Ministry of Culture Deputy Chief Officer Nancy Barnard represented the Cayman Islands at the second Trinidad & Tobago national workshop for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage Convention (WHC) on 1-2 November 2016.

Delegates from most of the Caribbean CARICOM countries participated, as did two of the Caribbean United Kingdom Overseas Territories: the Cayman Islands and Anguilla.
The workshop took place in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Its goal was to sensitise participants about the need to preserve and protect their respective nation’s history, artifacts and cultural heritage – whether natural, cultural, or combined – against future threats.

DCO Barnard presented to her regional colleagues on a potential future avenue for Cayman’s inclusion on the WHC inscription list, conceptualised by Maritime Archaeologist Dr Peggy Leshikar-Denton, who is the Director of the C.I. National Museum. Dr Leshikar-Denton has previously represented the Cayman Islands at three WHC meetings in the Caribbean region.

Workshop sessions targeted national stakeholders directly involved in the development and management of their country’s natural and cultural resources, including senior civil servants, historians, museum curators, tour operators, tour guides, as well as managers of cultural and heritage sites.

In November 2014, in Havana, Cuba, the Caribbean States Parties of the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Culture and Natural Heritage adopted the Caribbean Action Plan for World Heritage for 2015-2019.

During this year’s sub-regional meeting, the group discussed the way forward for the Caribbean Action Plan. The workshop also made it possible to establish a National Strategic Plan for the implementation of the Convention in the years to come.

Trinidad and Tobago’s National Commission for UNESCO, the Tourism Development Company and the National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago hosted the event at the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Westmoorings.
(GIS)

Photo: DCO Barnard presents on behalf of the Cayman Islands.