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More recently, there has also been an acknowledgement of the economic and
environmental importance of cultural heritage. Crucially, it may be key to success-
fully achieving sustainable development. Cultural goods and services are unique
commodities and may contribute to sustainable development through the establish-
ment of viable and competitive cultural industries. From an environmental manage-
ment perspective, the inextricable link between cultural and biological diversity is
well established, both in the social and natural sciences (Maffi
2007
). Many parts
of the world are both culturally and biologically diverse. This occurrence is not
coincidental as traditional natural resource management practices have contributed
to the maintenance of genetic diversity (Posey
1999
). In the context of law and
policy, the concept of sustainable development, involving the integration of eco-
nomic, social-cultural and environmental elements, recognizes these important
linkages between people and nature.
The safeguarding of cultural heritage raises important legal issues. Law can, for
example, provide a framework for cultural rights, mechanisms to safeguard and
protect heritage, and regulations to prevent the misappropriation and exploitation of
expressions of culture. International law has an important role to play in this con-
text. For example, human rights law establishes the legal foundation to assert rights
to practice culture
3
and work continues on the development of a global framework
for the protection of cultural expression and folklore.
4
While the legal issues sur-
rounding the utilization of cultural heritage remain crucial, they presuppose its
continued existence. The world is facing cultural heritage extinctions just as signifi-
cant as biological ones. In particular, it was recognized several decades ago that
“Indigenous cultures around the world are being disrupted and destroyed”
5
; and,
with the added pressure placed upon many communities by climate change, anthro-
pologists now “fear a wave of cultural extinction” (Rosenthal
2010
). It is in this
context that the safeguarding and preservation of existing cultural heritage is of
critical importance.
3
For example, the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
1966
(see
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/cescr.htm
) refers to the freedom to pursue cultural develop-
ment. In addition, indigenous collective rights in respect of culture are articulated in
ILO
Convention No 169 Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries,
1989
(see
http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/cgi-lex/convde.pl?C169
) and in the United Nations
Declaration on
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
,
2007
(see
http://www.iwgia.org/sw248.asp
) including respect
for and protection of cultural values and practices and the right to practise and revitalize cultural
traditions and customs.
4
For example, the
World Intellectual Property Organizations (WIPO) Intergovernmental
Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore
met in July 2010 to discuss draft text for an international agreement on the protection of traditional
cultural expressions and expressions of folklore (WIPO
2010
): see
http://wipo.int/meetings/en/
topic.jsp?group_id=110
.
5
Declaration of Belém,
1988
which is also well known for being the first international instrument
to note the “inextricable link between cultural and biological diversity”: see
www.ethnobiology.
net/global_coalition/declaration.php
.
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