Small Island Developing States

A major feature of East Rennell (Solomon Islands) is Lake Tegano, which was the former lagoon on the atoll. © Our Place – The World Heritage Collection

10 World Heritage No. 66 recommendations of a landmark Plenary to take place within the broader agenda Capacity Building Programme (CCBP), es- Panel of representatives from three SIDS re- of sustainable development in these small tablished in 2004 as a long-term training gions on the role of culture at a 2005 UN island economies, to which they are also programme aimed at creating a Caribbean meeting in Mauritius to review the prog- expected to contribute. In these coun- network of heritage professionals with skills ress of the 1994 Barbados Programme of tries individuals or very small departments in cultural and natural heritage protection Action for the Sustainable and conservation. CCBP rec- In Focus Development of Small Island ognizes the shared issues and Developing States. The panel needs for training across the argued for the importance of SIDS and provides flexible prac- culture for their sustainable tical training through a network development, emphasizing the of heritage professionals and issues of cultural identity and educational institutions offer- diversity, the protection of the ing approved training courses. tangible and intangible heri- CCBP provides maximum ben- tage, the incorporation of lo- efit from limited resources and cal languages and traditional a potential model for training in knowledge in formal educa- other SIDS regions, in particu- tion, as well as the economic lar the Pacific, was the recent opportunities provided by cul- establishment of a UNESCO ture. Key recommendations Pacific Heritage Hub hosted of the panel were included by the University of the South in the Mauritius Strategy for Pacific, which will provide a Sustainable Development in regional focus for heritage ini- the SIDS 2005–2015, adopted tiatives and training. by the UN in 2005. In response the World Heritage Committee From indigenous at its 29th meeting in Durban cultures to the (South Africa) in 2005 adopted nuclear age the World Heritage Programme In 2012, thirty-two of the Morne Trois Pitons National Park (Dominica). for Small Island Developing thirty-seven SIDS are States © Jenni Conrad States, to coordinate efforts to Parties to the World Heritage exchange information and implement the within government are commonly the focal Convention. Of the twenty-eight World Mauritius Strategy within the context of the point for a range of heritage-related inter- Heritage properties in these island states, World Heritage Convention. national conventions and agreements, as nineteen are cultural, eight natural and one The SIDS Programme works alongside re- well as being responsible for administering mixed. When viewed historically, a number gional World Heritage Action Plans for the national systems for heritage protection. In of themes emerge with regard to these Caribbean and the Pacific Island nations ini- this context and given their shared issues of sites. Many of the early inscriptions focus tially developed in 2004 under the World sustainability and the cultural and histori- on historical colonial forts and towns of the Heritage Committee’s Global Strategy for a cal relationships of many SIDS, it was ap- Caribbean nations, but more recently they balanced and credible World Heritage List. propriate that the SIDS Programme should include an increasingly diverse range of site The Pacific and Caribbean subregions and take a holistic approach in developing types and values that reflect a recognition subsequently the African SIDS have been heritage policies and activities integrating and celebration of the unique heritage of identified as significantly under-represented natural, cultural, intangible and movable small islands and the maturing of the World on the World Heritage List. In 2004 mem- heritage. In the coordination and develop- Heritage List in general. bership of the World Heritage Convention ment of World Heritage activities in the Since 2005, SIDS properties inscribed on in these regions was relatively low and, SIDS, the aim of the programme has been the World Heritage List have represented the together with the absence of systematic to strengthen the overall capacity for heri- heritage of slavery and indenture (Aapravasi programmes for the conservation and man- tage management through the sharing of Ghat, 2006; Le Morne Cultural Landscape, agement of heritage in the SIDS, reflected knowledge and skills within and between 2008, both in Mauritius); 20th-century the broader lack of human and financial the SIDS regions, utilizing existing regional global heritage of the nuclear age (Bikini resources of the majority of them, nine of networks, educational institutions and gov- Atoll Nuclear Test Site, Marshall Islands, which are still considered least-developed ernmental and non-governmental organi- 2010), indigenous stories and knowledge countries (LDCs, see box page 10). Under zations, and supporting and strengthening (Chief Roi Mata’s Domain, Vanuatu, 2008); the circumstances it was clear that pro- community resource management. traditional economies (Pearling, Testimony of motion and implementation of the World An outstanding initiative under the an Island Economy, Bahrain, 2012; Kuk Early A major feature of East Rennell (Solomon Islands) is Lake Tegano, which was the former lagoon on the atoll. Heritage Convention in the SIDS needed SIDS Programme has been the Caribbean Agricultural Site, Papua New Guinea, 2008),

World Heritage No. 66 11 In Focus World Heritage in Small Island Developing States

vernacular and colonial architecture (Cidade are concentrated in sixteen of the thirty- strategies of SIDS communities would Velha, Historic Centre of Ribeira Grande, seven SIDS, with nine being Cuban sites. make a strong contribution towards a Cape Verde, 2009; Historic Bridgetown Less than 3 per cent of a total of 962 World representative World Heritage List. Similarly and its Garrison, Barbados, 2011) as well Heritage sites are in the SIDS. Gaps in the the natural heritage of the SIDS continues as superb natural and mixed to be under-represented. Only sites (Phoenix Islands Protected three marine properties in SIDS Area, Kiribati, 2010; Rock Islands have thus far been included on Southern Lagoon, Palau, 2012). the World Heritage List. Their The Outstanding Universal terrestrial natural heritage is Value of most directly reference slightly better represented the nature of islands – the sea, by six properties, however the maritime histories, their of these only East Rennell relationships with other peoples (Solomon Islands) represents the and places that underpinned exceptional natural heritage of their histories and identities. Melanesia that dominates the Although nominations of the Tentative Lists of Papua New built heritage of the colonial Guinea and the Solomon Islands. era have continued, the The peoples and cultures Outstanding Universal Value of of the SIDS are testament to these properties are increasingly human ingenuity in reaching celebrated not as an architectural these small isolated pieces of expression of colonial power land, utilizing their resources but rather as an embodiment and building sustainable ways of the complex encounters and of life, flourishing cultures processes of exchange and and traditions that continue their unique expression in the to pattern the island land and island landscapes. These trends seascapes. These communities, are also evident in properties while particularly vulnerable included on the Tentative Lists Museo de las Casas Reales, Colonial City of Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic). to the impacts of both climate that have now been submitted change and global economic © Luigi Crespo by the majority of SIDS. These fluctuations, have identified also include rock art sites and Communities have identified their their cultural heritage as archaeological sites reflecting cultural heritage as underpinning underpinning their sustainability. the early settlements by their sustainability. The contribution of cultural indigenous peoples of both the and environmental diversity Pacific and Caribbean SIDS. to sustainable development was reaffirmed at Rio+20 in Filling gaps in the future representation of SIDS countries, site types 2012. The international cooperation that While the increasing representation and themes continue. Of particular note is underpins the World Heritage Convention is of the SIDS on the World Heritage List is the lack of cultural landscape inscriptions. a call to the governments and communities impressive, especially since 2005, given their Thematic studies suggest that the of the developed economies to support economic and social needs, it should be kept outstanding cultural landscapes created by these island communities in their efforts in mind that the twenty-eight inscriptions the rich agricultural and marine subsistence towards a sustainable future.

Small Island Developing States by region

- Africa (Cape Verde, Comoros, Mauritius, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles) - Arab States (Bahrain) - Asia/Pacific (Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu) - Caribbean (Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago)

The SIDS nations of Comoros, Kiribati, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu and Vanuatu are also least-developed countries.

12 World Heritage No. 66 In Focus The international cooperation that underpins the World Heritage Convention is a call to the governments and communities of the developed economies to support these island communities in their efforts towards a sustainable future.

The Palace of Sans Souci, the buildings at Ramiers and, in particular, the Citadel (Haiti) serve as universal symbols of liberty, being the first monuments to be constructed by black slaves who had gained their freedom.

World Heritage No. 66 13