The Cultural Heritage Department focuses on classifying, restoring, renovating and up-grading Macau's cultural heritage, including both buildings and artifacts. Of particular importance are the monuments, classified urban areas and sites whose environment must be protected.

Decree 56/84/M　

30th June 1984
 
The Government is concerned to preserve and revive the historic, cultural and architectural heritage of the Territory. An important step towards this end was the creation of the Cultural Institute of Macau which, combining as it does the sectors of cultural heritage, cultural activities and training and research, will seek to coordinate activities in the cultural field.


Decree 83/92/M　

31st December
 
The preservation of Macau’s monumental, architectonic, urban and cultural heritage is based on the defence of its historic and cultural values, which is, still today, a unique witness, amongst the regions of Southeast Asia and the World.

The General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, meeting in Paris from 3 to 21 October 2005 at its 33rd session,
 
Affirming that cultural diversity is a defining characteristic of humanity

Paris, 16 November 1972
 
The General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization meeting in Paris from 17 October to 21 November 1972, at its seventeenth session,
 
Noting that the cultural heritage and the natural heritage are increasingly threatened with destruction not only by the traditional causes of decay, but also by changing social and economic conditions which aggravate the situation with even more formidable phenomena of damage or destruction.