Bikini Atoll bomb site gets world heritage status
Updated
It has been described as "a monument and memorial to the dawn of the nuclear age" and now it has been inscribed on the World Heritage List.
UNESCO has added Bikini Atoll in Marshall Islands to the register, along with two other sites in the Pacific. The listing brings with it great tourism and conservation opportunities.
Presenter: Geraldine Coutts
Speaker: Dr Visesio Pongi, director and representative of the UNESCO office for Pacific states
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PONGI: There are no prerequisites, it's basically up to the country to decide that is the initial step, the countries have to decide whether they want to put up part of their cultural or natural heritage as part of the World Heritage site and like any other initiative that has global standards, UNESCO has the task of assessing the request from the country to see if it meets the standard.
COUTTS: Okay, so I was just a little bit interested with Bikini Atoll, because it's a little unusual that they request to have Bikini Atoll placed on the World Heritage listing, given its history of being one of the sites of the US Bravo bombing raids in the 50s and 60s, atom bombs and nuclear testing.
PONGI: And that is the very reason why the Marshall Islands wanted Bikini Atoll to be recognised as World Heritage, because it is also unique in the sense that it has strong cultural and historical connections particularly in relation to a testing site in the US. But the island itself has unique features as part of its nature. So the Bikini Atoll is being recognised both for its natural beauty and uniqueness as well as its cultural connection and history in relation to the history of the Marshall Islands and the nuclear testing site.
COUTTS: Would people be inclined now to go in greater numbers to visit Bikini Atoll, given the history though, and that people will be wary of the health issues that are experienced in the area because of the radiation poisoning and the environmental degradation itself?
PONGI: That's an issue that individual tourists will have to weigh up and assuming that part of the safeguarding mechanisms that the Marshall Islands government has put in place, and also taking into account the health situation in the country. The island in particular. I am quite sure that they have taken that seriously and look at the risk of any radiation that remains on the island, but part of the unique feature of the island itself are the craters from the blasts that have taken place over the years since 1946 up to recent times. I think that latest somewhere around 1958 or '60.
COUTTS: Well, what comes with the listing and for instance, would the Bikini Atoll people be pleased about this? What does it mean for them or is it just that you're trying to put a positive spin on the island now?
PONGI: Well, we are hoping. UNESCO's primary focus is trying to ensure that the heritage itself is safeguarded, not only for the current generation, but also for future generations. It remains to be seen as to how the country and the islands themselves move forward from here and being listed as a global World Heritage site brings a lot of potential with it and that opens it up for possible revenue income for the community and for the country as a whole and going by experience it becomes potentially a revenue earner for the country and in particular for the community and the island itself.
COUTTS: And does it come with an increased responsibility?
PONGI: It also has increased responsibility and that is why one of the requirements, for example, is that the community and the country comes up with a management strategy and operational guidelines as to what they intend to do after the listing of the site. So the listing itself is basically one step in the process. So now it's up to the country itself to fulfil its obligation in terms of managing the site and UNESCO therefore to become one of monitoring, to make sure that the management strategy that they have proposed upon which the site was listed are maintained. So there is always the potential of delisting sites.
COUTTS: And is this the first one in the Marshall Islands?
PONGI: That is the first one in the Marshall Islands yeah.
COUTTS: Well, two others in the Pacific that were listed were in Kiribati and Hawaii. Is it a similar circumstance there that the islands themselves nominated to get onto the World Heritage listing and if they did, what was in their favour - firstly in Kiribati to get onto the listing, the heritage listing?
PONGI: You see the World Heritage operates on an understanding that it becomes a world cultural or natural environment that has unique value and in the case of Kiribati the Phoenix Islands protected area is one of the world's largest protected areas in terms of marine environment. There are other marine environments throughout the world, but because it is one of the largest in the world, it is unique in that sense.
COUTTS: And what about Papahanaumokuakea?
PONGI: That's the same kind of situation and for any site, whether it's cultural or natural, it has to offer something unique to the world, offer something that is readily available elsewhere and it loses its outstanding universal value.
COUTTS: And what is the uniqueness of the one in Papahanaumokuakea?
PONGI: I'm not to sure about the one in Hawaii, because Hawaii is part of the United States. It is not only for the size of the site itself, but for the diversity of the features and the creatures that are within the site, the birds and the fish and so forth.
