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The UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage,1 in force since 2009, is on course to become a flagship of international resource management. In concluding words of its preamble, the treaty is "[c]ommitted to improving the effectiveness of measures at international, regional and national levels for the preservation in situ or, if necessary for scientific or protective purposes, the careful recovery of underwater cultural heritage."2 Progress toward that goal has been gradual but steady.
It is important to appreciate at the outset that the Convention's effectiveness relies on a multi-faceted regime that transcends the expected compliance with its specific requirements by States Parties. Within a limited institutional framework, the Convention has generated, and is now supported by, broader measures of cooperation, education and legal development. Therefore, before turning to the historical background and content of the Convention, this article will summarize its institutional framework and programmatic regime.
I
INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
The main organ of the Convention is the Meeting of States Parties to the Convention.3 The Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) convenes the Meeting in ordinary sessions at least once every two years and can also schedule extraordinary sessions of the body. A subsidiary mechanism, the Scientific and Technical Advisory Body (STAB), has been instrumental in supporting a programmatic agenda to support the Convention. Meeting annually, its twelve experts promote measures of emergency preparedness and foster the development of scientifically responsible activity directed at underwater archaeology and protection of sites. Its mission is comparable to that of the wellestablished international regimes for protecting archaeological sites and material on land. STAB has therefore made concrete recommendations for national laws, regulations and interventions and provided technical assistance to States Parties, such as Haiti, Panama and Madagascar, that have faced problems due to chance discoveries, unlicensed treasure hunting or scientific uncertainties. STAB has also established a Code of Ethics for Diving on Submerged Archaeological Sites that is applicable to all divers within the territory of States Parties and to their nationals without territorial limitations.
Responsible public access to the underwater cultural heritage (UCH) is a lodestar of STAB's work. In UNESCO's words, "only who knows the heritage cares about it."4 In particular, the Meeting of States Parties has established...