WITH so many shipwrecks littering the seabed around Britain, maritime
archaeology is vital for preserving this part of our heritage. I went to talk
about this pressing subject with Arts Minister Alan Haworth, accompanied by
Eddie O鈥橦ara, MP for Knowsley South and an Oxford classical scholar. It seems,
however, that the responsibility for naval wrecks falls on the Ministry of
Defence. So we asked junior defence minister Lewis Moonie what was being done to
encourage sports divers to safeguard and respect these wrecks.
Moonie agreed that sports divers play a key part in protecting our maritime
heritage. With representatives of the Marine and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and
others, he said his officials have helped Britain鈥檚 diving associations in
drawing up a code of practice for sports divers.
鈥淭he code is part of a rolling programme of government initiatives,鈥� said
Moonie. 鈥淭he MOD has produced guidance to divers and other sea users on
ownership, war graves and unexploded ordnance associated with military wrecks.
Separately, the MCA plans to launch a wreck amnesty in the near future. We hope
that a sustained educational programme will prove effective and believe that the
diving associations should be given this opportunity to self-regulate the sport
and demonstrate their ability to ensure compliance with this code.鈥�
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Ministers are concerned to apply existing legislation to regulate unlawful
activities on historic wrecks. I feel strongly that divers who break the law
should be appropriately dealt with. The difficulty lies in getting hold of
sufficient evidence.
THE VERY week before charges were laid against two Libyans in relation to the
1988 Lockerbie air disaster, I went to Libya with the late Bernie Grant MP.
Leptis Magna, the Roman ruins to the east of Tripoli, surely stands as the most
spectacular remains of ancient Rome鈥擝aalbek and Rome itself included. The
Libyans were the artists of the empire, and their lands may have been
productive. But deforestation has made today鈥檚 Mediterranean climate drier
(19 August, p 21),
and it is vital to stop the situation getting worse in this and
other sub-arid climes. I asked junior development minister George Foulkes what
the government鈥檚 policy was on this.
Foulkes replied that the government takes land degradation and deforestation
most seriously. They can, for example, be major contributors to poverty. But
their causes are complex, and differ from region to region. If solutions are to
be effective they need to be tailored to individual circumstances and recognise
the various economic, social, institutional, cultural and environmental factors
that may contribute to land degradation and poverty.
The approach of the Department for International Development is to analyse
the underlying processes and causes of poverty to provide a more realistic
understanding of people鈥檚 livelihoods and the factors that shape them. It
focuses on preserving and building on people鈥檚 strengths in natural resources,
social values or physical infrastructure. It means forming partnerships with
local communities, public authorities and private enterprise to build the
capacities and resources of the local people.
For reasons related to the Lockerbie air disaster, the DFID does not have
development programmes in Libya. One of Britain鈥檚 largest environmental
projects, however, is in Egypt, where the focus is on energy efficiency and
pollution protection.
