Central Pacific World Heritage Project - International Workshop Report, 2-6 June 2003, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

The World Heritage Convention (1972) has a mandate to profile and protect the Planet's outstanding expressions of natural and cultural heritage. Yet only a few marine areas in the Pacific Ocean are represented on the World Heritage List, and they all are from the ocean's margin. In 2002, UNESCO convened a workshop in Hanoi, Vietnam with participation from 25 countries to identify tropical marine areas as potential World Heritage properties. The workshop included discussion on serial or transboundary management approaches to better respond to the interconnected nature and complex multiple jurisdictions that characterize many marine and ocean areas.