World Heritage
From Wikiprogress.org
A concept developed by UNESCO that "seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity." [1] World heritage is an unprecedented system that uses a universal framework to acknowledge and help preserve cultural and natural properties of fundamental significance to humanity. The concept of world heritage was articulated in the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, an international treaty adopted in 1972.
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Background
In 1959, the governments of Egypt and Sudan appealed to UNESCO in an effort to save the Abu Simbel temples, which were to be flooded with the construction of the Aswan High Dam in Egypt. UNESCO raised 80 million dollars through the contributions of 50 countries, which enabled the temples to be dismantled and reconstructed on unthreatened land. The success of this campaign inspired several similar efforts to safeguard sites of natural and cultural prominence.
Another impetus for the Convention was the White House's call for a World Heritage Trust "that would stimulate international cooperation to protect 'the world's superb natural and scenic areas and historic sites for the present and the future of the entire world citizenry." [2] This statement was made in 1965. In 1968, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (ICUN) made a similar appeal to its members.
Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage
The World Heritage Convention was ratified at the seventeenth session of UNESCO's General Conference, October 17 through November 21, 1972 in Paris. The agreement articulates that "certain places on Earth are of outstanding universal value and should therefore form part of the common heritage of mankind." [3] While the treaty acknowledges the national sovereignty of countries who have signed the Convention (Party States), Party States must also agree that the protection of World Heritage is the responsibility of the international community as a whole. Currently, 187 countries have signed the treaty. [4]
See the attached link for text of the Convention: http://whc.unesco.org/en/conventiontext
Mission
- "encourage countries to sign the World Heritage Convention and to ensure the protection of their natural and cultural heritage;"
- "encourage States Parties to the Convention to nominate sites within their national territory for inclusion on the World Heritage List;"
- "encourage States Parties to establish management plans and set up reporting systems on the state of conservation of their World Heritage sites;"
- "help States Parties safeguard World Heritage properties by providing technical assistance and professional training;"
- "provide emergency assistance for World Heritage sites in immediate danger;"
- "support States Parties' public awareness-building activities for World Heritage conservation;"
- "encourage participation of the local population in the preservation of their cultural and natural heritage;"
- "encourage international cooperation in the conservation of our world's cultural and natural heritage" [5]
World Heritage Sites:
World Heritage status endows properties with several benefits. One is prestige, which can increase awareness and subsequently lead people and governments to enhance protection and preservation efforts. Sites can also receive financial assistance and expert advice from the World Heritage Committee.
World Heritage sites remain the property of their parent nation even while its "protection and preservation becomes a concern to the international World Heritage community as a whole." [6]
Criteria for Selection:
The criteria applied to the designation of world heritage sites is outlined in the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention, which is revisted and updated by the World Heritage Committee on a yearly basis. A preliminary version of the selection criteria is also contained in the text of the 1972 Convention.
In order to be selected, a site must meet one of the ten following criteria and also be of "outstanding universal value:" [7]
- "to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius"
- "to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;"
- "to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared;"
- "to be an oustanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;"
- "to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a Culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change;"
- "to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria)."
- "to contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance;"
- "to be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth's history, including the record or life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features;"
- "to be outstanding examples representing significant ongoing ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals;"
- "to contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation." [8]
World Heritage List
The World Heritage List currently includes 911 properties in 151 countries. 704 of these sites are cultural, 180 are natural, and 27 are mixed. [9]
See the UNESCO's World Heritage List through the attached link: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list
See also
References
External links
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