WHC/5/4/093                                     29 February 1996

                         Circular Letter 3-96

         To   :  - Permanent Delegations of all States Parties to
                   the World Heritage Convention

                  - National Commissions for UNESCO of all States
                    Parties to the World Heritage Convention

                  - All UNESCO Regional Offices and UNESCO
                    Representatives

         From :   Bernd von Droste
                  Director
                  World Heritage Centre

Madame/Sir,

               Subject: Monitoring and reporting the state of
                        conservation of properties inscribed on the
                        World Heritage List

1. You may recall that the World Heritage Committee at its
eighteenth session held in Phuket, Thailand, in December 1994,
adopted the principles of monitoring and reporting the state of
conservation of properties inscribed on the World Heritage List
(my circular letter No. 2 dated 13 March 1995).

2. The tenth General Assembly of States Parties to the World
Heritage Convention which was held in November 1995 discussed
this matter at length. As a conclusion, the General Assembly
decided to continue the debate on the systematic monitoring and
reporting on the state of conservation of World Heritage
properties at the eleventh General Assembly of States Parties to
be held in 1997. The General Assembly requested the World

                                                        2.

Heritage Committee to prepare a report and a proposed resolution
for the eleventh session of the General Assembly of States
Parties taking into account the discussions and experiences
gained over the past years as well as the documents that had been
presented to the Tenth General Assembly and the discussions
thereon.

3. In response to the decision of the General Assembly, the
World Heritage Committee, at its nineteenth session held in
Berlin in December 1995, prepared the draft resolution requested
by the General Assembly and decidad that the Committee at its
twentieth session should examine and adopt a report prepared by
the Bureau for suLmission to the elevenCh General Assembly of
States Parties. The Committee also decided to include it in its
Report to the 29th session of the General Conference of UNESCO.

4. The World Heritage Committee at its session in Berlin in
December 1995 also invitod the States Parties to comment in
writing on issues relatod to the reporting procedures,
particularly on the proposed new form for the nomination of
properties for inscription on the World Heritage List and the
proposed format for periodic World Heritage state of conservation
reports. I enclose both documents for your easy reference.

     I would very much appreciate receiving the views of your
country on the proposed forms, particularly if you consider them
to be applicable and adequate in the particular conditions of
your country and region.


     I would be grateful to receive the comments and observations
of your Government on the enclosed documents, on or before 30
April 1996 at the latest.

     The comments and observations obtained will be brought to
the attention of the World Heritage Committee and its Bureau so
that they can be taken into account in the furCher preparation
of the corresponding doeuments for the next General Assembly of
States Parties.

     I hope that I can count on your collaboration in the
implementation of this decision of the World Heritage Committee.

                                          Sincerely,

                                          Bernd von Droste

Annexed:
- Format for nomination of properties for inclusion on the World
  Heritage List;
- Format for periodic World Heritage state of conservation 
  reports

*[EOF]