Petition for the UNESCO Convention

Call for Support

In 2001, UNESCO adopted the Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage. It has been in force since the beginning of the year, and 20 states have ratified it so far. Unfortunately, Germany is not among them.

The German Society for the Promotion of Underwater Archaeology (DEGUWA) has attempted to bring this issue onto the political agenda by directly addressing politicians, with the help of influential supporters. However, the pressure has not been strong enough.

For this reason, DEGUWA has launched a petition, gathering signatures to be presented to the German Bundestag. The goal is for Germany, as a cultural nation, to finally take on its responsibility in protecting the cultural heritage of the world's oceans.

We have collected more than five thousand signatures, primarily from academic and diving communities (see also the Hamburg Declaration). In the second phase, we reached out to the broader public. Institutions acted as "ambassadors," publicly displaying signature lists, and enlisted "sponsors" to collect signatures within their circles.

Among the ambassadors for the petition were the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven, the Institute for Prehistoric and Early History in Kiel, and the Romano-Germanic Commission in Frankfurt.

The threat to underwater cultural heritage is increasing—swift action is needed!

UNESCO

Together for Our Cultural Heritage

The preservation of these legacies is threatened by transportation and tourism projects, oil and gas extraction, offshore wind farms, gravel and sand mining, as well as commercial treasure hunters. Beyond the 12-mile zone, the monument protection laws of the federal states no longer apply, and even within the 200-nautical-mile area off the coast, known as the "Exclusive Economic Zone" (EEZ), protection is no longer guaranteed.

UNESCO Convention 2001

The 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage was established to align the protection of underwater cultural heritage with that of cultural heritage on land and to regulate and facilitate cooperation between different states. The convention entered into force in 2009 and has so far been ratified by 77 states (as of June 5, 2024), including Switzerland in 2019, but not yet by Germany or Austria.

According to the UNESCO Convention, underwater cultural heritage includes all traces of human existence that have been submerged for more than 100 years and hold historical or cultural significance. However, pipelines and other installations still in use are excluded.