Desk review: World Heritage listing Nomination dossier for ‘Taputapuatea’, Ra’iatea, French Polynesia (France).

1. General comments on the dossier
File and division
1. The Nomination file for the site and the associated cultural landscape of Marae Tapuapuatea (MT), on the Island of Ra’iate (also previously known as Hav’ai) in the heart of the East Polynesian triangle is a well prepared, thoroughly-researched and richly-illustrated (139 figures) and visually appealing dossier published in French.
2. The dossier is divided into 6 analytical sections (1. Identification of the property; 2. Description; 3. Justification; 4. State of conservation and factors affecting the property; 5. Protection and management of the property; 6. Monitoring), which are supplemented by an Executive Summary (Résumé analytique), Documentation (section 7), List of responsible institutions (8) and Signature of behalf of the state party (9).
3. The dossier expresses clearly and succinctly the proposed justification for nomination of this site and in my opinion it is a valuable document that argues well the OUV of the property and justifies its inscription on World Heritage (WH) list. The authors provide a good balance of both cultural and geographical data,
supplemented by transcriptions of customary speeches (oral tradition). It is clearly written and conveys the necessary facts by which this nomination can be assessed in a meaningful and appropriate way.