Eleven Pacific Island countries are members of the World Bank and have a combined population of about 2.3 million people, scattered across an area equivalent to 15% of the globe’s surface.

Good luck finding Tuvalu on a map. The Pacific paradise, located between Australia and Hawaii, is one of the smallest countries in the world. Its nine tiny islands combine for just 10 square miles.

As most of the Pacific small islands joined UNESCO in the 1980s and 1990s and ratified the World Heritage Convention after the year 2000, their experience in international cooperation for heritage ...