UN Chronicle | What Makes a World Heritage Site? A Study of Saba, the "Unspoiled Queen"

What Makes a World Heritage Site?
A Study of Saba, the "Unspoiled Queen"
By Nuchhi R. Currier for the Chronicle

Web Article

Christopher Columbus sighted her in 1493; the Spaniards ruled her for 150 years and the British, French and Dutch played tug-of-war with her from the 17th century until Holland finally took possession of her in 1816. A tiny, isolated island forming the inner arch of the Lesser Antilles, Saba is one of the northern-most islands formed five million years ago by tips of volcanoes, separating the Caribbean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean. In the process of being nominated by the Government of the Netherlands for inclusion in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage List, it is also being supported by CARIMOS — Organization of Wider Caribbean on Mountains and Sites. Also having won the distinction of being of "outstanding universal value" by the global workshop on Marine World Heritage sites, Saba (the island) and Saba Bank (the underwater marine ecosystem) are well poised to win the nomination.

The Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted in 1972, unites 175 States in a common, universal cause — to celebrate the unique cultural and natural heritage of different cultures and civilizations and to preserve it for future generations. UNESCO can proudly claim that it has touched 730 sites around the globe in some way — by placing them on the world heritage list for their "outstanding universal value" — and ensured their existence, preservation and success as enduring monuments of human endeavour and natural beauty.

One such example of rich natural beauty, Saba is the smallest of three Windward Netherland Antilles islands, at 5.1 square miles, representing the upper part of an extinct volcano of neo-volcanic origin, resting on a sea floor almost 2,000 feet below sea level. With the top reaching about 3,000 feet high, the area from sea surface to mountain, bottom to top, is 5,000 feet. Its topography is mainly volcanic domes with small level areas housing Saba's four quaint villages. Steep and precipitous coasts, with no permanent beaches, make it appear inaccessible and forbidding. With its unique terrestrial and marine environments, it has a variety of vegetation types, including rain forest, elfin forest, palm brake belt, free-fern brake belt, secondary rain forest, woodland like vegetation and woodland derived from dry evergreen forest and croton thickets. This vast range, from moist tropical forests to near-desert vegetation, is part of the Saba National Marine Park.

Saba's history of occupation and settlement is as diverse as its natural environment. Europeans, believed to have been of Scottish Presbyterian origin, started arriving in the early 17th century at this uninhabited island. Records show that in 1665 there were 54 white settlers on the island and by 1715 their numbers had swelled to 336 with the addition of 176 black slaves. The next milestone was the end of slavery in 1863 when records show the white population at 1,099 with 708 free coloured people. The year 1915 saw the population at its maximum at almost 2,500. Each subsequent year showed a decline due to economic emigration to the oil refineries of nearby Aruba and Curacao. Between 1920 and 1930 Saba became known as the "Island of Women" as the shrinking population comprised mostly females who upheld the island's economy by making lace. In 1987 its total population stood at 1,130, currently it is just under 2,000.

To qualify as a World Heritage Site Saba needs to exhibit outstanding universal value and unique cultural environment. It satisfies both criteria with its organically evolved cultural landscape, distinctive, harmoniously integrated architecture, a unique marine ecosystem renowned for its bio diversity and some of the world's finest marine parks and diving sites. Saba opened up to tourism only in the 1960s, having successfully maintained its age-old isolation, natural environment, historic villages and "vernacular architecture". Saban cottages, white with sloping red roofs and green shutters each with its own cistern and family cemetery, dot the sheer slopes. The historic infrastructure, step roads, steep, rain-forested trails and water catchment installations, pre-ceramic and Amerindian sites are all part of the magic of its landscape.

In the words of Russel Train, founding Director of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage enshrines "the simple yet revolutionary concept that throughout the world there exist natural and cultural areas of such unique value that they are part of our heritage, not only of individual nations but of all mankind. It is an idea that gives eloquent expression through cooperative international action to the truth that the earth is indeed man's home and belongs to us all".

The Saba National Marine Park, formally established in 1987 was funded by WWF-Netherlands, the Prince Bernard Fund, and the Dutch and Saban governments to ensure its preservation. The two governments are acutely aware of the need to protect the "unspoiled queen" from growing tourism, development pressures and encroachment of its historic sites and are putting in place development policies and legal instruments which have various important components. These include identification and protection of monuments, enhancement of the building ordinance to include parts of the historic villages as protected areas, an island development plan focusing on identification of natural and cultural areas for conservation, a monuments foundation within the cultural heritage foundation, and the creation of an island monuments ordinance.

The government of Saba and the World Heritage Foundation are also building a consensus among the public and politicians to support conservation efforts and uphold the integrity of the local architecture and the continuation of its unique character. A manual, with guidelines for the design of buildings, is being put together for this purpose. There are expansion plans for the local museum to help promote public awareness on the island's cultural and natural heritage. Being in the Caribbean hurricane belt and having suffered at the hands of hurricane Lenny in 1999, a rescue operation of landmark monuments and townscapes of Saba is in the works.

Why is it important for Saba to be considered a world heritage site when it is not an endangered or damaged environment? Such questions were posed to Antoine Solognier, Lt. Governor of Saba, who stressed the importance of protecting the island's extraordinary environs, natural resources with diverse marine life, unique flora and fauna, and rich coral reefs for future generations. Worldwide, coral reefs have suffered a dramatic decline — about 20 per cent have already been degraded beyond recovery and Saba's isolation over centuries has produced a unique cultural and natural environment. Unless safeguarded, it runs the risk of falling prey to dangers associated with irrepressible tourism, overpopulation and impairment of its unique character. The Caribbean area being under-represented, there is a growing sense that Saba needs to be pushed centre-stage. Both the Netherlands and the central government in Curacao support Saba's nomination.

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