Between International Law, Kastom and Sustainable Development: Cultural Heritage in Vanuatu - Island Futures: Conservation and Development Across the Asia-Pacific Region - page 20

international or regional law can play in pluralist legal systems, drawing attention
to “a new body of law that emerges from various globalization processes to multiple
sectors of civil society independently of the laws of nation states” (Teubner 1997 : 4;
see also Serrano 2010 ).
Much of the literature on cultural heritage takes a rights-based approach and/or
seeks to determine the obligation(s) a state has towards the international commu-
nity in protecting and preserving the cultural heritage situated in its geographical
area (e.g. O'Keefe 2004 ; Thornberry 2002 ; Crawford 1988 ; Prott 1988 ). Rarely
is it asked how pluralist developing states with limited drafting, justice and
enforcement resources can utilize international or regional law to support cultural
heritage preservation and sustainable economic development. Using Vanuatu's
World Heritage site Chief Roi Mata's Domain (CRMD) as a case study, this chapter
seeks to determine whether and how international and/or regional law offers a way
to support preservation of cultural heritage and provide the basis for sustainable
economic development.
In order to present a comprehensive picture of cultural heritage protection in
Vanuatu via the link between international/regional law and national development
strategy, this chapter first defines the concept of cultural heritage while making
particular reference to the cultural heritage site of Chief Roi Mata's Domain
(CRMD) in Vanuatu, as this site is emblematic of the context of heritage protec-
tion in the wider Pacific region. Such a regional focus is essential since small
island developing states (SIDS) in the Pacific, for various reasons to be discussed
below, must be considered a specific category of states in relation to the protection
of cultural heritage. Section two examines issues of protection and preservation at
the Chief Roi Mata Domain. On the basis of the CRMD case study, section three
then discusses options for utilizing relevant international and regional agree-
ments, while also describing the challenges that such options entail. This discus-
sion leads to several conclusions as to the utility and efficacy of international and
regional law in relation to cultural heritage protection in Vanuatu and the Pacific
in general.
Cultural Heritage in the Pacific
The concept of culture is a rather complex and steadily evolving idea in both
national and international law (Barth 1989 ). It has developed over time to encom-
pass what the Oxford Dictionary ( 2010 ) refers to as “the distinctive ideas, customs,
social behavior, products, or way of life of a particular society, people, or period”.
According to Francioni ( 2004 : 13) “cultural heritage is linked to the human
element… it represents the symbolic continuity of a society beyond its contingent
biological existence”, a condition intrinsic to tangible as well as intangible cultural
heritage of nations. Cultural heritage is at the core of the 1972 World Heritage
Convention (UNESCO 1972 , WHC, Art. 1), embracing “… the combined works of