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| Caribbean Heritage Preservation Programme | |
|---|---|
| Name | Caribbean Heritage Preservation Programme |
| Type | Cultural heritage conservation initiative |
| Founded | 2000s |
| Area served | Caribbean |
Caribbean Heritage Preservation Programme is a regional initiative focused on safeguarding tangible and intangible heritage across the Caribbean basin. It operates through collaborative projects, policy advocacy, and technical interventions to protect sites, traditions, and archival collections in island states and territories. The Programme engages heritage agencies, international organizations, and local communities to address risks from natural hazards, development pressures, and deterioration.
The Programme targets cultural landscapes, architectural ensembles, museum collections, and oral traditions across the Caribbean archipelago, emphasizing resilience in the face of Hurricane Maria, Hurricane Irma, Earthquake engineering challenges and sea-level rise linked to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It coordinates with national institutions such as the National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica National Heritage Trust, Antigua and Barbuda National Parks Authority and regional bodies including the Caribbean Community and Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States. The initiative also responds to heritage losses from events like the 2010 Haiti earthquake and supports recovery aligned with frameworks such as the UNESCO World Heritage Convention and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Objectives include inventorying built heritage in capitals like Bridgetown, Barbados, Port of Spain, and Santo Domingo, documenting intangible heritage such as Calypso music, Reggae, Vodou, Garifuna language practices, and conserving archival holdings in institutions like the National Archives of Jamaica and the National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago. The Programme prioritizes sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List and those within buffer zones of places like Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison and Old Havana. Scope extends to maritime heritage—shipwrecks associated with Christopher Columbus voyages and colonial maritime routes tied to the Transatlantic slave trade—and to vernacular architecture in communities such as Lowlands, Nevis and Roseau, Dominica.
Governance structures typically include boards with representatives from national ministries such as the Ministry of Culture (Barbados), agencies like the Caribbean Cultural Centre, and international partners including the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the World Bank. Funding sources combine grants from multilateral lenders like the Inter-American Development Bank, philanthropic support from foundations such as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and bilateral aid from states including United Kingdom and France territories in the region. Project agreements reference legal instruments like the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and procurement standards used by the European Union and United Nations Development Programme.
Activities encompass emergency salvage after disasters—exemplified by post-2010 interventions in Port-au-Prince—preventive conservation for colonial-era buildings in Kingston, Jamaica and Castries, Saint Lucia, digitization of archival records at the Barbados Museum & Historical Society, and structural retrofitting projects informed by seismic retrofitting practice and engineers from institutions such as the University of the West Indies. Notable projects include rehabilitation of sugar plantation complexes associated with George Ashby and other planter families, restoration of synagogues linked to the Sephardic Jews of Curacao, and documentation of intangible heritage through partnerships with performers of Soca and Steelpan ensembles. The Programme has also run maritime archaeology surveys around Montserrat and conservation of fortifications like Fort George and Fort Charlotte (St Vincent).
Community-led conservation initiatives work with local NGOs such as the Caribbean Conservation Association and grassroots organizations in districts like Falmouth, Jamaica and Bridgetown to train artisans in traditional techniques—roofing with greenheart, lime mortars, and timber joinery—often taught through workshops with faculty from the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts and technical staff from the Smithsonian Institution. Educational outreach includes curricula alignment with schools overseen by ministries like the Ministry of Education (Trinidad and Tobago), apprenticeships for heritage tradespeople, and intangible-heritage safeguarding guided by practitioners of Shango and Carnival arts. Volunteer mobilization and local stewardship programs draw on models used by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and community archaeology projects at sites like Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park.
The Programme partners with international conservation organizations such as ICCROM, ICOMOS, and the World Monuments Fund; academic collaborators include University College London and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology through resilience research. Regional cooperation involves the Caribbean Development Bank, cultural clusters like the Caribbean Cultural Landscape Network, and donor agencies including USAID and the Canadian International Development Agency. Collaboration with religious institutions—Roman Catholic dioceses in Havana and Anglican churches in Barbados—and heritage tourism stakeholders like the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association supports integrated management of cultural assets.
Impact assessments use indicators aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goal 11 and disaster resilience metrics from the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. Evaluations report stabilized masonry in historic districts, increased digitization of archives at national repositories, enhanced local conservation capacity with certified craftsmen, and revived intangible practices evidenced by festivals in Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Saint Lucia. Independent reviews by agencies such as the World Bank Independent Evaluation Group and periodic audits inform adaptive management and scalability of interventions across the Lesser Antilles and Greater Antilles.
Category:Heritage conservation in the Caribbean