The U.S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Office of Insular Affairs, the National Park Service, and the Guam Preservation Trust hosted a World Heritage Opportunities Workshop and Insular Areas State Historic Preservation Officers training from December 3 – 6, 2019, on Guam. Over seventy-five insular area government officials, historic preservation officers, natural and cultural preservation experts, and non-government representatives met to share and discuss opportunities under the World Heritage Convention, the National Historic Landmarks program, and other ways to preserve and protect historic, cultural, and natural resources in the U.S. Insular Areas. Participants represented the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands as well as the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), the Republic of Palau, and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), including representatives from Pohnpei, Chuuk, Kosrae, and Yap.

 

Throughout the week workshop participants were able to visit exhibits in the Guam Museum and other sites on Guam including: the Guam Legislature Building, the only Gold LEED-certified government building in the region; the Chocolate House in the Plaza de España; Hagåtña Latte Stone Park; War in the Pacific National Historical Park; and the Guam Wildlife Refuge at Ritidian Point. At Ritidian, Refuge employee Brian Leon Guerrero gave workshop participants a walking tour that included watching baby sharks swim in the “shark nursery”, visiting ancient Chamorro latte stone sites, and viewing ancient limestone cave pictographs believed to be from around 1500 B.C.

 

The World Heritage Opportunities Workshop and Insular Areas State Historic Preservation Officers training were funded by the DOI. The Guam Preservation Trust provided on-the-ground logistical support and funding with additional support from the Guam Department of Parks and Recreation and Guam Historic Resources Division. All official workshop and training events were held at the Senator Antonio M. Palomo Guam Museum & Educational Facility on Guam.