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. Available from Deakin Research Online http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30065108 Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that permission has been obtained for items included in Deakin Research Online. If you believe that your rights have been infringed by this repository, please contact [email protected] Copyright: 2013, UNESCO 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. © Our Place – The World Heritage Collection 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,