Vanuatu has officially submitted its first nomination of a site for World Heritage listing: the "Chief Roi Mata's Domain" cultural landscape.
Drs Meredith Wilson and Chris Ballard, both originally of the Australian National University, were commissioned by the Vanuatu Cultural Centre to prepare the nomination documents for the nomination of this site. Their work preparing this nomination, in collaboration with the communities of Lelepa island and Mangaliliu village (on Efate island) and with the Vanuatu Cultural Centre, began in 2004.
Attached is a report by Drs Wilson and Ballard which provides a summary of the nomination process. The work undertaken to complete the nomination of this site involved research and consultation work undertaken by the Vanuatu Cultural Centre’s Roi Mata World Heritage Nomination Project team from July 2004 until the final submission of the nomination file for Chief Roi Mata’s Domain at the end of January 2007.
Following are some images of the Chief Roi Mata's Domain site (from top to bottom): Artok island (where the Chief was buried), the burial headstone on the island, the banyan tree or nabanga which marks the site where Chief Roi Mata's village was located and Fels cave (where the Chief drew his last breath).
