Background Information on Marshall Islands & Research on UNESCO

I was interested in finding out more information about the Marshall Islands prior to the bomb testings. Here is some extra bits I found out:

- During WWI the Empire of Japan seized some possessions of Germany including the Marshall Islands, which they then occupied per a mandate.

- During the 1930's the Japanese Navy used these islands for military projects.

- WWII was when the United States conquered these and other islands that the Japanese were occupying through the "Gilbert and Marshall Islands Campaign", which would secure their planned operations for the Central Pacific.

- As we know these Islands became sites for many nuclear bomb testings, but apparently from 1956 to August 1998, the United States paid $759 million to the Marshallese Islanders to compensate for their exposure to the nuclear testing.

I also found some interesting tourist information for Bikini Atoll:

- In 1998 diving operations in Bikini were authorized to generate income. These tours cost $5,000 in US currency, experience divers were able to participate (about 12 divers a week), and the tour included the history of the nuclear tests. I did further research and found out that these diving tours are STILL HAPPENING. You too can book a tour at: http://www.bikiniatoll.com/divetour4.html

^ Is it just me, or is there something incredibly wrong about diving in radiated waters?

During my research of Bikini Atoll I found that an organization called "UNESCO" (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) had named Bikini Atoll a "World Heritage Site," due to it's history with nuclear testing. I had never heard of UNESCO before, nor did I know what a "World Heritage Site" exactly meant so here is additional information on UNESCO:

- I was not surprised to find that the United States had initiated this organization for cultural and natural conservations in 1945; further, their motive was to "preserve the world's superb natural and scenic areas and historic sites for the present and the future of the entire world citizenry." Additionally, to "respond to the firm belief of nations, forged by two world wars in less than a generation, that political and economic agreements are not enough to build a lasting peace. Peace must be established on the basis of humanity’s moral and intellectual solidarity."

- Currently there are 195 Members and 9 Associate Members that are apart of UNESCO, each holding varying numbers of heritage sites under this organization.

- Italy has 49 sites, China 45, Spain 44, France 38, and the U.S. a mere 21 (if you're interested, here is a link to the site that describes which sites in the U.S. have been appointed by UNESCO: http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/US/ ) 

- What's more interesting is that the criteria to become a World Heritage Site is divided into two different sections: Cultural and Natural. Each category has their own criteria that must be met in order to become a World Heritage Site:

Cultural criteria

1. "represents a masterpiece of human creative genius"
2. "exhibits an important interchange of human values, over a span of time, or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning, or landscape design"
3. "to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared"
4. "is an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural, or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates a significant stage in human history"
5. "is an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture, or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change"
6. "is directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance"

Natural criteria

7. "contains superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance"
8. "is an outstanding example representing major stages of Earth's history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features"
9. "is an outstanding example representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems, and communities of plants and animals"
10. "contains the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation"

Finally, here is a direct quotation taken from UNESCO's website, which can be found @ http://en.unesco.org/

"UNESCO is known as the "intellectual" agency of the United Nations. At a time when the world is looking for new ways to build peace and sustainable development, people must rely on the power of intelligence to innovate, expand their horizons and sustain the hope of a new humanism. UNESCO exists to bring this creative intelligence to life; for it is in the minds of men and women that the defences of peace and the conditions for sustainable development must be built."

- Courtney Pazin