We have some exciting news to share with our community today, courtesy of Andrea Yankowski and her team from the completed project ‘Documenting the construction of a traditional kamalig (salt workshop) and the making of asin tibuok (native salt): the indigenous skills and knowledge systems of an endangered craft tradition in Alburquerque, Bohol, Philippines.’ The technique of making Asin Tibuok (native salt) among the Boholano, Bohol, Philippines, which the team carefully documented as part of the EMKP (2021SG08) documentation grant between 2022 and 2023, was on Tuesday (9 December 2025) inscribed in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.
This is a huge achievement for the project team, and an important recognition of the resilience and significance of this tradition but, most importantly, to the people and communities who have safeguarded this heritage and keep it alive today.
The news piece from UNESCO includes the nomination video with the materials that were produced as part of the EMKP project.
Alburqueque community representatives at the 20th Session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, New Delhi, India, 9 December 2025. Provided courtesy of Andrea Yankowski and Ana Maria Theresa Labrador.
Community representatives, including one of the salt-makers who partnered with Andrea and the team on their project, Mr. Non Pinlac, were in New Delhi, India for the 20th Session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage to receive this recognition. This is the first Philippine traditional food process to ever be included in a UNESCO ICH list.
Salt Maker and Project Collaborator Nong Non Pilac at the 20th Session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, New Delhi, India, 9 December 2025. Provided courtesy of Andrea Yankowski and Ana Maria Theresa Labrador.
Big thanks to Andrea Yankowski and Ana Maria Theresa Labrador), the salt-makers, salt-potters, the Central Visayan Association of Museum (CVAM), the National Museum of the Philippines, Bohol, and community members of Alburquerque for their acknowledgment of the programme’s support to document the salt-making knowledge and construct a community salt workshop, which brought much-needed attention to this endangered practice. The project also placed attention to the women’s role as the salt-potters without which its distinctive shape and process would be impossible. Since the project in 2022, Andrea and Ana Maria Theresa have continued to work with the community to highlight this important cultural heritage and its need for safeguarding.
Researcher (PI Andrea Yankowski) photographing salt-making process, Santa Filomenia, Alburquerque, Philippines, 25 June 2022. Rights ownership: Andrea Yankowski, 2022.
The NCCA Sub-commission on Cultural Heritage, Philippines, shared that they are ‘thankful to the British Museum’s EMKP grant for building the salt workshop as it made a great impact on reviving the craft and providing a livelihood for the salt makers.
Boiling brine/”cooking” salt, Santa Filomenia, Alburquerque, Philippines, 25 June 2022. Rights ownership: Andrea Yankowski, 2022.
The EMKP and the British Museum are delighted with this fantastic news and want to extend our gratitude to Andrea and Ana Maria Theresa in return for the high-quality research they have carried out with the support of the programme and for achieving such a huge milestone for the recognition of the practice and the communities that today continue working for its safeguarding and preservation.