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NESCO has recognized several Indonesian contributions to the world’s intangible cultural heritage, including wayang shadow puppets and kris daggers in 2008, batik in 2009, the Sundanese angklung musical instrument in 2010 and Aceh’s saman dance this year.

However, the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry says there are still 15,000 other contributions that need to be recognized to prevent other countries from claiming the contributions as their own and to ensure the contributions are acknowledged as “icons” of Indonesia.

UNESCO has recognized only a “small part” Indonesia’s cultural heritage, Ukus Kuswara, the ministry’s culture, art and film chief, said.

“The real number is much larger,” Ukus said on Tuesday after the close of the sixth session of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage at the Bali International Convention Center in Nusa Dua, Bali.

Ukus said that Indonesia would not submit all 15,000 contributions to UNESCO at the same time, as verification would be difficult due to limited resources.

“We can only propose them gradually based on our priorities. We will prioritize the [aspects of] cultural heritage that are prone to be claimed by other countries,” Ukus said.

High on the government’s list are several Balinese dances, Papua’s traditional noken handicraft and the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) cultural park in East Jakarta.

Three Balinese dances have been proposed for inclusion on UNESCO’s register: wali sacred dances, bebali semi-sacred dances and balih-balihan entertainment dances.

TMII will be also be proposed to UNESCO for inclusion, considering its role in preserving the nation’s cultural diversity.

Ukus said the government was recording a list of the nation’s cultural heritage, targeting to record at least 1,000 contributions.

“With UNESCO’s limited resources, we have to make our own efforts to document our nation’s culture in line with UNESCO’s guidance, as part of the cultural preservation,” Ukus said.

UNESCO intangible cultural Heritage committee chairman Aman Wirakartakusumah, shared a similar opinion on UNESCO’s limited resources, which were not sufficient to process the numerous requests from countries to recognize their contributions.

Since it was introduced in 2003, the convention for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage has been ratified by 137 countries, and all of whom were enthusiastic to have their contributions recognized.

“UNESCO has received a lot of proposals, while its resources are limited,” Aman said.

Eighty-eight proposed additions were discussed at UNESCO’s meeting in Bali, up from 66 last year.

The organization’s budget has decreased after several nations withdrew financial support following UNESCO’s decision to accept Palestine as a member earlier this year.

The US, for example, which contributed 22 percent of UNESCO’s budget, ended funding the organization in protest.

“This caused financial difficulties for the organization. UNESCO’s regular budget reached US$660 million to $700 million for two years. Of that amount, America donated $150 to 200 million.”

In response, UNESCO has limited the number of items that nations can propose for inclusion on its register.

 Starting in its seventh session in Grenada next year, the committee will only consider 62 of 214 proposed contributions.