UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030

Visiting Research Fellow at TCEH, Paul Montgomery, is delighted to announce his role within the “Indigenous People, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, and Climate Change: The Iconic Underwater Cultural Heritage of Stone Tidal Weirs" project which is supported by the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 initiative.

The underwater cultural heritage of stone tidal weirs is a sustainable, eco-friendly fishing practice, consisting of numerous rocks, located along the shoreline on a colossal scale. They are built in various shapes and styles to catch certain fish at certain times of the year. Many extant examples remain and provide a tangible link to the sustainable fishing practice that have incorporated traditional ecological knowledge, and the spirit world, providing balance and harmony for indigenous people for thousands of years. Today these weirs are not just relic examples of the past, but a guide for future sustainable marine ecological conservation.

People/Institutions involved: Akifumi Iwabuchi, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology (ICOMOS International Committee on the Underwater Cultural Heritage (ICUCH); UNESCO UNITWIN Network for Underwater Archaeology); Bill Jeffery, University of Guam (UNESCO UNITWIN Network for Underwater Archaeology); Paul Montgomery, Masahito Kamimura, Chikushi Jogakuen University; Hye-Yeon Yi, Mokpo National University; Magdalena Nowakowska, University of Case Study Research on the Underwater Cultural Heritage of Stone Tidal Weirs on the Earth Warsaw (UNESCO UNITWIN Network for Underwater Archaeology); Cynthia Neri Zayas, University of the Philippines.