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Over the past few days a lot of comments have been expressed on the UNESCO treaty and it=92s effects on sport/wreck divers. A lot of it has been pur= e BS. Over the past 2 years I have been tracking the progress of UNESCO and work= ing with Pete Hess to make sure that any treaty has the comments of divers lik= e us in it. Now for a short (I hope) review of what UNESCO is: First of all it is not "UNESCO", UNESCO is the United Nation agency for education. The proper name is the Convention on the Protection of Underwat= er Cultural Heritage and is in itself a revision of the International Council= on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) International Charter on the Protection and Management of Underwater Cultural Heritage. Now ICOMOS is really out in le= ft field, UNESCO is an attempt to cut back on the extreme position of the ICO= MOS draft. What the UNESCO treaty is supposed is to require all signatory states to "preserve underwater cultural heritage for the benefit of humankind". The provisions that effect us the most are that the signatory states will 1) "require the notification of any discovery =85 in their exclusive economic= zones or on their continental shelf." 2) "take such measures as may be necessary= to ensure that its nationals and vessels=85 do not engage in any activity aff= ecting underwater cultural heritage in a manner inconsistent with=85 the charter"= 3) "prohibit activities affecting underwater cultural heritage in areas where= no State =85.(has) jurisdiction" 4) "shall provide for the seizure of underwa= ter cultural heritage =85.. brought to its territory" It should be noted that only properly trained archaeologists are to be use= d for the recovery of any underwater cultural heritage. That collection are = to be kept together and that for profit salvage operations are inconsistent w= ith the spirit of the convention and are not to be permitted. The draft defines underwater cultural heritage as "all traces of human existence underwater for at lest 100 years" and all wrecks if they are abandoned. Abandoned is defined as all wrecks where technology has been available for 25 years and has not been used by the owner to find it or wh= ere no technology exists and no " assertion of interest by the owner" has been made for 50 years. Naval ship are excluded form the draft and will be owne= d by the nation of origin forever. What does all this mean to us divers? Well, that bottle you found last sum= mer from 1898 is illegal and you have stolen underwater cultural heritage that should be "preserve =85 for the benefit of humankind", that porthole from = the 1948 wreck off North Carolina is contraband, and the US Government (or the government of the nation you are a citizen of) is going to be looking over your shoulder if you go wreck diving anywhere in the world. It really coul= d get that bad. What really gets me going is that the draft is supposed to have included N= on- Governmental Organizations (NGO=92s) including agencies representing sport divers. The agency that they used for us divers was the "World Underwater Federation" (I never heard of them either) that is known by it=92s French initials as CMAS. Of course CMAS said that all sport divers were in favor = of the draft. Now what do you do? Let your voice be heard, contact your Senators and Congressmen and or representatives, you can also send comments to Mr. Bob Blumberg, Department of Commerce, =09=09=09=09=09=09 14th and Constitution Avenues NW, Washington fax him at 202-647-9099 Pete Johnson ( a wreck diver for 20 years) -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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