Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
protection at national, municipal and local level to safeguard the value and existence
of the heritage site for the generations to come. These measures are of crucial impor-
tance; but their enactment and enforcement encounter practical and theoretical
difficulties in states with pluralist legal systems. The situation is even more complex
in countries with a scarcity of land, which often is simultaneously managed through
conflicting state law systems and customary rules. The next section illustrates these
difficulties based on the exemplifying case of Vanuatu's Chief Roi Mata Domain.
Vanuatu's Chief Roi Mata Domain:
Kastom
and Sustainability
Like elsewhere in the Pacific,
kastom
forms an important part of the lives of
ni-Vanuatu people. In country context,
kastom
has been described as “the word that
people in Vanuatu use to characterize their own knowledge and practice in
distinction to everything they identify as having come from outside their place”
(Bolton
2003
: xiii). Chief Roi Mata's Domain (CRMD), a cultural landscape
located in Northwest Efate, Vanuatu, is certainly closely related with
kastom
as it
is associated with the life and death of the paramount Chief Roi Mata, who is
renowned for reshaping the social and political landscape of the central islands of
Vanuatu during the sixteenth century by instituting a tribal or totem system (
naflak
).
He lived in the ancient village of Mangaas, drew his last breath at Fels Cave, and
was buried - along with members of his family and court - on Artok Island. These
three sites, along with the seascape between them, form the official boundary of
Vanuatu's 'world heritage property'. The buffer zone surrounding and protecting
the World Heritage property encompasses the two main villages of the Lelema
region - Mangaliliu on North Efate and Natapau on Lelepa. Customary rights to
land are claimed by approximately 200 members of these communities, many of
whom have leased their land to foreign investors (Kalotiti et al.
2009
).
Land Management and Heritage Protection Issues in CRMD
Traditionally, decision-making within the Lelema region was vested in the chiefs.
Today, the 12 principal chiefs of the Lelema region comprise the Lelema Council
of Chiefs, which meets regularly to discuss a range of village issues. The chiefs and
landowners of CRMD have established a committee to look after the day-to-day
management of heritage and tourism at CRMD. The Committee is supported by a
group of national and international advisors on a volunteer basis, facilitated by the
Vanuatu Cultural Centre as the State Party representative for the CRMD. For the
last few years, Australia has been funding Australian Youth Ambassadors to work
with CRMD on priority actions.
Chief Roi Mata's Domain and the communities living within its Buffer Zone
present a microcosm of many of the environmental, social and economic challenges
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