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 44

on Culture and Education. 18 In 2002 SPC also developed the Model Law on
Traditional Knowledge and Expressions of Culture. These laws provide a frame-
work for ownership of traditional cultural rights, prior informed consent, and
utilization of traditional knowledge. Currently, PIFS is leading an inter-agency
collaboration for development of national legislation based on this law. 19 The
Traditional Knowledge Implementation Action Plan 20 was prepared in response to
member countries' requests for technical assistance to advance the Model Law and
develop national systems. The Action Plan addresses the protection of traditional
knowledge through the development of national and regional frameworks at two
levels: traditional biological resources, including the protection of plant genetic
resources and knowledge; and traditional knowledge and expressions of culture,
including traditional arts, songs, and dances. The Action Plan includes a pilot program
aimed at developing traditional knowledge bills in six Pacific states: Cook Islands,
Fiji, Kiribati, Palau, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.
International Heritage Law
Contemporaneously with the development of cultural heritage initiatives at the
national and regional levels, the international community has similarly worked to
protect these resources, mostly through the work of UNESCO. The most well known
is the World Heritage Convention which provides for the international listing of sites
of natural and cultural heritage that have outstanding universal value. Unique and
globally significant sites thus receive international recognition. While the World
Heritage Convention is an important element in the suite of UNESCO's heritage
treaties, its focus is upon built and natural heritage, with no protection of intangible
heritage per se. Furthermore, many indigenous and traditional cultures have propor-
tionately less monumental heritage than Eurocentric communities whose cultural
heritage dominates the World Heritage List. This inadequacy stimulated development
of international law aimed at protecting a broader range of heritage types.
Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage
UNESCO began to focus on the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage in
1971, with the first normative instrument being the Recommendation on the
Safeguarding of Traditional Culture and Folklore in 1989 (Aikawa 2004 ). This was
18 http://www.spc.int/en/our-work/social/human-development/news/196-cultural-profile-to-
increase-in-the-education-sector.html .
19 Collaborators include SPC, Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program, and World
Intellectual Property Organization.
20 http://www.forumsec.org/resources/uploads/attachments/documents/Traditional%20
Knowledge%20Action%20Plan%202009.pdf .