Ensuring the Viability of Cultural Heritage: The Role of International Heritage Law for Pacific Island States - Island Futures: Conservation and Development Across the Asia-Pacific Region - page 42

These institutions and programs have gone a long way in safeguarding cultural
heritage. Administrative fragmentation across governmental departments, however,
has in some cases resulted in duplication of effort. Centralized guiding policies are
needed and both Samoa and Fiji are in the process of developing these. Furthermore,
situations in which cultural heritage might be a vehicle for sustainable development
need to be proactively identified. Cultural tourism is one such area and there are
some examples of successful enterprises in the region. As will be seen below, these
examples illustrate the potential benefits of CSICH ratification at both the national
level and in terms of international assistance.
Legal Governance
While conservation work is undertaken at the national level, few laws protect cultural
heritage. This legislative gap can have serious consequences if, for example, there are
no mechanisms to list and protect specific threatened cultural heritage, laws to assess
impacts of future activities, or regulations to prevent misappropriation of heritage.
Most of the countries have legislation establishing the institutions referred to
above: for example, the Vanuatu National Cultural Council Act and the Fiji
Museum Act . In addition, some have intellectual property laws based upon western
legislative models: for example, the Vanuatu Copyright and Related Rights Act
2000 and Fiji Copyright Act 1999 . In Samoa, the Copyright Act 1998 also provides
for the protection of expressions of folklore and therefore offers some protection
against reproduction, communication and performance beyond the customary con-
text. Other relevant pieces of legislation, such as the Vanuatu Preservation of Sites
and Artefacts Act and Fijian Preservation of Objects of Archaeological and
Paleontological Interest Act, relate to the protection of tangible and moveable heri-
tage. Many of these statutes have been in place for some time or were not designed
to protect intangible heritage.
Fiji is one of the first countries in the region to be developing specific heritage
law. The draft Heritage Decree is designed to meet the World Heritage Operational
Guidelines as a lack of legislation has been seen to be a barrier to the listing of heri-
tage sites in Fiji. 12 A National Heritage Register will be established and managed
by a National Heritage Council, with locally significant sites to be managed at the
local level. The Fiji Environmental Management Act includes 'heritage' values as
one of its components and in this regard the Department of the Environment is
required to liaise with the Fiji Museum in undertaking impact assessments. The
new Heritage Decree will specifically provide for cultural impact assessment.
In Vanuatu, the Environmental Management and Conservation Act 2002 provides
for the registration of Community Conservation Areas which can include sites
12 For example, in Fiji, Levuka has been on the tentative list for some time; but it has not yet been
nominated for inscription.