UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage

Our kingdom of the Netherlands has been shaped by a centuries-old relation with water, from the coast of the Netherlands to the Caribbean. It has brought us to far-off places where heritage above and under water reminds us of this until this day. With all this heritage divided across the Kingdom comes a responsibility to properly protect and preserve it for future generations.

Therefore the Kingdom of the Netherlands – The Netherlands, the special municipalities Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba and the countries Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten – wants to ratify the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage within the next few years. On this webpage, all the relevant information concerning the Netherlands and the Caribbean connected to this convention can be found.

UNESCO 2001 Convention

In the fall of 2001 the General Assembly of UNESCO accepted the Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage. The convention was drafted due to the increasing pillaging and destruction of underwater cultural heritage by treasure hunters, souvenir hunters, but also due to other (economic) human activities on the beds of rivers, lakes and seas. Ratifying and implementing the convention provides countries with a minimal legal framework for the protection and management of underwater cultural heritage when they have not arranged this within their own territorial waters, and it arranges the various interests between countries through international co-operation. So it basically strives for a global protection of underwater cultural heritage, not only in the coastal areas and territorial waters, but also outside of that.

In 2009 the convention came into effect. The Netherlands has not signed the convention yet, but endorses the importance of the protection of maritime heritage for the future and is working on ratifying the convention at the moment.

More information on the Convention can be found on the website of UNESCO.

Underwater photo of the base of the turret of one of large caliber cannons of the iron-clad cruiser the Vizcaya in Aserradero, Underwater Archaeological Park linked to the Naval Battle of Santiago de Cuba. — Base of the turret of one of large caliber cannons of the iron-clad cruiser the Vizcaya in Aserradero, Underwater Archaeological Park linked to the Naval Battle of Santiago de Cuba.

Why do we protect underwater heritage?

Maritime archaeological and cultural historical research do not only unearth physical remains but also the stories connected to them. This provides valuable insights into moments in our history, which are sometimes glorious and sometimes far from it. The information gathered by us today provides input for the debate on our past and for current themes in the present. Without proper management, this heritage will disappear. Therefore, valuable maritime heritage needs to be actively preserved for present and future generations. The UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage provides international guidelines for this protection. Furthermore, we are taking this opportunity within the Kingdom to provide an impulse to the management of underwater cultural heritage throughout the entire territory.

The Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE) co-operates with (inter-)national partners to protect underwater cultural heritage, for example through:

The International Programme for Maritime Heritage, in co-operation with UNESCO, has created a new manual for Maritime Archaeologists in English and Spanish over the past years. It is an adaptation of the manual for the training schemes on the management of underwater cultural heritage organised by UNESCO for Asia and the Pacific between 2009 and 2012, which was published in 2012. The new manual is aimed at South America and the Caribbean, which also includes the Dutch islands. For the new edition, the text has been completely rewritten and provided with information on recently developed techniques and examples from the region.

The manual contains teaching materials that have been developed by international experts. Amongst other things it concerns the management of archaeological heritage, appreciating heritage, the storage of information, the exchange of knowledge, the in situ protection and the excavation and conservation of excavated items.

The English manual was published in March 2021 and the Spanish manual will be published in 2023.

The manuals form the basis for the training in Underwater Archaeology (Foundation Courses) that UNESCO organises on a regular basis together with the RCE and they will also serve as reference manuals.

Over the past twelve years, over 300 people have been educated in the work field of Underwater Archaeology and the protection of cultural heritage under water through these trainings. The training for maritime and underwater archaeologists enhances the knowledge in the countries where the students are active. Because of this, better management is possible, also of the Dutch shipwrecks that lay in the coastal waters of other nations. Asides from that, the training act as a platform on which archaeologists from a region can interact with one another and can aid one another in management. Up until now the RCE co-operated with UNESCO in the following trainings:

2012 - Jamaica
2014 – St. Eustatius
2023 - Trinidad & Tobago

Partners

Within the Kingdom, governmental bodies and institutes are increasingly working together to better embed the management of underwater cultural heritage in the present policies and also to give the practical management the needed striking power. We do this together at national governmental level but also at the executive level. For instance, a team of experts focused on practice from the following managing institutions active in the Netherlands as well as in the Caribbean convenes since 2019:

National Archaeological Anthropological Memory Management (NAAM), Curaçao
Museo Arqueologico Nacional Aruba/ National Archeological Museum Aruba (NAMA)
Openbaar Lichaam Bonaire
Saba Archaeological Center (Sabarc)
St. Eustatius Center for Archaeological Research (SECAR)
Sint Maarten Archaeological Center (SIMARC)
Sekshon di Kultura Arte i Literatura (SKAL), Bonaire

UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage

UNESCO 2001 Convention

Why do we protect underwater heritage?

UNESCO Training Manuals

UNESCO Foundation Course on Underwater Cultural Heritage Management

Other activities

Partners

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