Heritage management experts from Australia and New Zealand Thursday began a two-day meeting at Te Papa, the National Museum Wellington, to develop a cooperative framework for saving cultural heritage in the Asia-Pacific region.

Vinod Daniel, chair of AusHeritage, Australia's international network for heritage services, said at the meeting, "The region covers more than a third of the earth's surface and with the majority of the world's languages, the Asia-Pacific region is huge both geographically and in terms of cultural diversity."

"The challenge for the Asia-Pacific region in preserving its cultural heritage is enormous," Daniel added.

AusHeritage has been active in Southeast Asia where it has been working with ASEAN's Committee on Culture and Information to prepare strategic plans for preserving the region's cultural heritage. Similarly, New Zealand's heritage managers have been working for many years with cultures in the Pacific region.

Jocelyn Cuming, a New Zealand national preservation officer, said a strategic partnership between Australian and New Zealand heritage managers could combine the experience of both countries to better tackle the enormous challenges of heritage preservation in the region.

(Xinhua News Agency August 25, 2005)