Threats to Our Ocean Heritage: A Book Series

This action is an ocean literacy project highlighting the threats to our ocean heritage, both natural and cultural, from bottom trawling, deep seabed mining, and potentially polluting wrecks. The action consists of three books, workshops on PPWs, and associated multimedia products which target both stakeholders and the general public. By Barcelona, the first PPW workshop will have taken place and there are three more planned. One book on underwater cultural heritage and bottom trawling and one on potentially polluting wrecks will be published as part of the SpringerBriefs in Underwater Archaeology Series. These are in press and will be delivered before Barcelona, or very soon after. A book highlighting the threats from seabed mining will be published as an edition of ICOMOS Heritage at Risk series. The books are intended as education outreach resources that will shine a light on how these activities are threats not only to UCH but also to natural heritage. This is a call to action and includes recommending a moratoria on the activities until scientific surveys and research have been done and baseline information about our ocean heritage (natural and cultural) is integrated into Environmental Impact Assessments, Marine Spatial Planning– including the setting aside of significant natural and cultural heritage as Marine Protected Areas.