The National Superintendency for Underwater Cultural Heritage is the National Authority of the Ministry of Culture of Italy, with special autonomy of a non-general managerial level, responsible for both the activities of protection, management and valorisation of national underwater cultural heritage sites and for local terrestrial archaeological sites of Taranto (Apulia region). Furthermore, the Superintendence is also responsible for the declaration of underwater sites of cultural and historical significance as ‘Protected Sites’.
The National Superintendency has the role of defining good practices at the national level which have to be replicated throughout Italy, according to the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Underwater Cultural heritage (established in Paris in 2001). Due to the need to experiment new technologies and methods to monitor and preserve Underwater Cultural Heritage, the Superintendency will define of the operational methods for data collection for the validation of the NERITES methodology for monitoring the biological degradation of artefacts, support the activities in the pilot site of Pozzuoli and Baiae and validate the good practices and NERITES methodology to export them as a model throughout the national territory. and since their efficacy in preventing the degradation phenomena needs to be demonstrated .