Marine heritage

The term “Marine Heritage” is derived from the term “ World Heritage ”, which is widely used in international practice and is used in foreign and Russian laws. Under the marine heritage is understood: Based on this approach, the following definition of the term “Marine Heritage” is proposed:

• cultural heritage (movable and immovable material objects):
  • sea ​​monuments and memorial complexes (sea churches, sanctuaries, memorial monuments, busts, steles, burials, etc.);
  • historical, traditional ships and their replicas; museum ships
  • historical coastal fortifications, ports, historic lighthouses and hydraulic structures;
  • places of interest (historical settlements and cities, historical waterways, places of battles, deployment of troops and headquarters, negotiations related to maritime history and maritime glory, places related to the history of the development of new territories and the lives of prominent navigators and pioneers);
  • places of shipwrecks and objects of underwater archeology, elements of the marine cultural landscape associated with traditional nature management, marine research stations with their research areas,
  • marine collections, archival and library collections.
• cultural heritage (intangible heritage): marine traditions of shipbuilding, navigation and nature management, historical memory, folklore, traditional knowledge, etc .;
• natural heritage (marine and coastal unique natural sites): historically significant and / or specially protected territories (water areas), islands and coastal territories, protected species of animals and plants.

Based on the synthetic approach, the following options for defining the term “marine heritage” are possible:

• Marine heritage is a historical experience of human development of water spaces.
• The maritime heritage of the Russian Federation is objects of cultural heritage associated with the history of maritime activities, maritime traditions of the peoples of the Russian Federation, and natural heritage sites related to the sea and coastal territories of the Russian Federation.
• Maritime heritage - objects of cultural heritage in the historical, cultural and natural environment associated with the history of maritime activities, maritime traditions; natural heritage sites related to marine and coastal territories. The objects of cultural and natural heritage associated with rivers and lakes adjoin the category of marine heritage.

The term “marine heritage” is recorded in the “Strategy for the Development of the Marine Activities of the Russian Federation until 2030”, approved by order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated December 8, 2010 No. 2205-p. Section I “General Provisions” noted that “for the implementation of the Strategy, it is necessary to concentrate attention, organizational efforts and resources of state authorities, local authorities, business circles, the scientific community and public organizations on the main problems of the development of marine activities. The phased resolution of these problems should contribute to increasing the level of national security of the state, positive changes in the socio-economic situation in the country, preserving Russian maritime traditions and maritime heritage, as well as increasing the efficiency of the functioning of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the state security system, the transport system, the food, fuel and energy and raw materials complexes taking into account their influence on each other and on the marine environment. ”

The problems of marine heritage are actively discussed at the international level. According to the Resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe 1168 (1998) “Challenges of the future in the development of marine science and technology in Europe”, the European maritime heritage is defined as “consisting of historical vessels (including sunken vessels), immovable heritage (ports, coastal sea, river and canal constructions) and “documentary heritage” (books, archives, paintings, music and other objects) (item 8). New scientific discoveries and technologies make it possible to find and return archaeological remains from the seabed (item 9). Parliamentary Assembly drew attention to the need to use special knowledge in the field of science and technology in the formation of the European maritime policy, which also involves the protection of the marine heritage (subparagraph (ii) of paragraph 14).

In October 2000, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) announced an extensive report entitled “Marine and River Cultural Heritage”, which addressed possible threats and risks to heritage related to the development of marine activities. This report attempts to define the term “marine and river heritage”. The author of the document writes that “the report is called“ Marine and River Cultural Heritage ”. This title emphasizes two aspects of the problem. On the one hand, it has a special mention of the inland territories (river heritage). On the other hand, more importantly, the name “marine and river cultural heritage” is not limited to objects that have sunk in rivers and seas. Sea and river heritage is not limited to what has been lost and can be re-identified. The name extends to cultural sites that have never been flooded or lost in one way or another, but can be lost if active steps are not taken to preserve them. Such objects are obsolete docks and harbor structures, coastal fortifications (for example estuarine forts), lighthouses, dams and jetties, fishing traps and fishing villages, ships whose life has already expired, but which can be preserved in their original form or even in working condition for private or public use for commercial, recreational or educational purposes. The marine and river heritage includes traditions related to ships, from purely technical, for example, shipbuilding techniques, to the decoration of ships and equipment, maritime signs, folklore, sailor songs, etc. "

As a result of the discussion, recommendation document No. 1486 (2000) “Maritime and fluvial cultural heritage” was adopted in which PACE member countries (including Russia) are invited to pay attention to the preservation of the marine heritage.

One of the sections of the integrated maritime policy being discussed by the European Union is devoted to the formation of the image of a united Europe on the basis of updating its maritime heritage. Politics states that it is the sea and the marine heritage that is one of the principles that unites all the peoples of Europe and is the basis of their identity. Item 4.5. politics sounds “Raising the Visibility of Maritime Europe”, which can be translated as “drawing attention to the marine activities of Europe.” This section states that “an integrated maritime policy should help enhance the image of maritime activities and maritime professions. The policy should promote the development of the European maritime heritage, support maritime communities, including port cities and traditional fishing communes, as well as objects related to their activities and traditional knowledge and skills, develop communication between communities, which will contribute to the dissemination of knowledge about them and make these communities more visible. "

Since 2009, the annual celebration of Maritime Europe Day has been instituted as part of a unified maritime policy. A major maritime forum has been timed to coincide with this day, at which politicians of the highest level speak about the problems of maritime Europe. In 2010, such a forum was held in Guillon, Spain, (European Maritime Day Stakeholder Conference, 18 - 21 may, 2010). This forum has actively discussed issues related to the study and preservation of marine heritage. In particular, issues of building integrated coastal management systems, including elements of the marine cultural and natural heritage, were discussed. On January 2, 2009, the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, adopted by the UNESCO General Conference in October 2001, which provides for the strengthening of measures for the protection of sunken ships, historical monuments and works of art, entered into force. Russia has not yet acceded to this convention and has not begun any negotiations with the representation of the convention.

Many countries have adopted special laws for the protection of the marine heritage. So, in the USA there is a federal law on the protection of the marine heritage of the National Maritime Heritage Act, a law on the protection of historic lighthouses. Most of the world's leading maritime powers have similar laws protecting the national maritime heritage. A number of maritime countries have adopted special laws to protect lighthouses as objects of historical and cultural heritage. In Russia, most of the historical lighthouses built in the XIX - early XX centuries. are in extremely poor condition, are not preserved and are not understood as heritage objects.

In different countries of the world a large number of legislative acts regarding underwater heritage. Appendix 1 provides a brief list of laws relating to the marine heritage of international and national levels.

The study, conservation and use of marine heritage is a whole block of maritime activities in Russia. Moreover, the marine heritage can be considered as a resource for the development of marine activities:

• Marine heritage as a factor in updating the marine consciousness of the nation (educational resource);
• Maritime heritage as a geopolitical resource;
• Maritime heritage as an economic resource;

Consider these properties of marine heritage in more detail.

Maritime heritage is an essential element of the system of patriotic education, popularization of maritime history, and fulfill the most important function of consolidating the marine consciousness of the nation.

Obviously, to achieve important breakthrough results of maritime activities, it is necessary not just mobilization, but rather the formation of the marine consciousness of the nation, which is currently virtually absent. In Europe, the marine heritage is declared one of the factors that unites the peoples inhabiting it. In the United States, the military department is carrying out tremendous work to preserve and popularize the naval heritage. The Naval History and Heritage Command, which is a division of the Department of the Navy and includes 12 naval museums, art galleries, libraries and archives, is responsible for preserving the naval heritage. underwater archeology. In this regard, the policy of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation regarding cultural heritage (maritime museums, creative groups, etc.), which turned out to be among the non-core assets of the ministry, is of concern. The exclusion of the ideological basis from military activity, the artificial creation of an ideological vacuum can lead to extremely negative consequences. Obviously, no civilian agency can formulate and support the idea that underlies military activity.

Objects of maritime heritage on an international scale (including the Arctic and Antarctic) are elements and symbols of presence in the territories and evidence of active maritime activities of the state in the World Ocean.

The shores of the seas of the Russian Federation are the border territory of Russia, which is of strategic importance to the state. Formation and maintenance of the coastal area protection system is the most important state function. Cultural and natural heritage sites in the coastal zone can become an essential element of the border protection system. At this stage, heritage objects are not included in the system of state border protection and are not even recognized as the most important potential elements of such a system.

The role of heritage in enhancing border protection:

• Cultural heritage objects in the border zone are historical evidence of the development of the territory;
• The activity of the state on the protection of heritage objects is evidence of the activity of the state in the coastal / border zone;
• The protection of heritage sites is enshrined in numerous international conventions, which significantly increases their conservation status in the face of the international community. Any actions of a potential adversary that could lead to harm to protected heritage sites will automatically be condemned by the international community;
• Activities for the protection of cultural and natural heritage sites require a staff of employees (primarily on the spot), which helps to increase the development of the border areas of the Russian Federation and reduce their transparency.

Thus, cultural and natural heritage sites are strategic sites and should be included in the state border protection system.

A number of states have already recognized the importance of heritage sites in coastal areas. So, in the USA the already mentioned law on the protection of lighthouses as objects of historical heritage is adopted, which automatically increases their significance and status both within the state and at the international level.

At the present stage, heritage is already playing a prominent role in the global economy, being an essential element of tourist routes. Heritage sites act as centers around which the marine infrastructure crystallizes (yacht marinas, marinas, service companies) and the tourist infrastructure (hotels, shops, restaurants, etc.). In many developed countries, marine heritage is a key element of the country's marine facade, an indicator of its well-being and level of development.

The “multiplicative” role of the marine heritage in the economy is great through attracting new personnel to the industry and updating the marine consciousness.

It is likely that natural resources will be considered by society in their economic activity as a heritage. There are already prerequisites for this, in particular, the international legal concept of the “Common Heritage of Humanity” enshrined in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which was put forward by the Ambassador of Malta A. Pardo at the UN General Assembly in 1967 as the basis for international legal regulation of the activities of states to develop the bottom of the oceans and its resources. The status of “common heritage of mankind” was officially assigned to the International Seabed Area by the UN General Assembly in 1970 in the Declaration of Principles defining the bottom of the seas and oceans and its subsoil beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. Then this term was applied with some nuances in the 1979 Agreement on the Activities of States on the Moon and other celestial bodies. It is likely that in the future, states will move on to the concept of “national heritage” to distinguish themselves from the “common heritage of mankind,” including not only objects of cultural heritage in this concept.

The decision to establish the Interagency Commission on Marine Heritage was made at a meeting of the Marine Board held on December 24, 2010. The work of the interdepartmental commission on marine heritage was headed by the Chairman of the Federation Council Commission on National Marine Policy Vyacheslav Alekseevich Popov.

It is important to note that the solution to the problems of conservation and use of marine heritage objects is possible only in the interaction of several ministries and departments, since the owners of many objects are the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, the Border Service, etc.

The creation of the Interagency Commission on Marine Heritage will solve the most acute problems in the field of study, conservation, use and information support of marine heritage. In particular: the formation of a regulatory framework for marine heritage, the preparation of a register and an atlas of marine heritage (including objects located abroad), the creation of scientific and educational centers dealing with marine heritage issues.

The Association was established on March 1, 2009 in St. Petersburg aboard the legendary icebreaker Krasin and unites individuals and legal entities involved in the study, preservation and popularization of marine heritage. The Association includes representatives of most major maritime organizations in the field of conservation, study and updating of marine heritage. The Director General of the Museum of the World Ocean, Honored Worker of Culture of Russia, Honorary Citizen of Kaliningrad Svetlana Gennadievna Sivkova was unanimously elected Chairman of the Association.

Association Objectives:

• ensuring the preservation, study and wide promotion of the marine heritage of Russia, as part of the world marine heritage, for the upbringing and education of the young generation of our country;
• the formation of a single institutional field for members of the Association and all other organizations and citizens interested in preserving, studying and popularizing the marine heritage of Russia.

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• Filin P. A. About the strategy of preservation and development of maritime museums of Russia // Preservation of the marine heritage in museums of Russia. Materials of the VI international scientific and practical conference. Kaliningrad, 2012.S. 172-181.

UNESCO Conventions

• Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. (entered into force in 1975). The USSR ratified the Convention on March 9, 1988.
• Convention for the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage. (Adopted in Paris on 02.11.2001 at the 31st session of the General Conference of UNESCO)

Documents of the Parliamentary Assembly of Europe

• Recommendation 848 (1978) on the underwater cultural heritage
• Maritime and fluvial cultural heritage Motion for a recommendation presented by Mr O'Hara and others. Doc. 8055.2 April 1998.
• Maritime and fluvial cultural heritage. Recommendation 1486 (2000)
• Maritime and fluvial cultural Heritage. Recommendation 1486 (2000). Reply from the Committee of Ministers. Adopted at the 761st meeting of the Ministers' Deputies (18 July 2001). Doc. 9182. July 27, 2001.

U.S. law

• National Maritime Heritage Act of 1994. Public Law 103—451
• National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act 2000
• National Marine Sanctuaries Amendments Act of 2000

Australian law

• Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976. Act No. 190 of 1976 as amended

Canadian law

• National Marine Conservation Areas Act, SC 2002
• Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act 2008 .

UK law

• Protection of Wrecks Act 1973
• UK Marine Conservation (Marine Parks) Regulations (2007 Revision)

• Association “Marine Heritage of Russia”