Abstract from Protecting Heritage in the Caribbean, 2011. By Peter E. Siegel, Elizabeth Righter.
…”Since the political landscape is changing the relationship between the BES islands and the Netherlands, this presents an opportunity for positive change that has been available once in multiple generations. Bonaire is taking advantage of this situation and is perhaps at the forefront of advancing heritage protection among the BES islands. This is primarily due to one factor alone: Bonaire has already suffered a significant and irrevocable loss of its built and archeological heritage. The citizens of Bonaire feel the pain of this loss and are now attempting to mitigate it. The lieutenant governor of Bonaire has now begun a cooperative project with various ministries in the Netherlands to ensure that those monuments, and the archaeological sites that remain undamaged by rampant development, be protected under the new dutch system. The most significant legislation implemented in the netherlands is the Valetta Treaty and the Malta Convention: a European union agreement.”…
©2012 Olivier Douvry/GlobeDivers
