'World Heritage: Challenges for the Millennium' Published in French and English

Now available online. To download the pdf version, please click here.

This 200-page publication provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of more than three decades of the implementation of the World Heritage Convention and highlights a number of its successes and challenges. It includes a history of the 1972 Convention and its implementation, an analysis of the natural and cultural diversity of the world included on the World Heritage List, and a look at the state of conservation of World Heritage sites. Containing a wealth of information with over 100 photographs, 26 maps and numerous tables and graphs, it is intended for the general reader as well as university students and researchers, heritage conservation specialists and policy-makers.

A user-friendly approach has been adopted to clarify the main issues covered, and complementary information is offered in a variety of illustrative boxes, figures, maps, tables, focus sections and commentaries. Numerous internet links and references simplify research for complementary information. The collaboration with the UNESCO Institute for Statistics based in Montreal, Canada has allowed, for the first time, statistical presentations of many aspects of the Convention and has resulted in high quality statistics and analyses.

This work is the result of a collective effort of many partners and professionals and has been made possible by the generous grant of the Italian Government. The increasing number of people eager to discover more about the Convention's functioning and challenges should find in this publication answers to many of their questions.

World Heritage: Challenges for the Millennium
Published by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre
January 2007
Available in English and French
To obtain a copy, write to wh-info@unesco.org.