Challenges of Managing Maritime Cultural Heritage in Asia in the Face of Climate Change

Patrick Daly; R. Michael Feener; Noboru Ishikawa; Ibrahim Mujah; Maida Irawani; Alexandru Hegyi; Krisztina Baranyai; Jedrzej Majewski; Benjamin Horton

doi:10.3390/cli10060079

Challenges of Managing Maritime Cultural Heritage in Asia in the Face of Climate Change

Patrick Daly^*
, R. Michael Feener
, Noboru Ishikawa
, Ibrahim Mujah
, Maida Irawani
, Alexandru Hegyi
, Krisztina Baranyai
, Jedrzej Majewski
, Benjamin Horton

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

26 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

Changing weather patterns, increasing frequency and intensity of natural hazards, and rising sea levels associated with global climate change have the potential to threaten cultural heritage sites worldwide. This is especially the case for maritime heritage sites located in the low-lying coastal and delta regions of Asia. Maritime heritage can reflect both highly localized cultural products based on the coupling of people and maritime environments and the historic footprints of complex maritime networks that connect people, ideas, and material over vast distances, creating unique cultural spheres. Furthermore, maritime heritage sites potentially serve as or contain records of how past societies have been impacted by and adapted to past environmental stress. Therefore, their degradation threatens local/regional/global cultural patrimony as well as evidence of human resilience and fragility in the face of environmental change. This makes a strong case for urgent preservation. However, the possible damage caused by climate change and the scale of vulnerable maritime heritage pose seemingly insurmountable challenges. In this paper, we present the ways in which maritime heritage sites across Asia are vulnerable to environmental stresses, such as changing sea levels, coastal erosion, flooding, and storm surges. Our objective is to draw upon our experience documenting endangered cultural heritage across South and Southeast Asia to illustrate that there are unique conceptual and practical characteristics of maritime heritage that complicate effective management and conservation efforts on the scale required to prevent massive loss by climate change. We conclude by stressing the need to reconceptualize debates about the custody and stewardship of maritime heritage and the urgency of employing a wide range of innovative preservation solutions to ensure maritime patrimony is not lost to the rising tides. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Original language	English
Article number	79
Journal	Climate
Volume	10
Issue number	6
Online published	25 May 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/cli10060079
Publication status	Published - Jun 2022
Externally published	Yes

Funding

Acknowledgments: We would like to thank the Maritime Asia Heritage Survey team for their tireless efforts to document endangered heritage in Indonesia and the Maldives. In Indonesia: Multia Zahara, Ahmad Zaki, Greg Kuswanta, Sofiani Sabarina, Fauzan Azhima, Ario Wibhisono, and Sari Novita. In the Maldives: Mohamed Shamran, Midh\u2019hath Moosa, Ahmed Raaif, Shuaib Abdulla, and Aishath Mohamed Rasheed. In Kyoto: Mizuho Ikeda, Kata Kenesei, and Miyuki Kawai. Much of our field work is supported by the Arcadia Fund. The Arcadia Fund is a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin. Arcadia supports work to preserve endangered cultural heritage, protect endangered ecosystems, and promote access to knowledge: https://www.arcadiafund.org.uk (accessed on 25 April 2022). The Maritime Asia Heritage Survey works under MOUs with the National Center for Cultural Heritage\u2014Ministry of Arts, Culture and Heritage in the Maldives, and with the Directorate General of Culture\u2014Ministry of Education and Culture in Indonesia. We appreciate the support and infrastructure provided by the Earth Observatory of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University. The former\u2019s research contribution was supported by the National Research Foundation Singapore and the Singapore Ministry of Education under the Research Centres of Excellence Initiative. This work comprises Earth Observatory of Singapore contribution no. 442.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
SDG 13 Climate Action
SDG 14 Life Below Water

Research Keywords

climate change
conservation
cultural heritage
digital heritage
heritage management
maritime heritage
Southeast Asia

Publisher's Copyright Statement

This full text is made available under CC-BY 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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abstract = "Changing weather patterns, increasing frequency and intensity of natural hazards, and rising sea levels associated with global climate change have the potential to threaten cultural heritage sites worldwide. This is especially the case for maritime heritage sites located in the low-lying coastal and delta regions of Asia. Maritime heritage can reflect both highly localized cultural products based on the coupling of people and maritime environments and the historic footprints of complex maritime networks that connect people, ideas, and material over vast distances, creating unique cultural spheres. Furthermore, maritime heritage sites potentially serve as or contain records of how past societies have been impacted by and adapted to past environmental stress. Therefore, their degradation threatens local/regional/global cultural patrimony as well as evidence of human resilience and fragility in the face of environmental change. This makes a strong case for urgent preservation. However, the possible damage caused by climate change and the scale of vulnerable maritime heritage pose seemingly insurmountable challenges. In this paper, we present the ways in which maritime heritage sites across Asia are vulnerable to environmental stresses, such as changing sea levels, coastal erosion, flooding, and storm surges. Our objective is to draw upon our experience documenting endangered cultural heritage across South and Southeast Asia to illustrate that there are unique conceptual and practical characteristics of maritime heritage that complicate effective management and conservation efforts on the scale required to prevent massive loss by climate change. We conclude by stressing the need to reconceptualize debates about the custody and stewardship of maritime heritage and the urgency of employing a wide range of innovative preservation solutions to ensure maritime patrimony is not lost to the rising tides. {\textcopyright} 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.",

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AU - Daly, Patrick

AU - Feener, R. Michael

AU - Ishikawa, Noboru

AU - Mujah, Ibrahim

AU - Irawani, Maida

AU - Hegyi, Alexandru

AU - Baranyai, Krisztina

AU - Majewski, Jedrzej

AU - Horton, Benjamin

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AB - Changing weather patterns, increasing frequency and intensity of natural hazards, and rising sea levels associated with global climate change have the potential to threaten cultural heritage sites worldwide. This is especially the case for maritime heritage sites located in the low-lying coastal and delta regions of Asia. Maritime heritage can reflect both highly localized cultural products based on the coupling of people and maritime environments and the historic footprints of complex maritime networks that connect people, ideas, and material over vast distances, creating unique cultural spheres. Furthermore, maritime heritage sites potentially serve as or contain records of how past societies have been impacted by and adapted to past environmental stress. Therefore, their degradation threatens local/regional/global cultural patrimony as well as evidence of human resilience and fragility in the face of environmental change. This makes a strong case for urgent preservation. However, the possible damage caused by climate change and the scale of vulnerable maritime heritage pose seemingly insurmountable challenges. In this paper, we present the ways in which maritime heritage sites across Asia are vulnerable to environmental stresses, such as changing sea levels, coastal erosion, flooding, and storm surges. Our objective is to draw upon our experience documenting endangered cultural heritage across South and Southeast Asia to illustrate that there are unique conceptual and practical characteristics of maritime heritage that complicate effective management and conservation efforts on the scale required to prevent massive loss by climate change. We conclude by stressing the need to reconceptualize debates about the custody and stewardship of maritime heritage and the urgency of employing a wide range of innovative preservation solutions to ensure maritime patrimony is not lost to the rising tides. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

KW - climate change

KW - conservation

KW - cultural heritage

KW - digital heritage

KW - heritage management

KW - maritime heritage

KW - Southeast Asia

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SN - 2225-1154

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JF - Climate

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M1 - 79

ER -

Challenges of Managing Maritime Cultural Heritage in Asia in the Face of Climate Change

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

Research Keywords

Publisher's Copyright Statement

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