The ICOMOS International Committee on the Underwater Cultural Heritage (ICUCH) participated in the Asia-Pacific Conference on Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage (APCONF-MUCH 2026) in Bali, Indonesia, with a well-attended roundtable on emerging threats to underwater cultural heritage.
The session focused on the difficult decisions that heritage managers face in practice. Contributions from Hans van Tilburg, Corioli Souter, Martijn Manders, Elena Perez-Alvaro, Amer Bazl Khan and Andrew Viduka addressed pollution and unexploded ordnance, limited resources, in situ preservation, human remains, military activities, climate change, and questions of ownership and jurisdiction.
Short presentations introduced cases and dilemmas, inviting the audience to consider how they would respond. Participants used QR codes to vote on possible courses of action, providing a starting point for discussion about the reasons behind different choices.
This interactive format encouraged participants to draw on their own experience and consider the consequences of each response. It brought attention to the circumstances that shape management decisions, including the condition of a site, the people connected to it, the applicable legal framework and the resources available for its protection.
The strong attendance and audience involvement made the roundtable a valuable exchange between colleagues working in different contexts across the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
ICUCH thanks the speakers, everyone who contributed to the discussion, and the APCONF organisers for making the session possible.
