Editing Office -NEW YORK

The Underwater Cultural Heritage is the witness of our common memory, for several millennia. The oceans, seas, lakes and rivers hide from view and protect under the surface a priceless heritage, largely unknown and underestimated. No one can protect what is unknown. According to the famous Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau, "We love what we marvel at, and we protect what we love. However, these underwater vestiges are threatened by looting and commercial exploitation, industrial trawling, coastal development, exploitation of natural resources and the sea bed. These vestiges are also weakened by global warming, and water acidification and pollution.  

 In 2021, this Convention celebrates its 20th anniversary, and has become in twenty years, the global legal framework of reference for the protection of underwater cultural heritage.