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The Committee continued its work by discussing suitable future closing dates for the submission of nominations and agreed that nominations, in order to be examined at the next Bureau meeting, should be with the Secretariat by 1 March 1979 at the latest. Thereafter, however, the deadline for submission of nominations would be 1 January so that more time would be available to the Secretariat, ICOMOS and IUCN for the processing and technical review of the new dominations.
There followed considerable discussion as to whether the number of nominations per country and year should be limited or not and how to solve the problem of the increasing workload for all parties involved in the evaluation process, which may become rather time-consuming and may even exceed the capacity of the advisory organizations, the Bureau, the Committee and the UNESCO Secretariat in the future.
In this connection, reference was made to Article 11 (1) of the Convention which stipulates no limit for the number of nominations by a single State Party. However, in recognizing this stipulation the Committee, for purely practical reasons, authorized the Chairman to convene, if necessary, a special Bureau meeting after the closing date for submission of nominations in order to examine, together with the advisory organizations and the Secretariat, the possibility of evaluating all new nominations and to adopt a procedure which would take into account the capacities of all parties ...
Following a proposal made by the delegate of Yugoslavia who underlined the importance of the decisions taken by the Committee for the establishment of the World Heritage List, the Committee decided that a document concerning the nominations of States and presenting the recommendations of the Bureau thereon, would be prepared for the Committee which would examine the nominations one by one and would decide on the inclusion or non-inclusion in the List of each individual site.
The delegate of Poland then drew the attention of the Committee to paragraphs 20 and 21 of the report of the Rapporteur on the first meeting of the Bureau. As noted in the report, Poland was the only State affected by the decision that on this first occasion, States Parties would be limited to nominating only two properties each for inclusion in the World Heritage List, since it had nominated three sites which clearly qualified for inclusion and for which complete documentation had been submitted: Auschwitz, Cracow and the Salt Mines of Wieliczka. It would, therefore, appear justified ...
In response to this proposal the Committee agreed that in all future cases where eligible nominations were deferred by the Bureau, such nominations would be given priority consideration at the following Bureau meeting, unless these nominations had in the meantime been withdrawn by the State concerned.
At the suggestion of the delegate of France a general discussion took place on the problems of typology, comparability, complementarity and universality of cultural and natural properties of universal importance. Some delegates felt it desirable that States Parties sharing cultural or natural properties of a comparable nature should consult each other for the purpose of harmonizing approaches in the selection of properties for the World Heritage List. It was also stated that the criteria for selection of properties for the World Heritage List should be discussed in more detail in the ...
The Committee, fully aware of the urgency to assist Ethiopia in the great task of preserving this threatened property, agreed to make available to Ethiopia, if requested, preparatory assistance, deemed necessary by the Committee for the elaboration of a more comprehensive technical assistance request and the conduct of a feasibility study. Subject to the outcome of this preparatory work, technical assistance may be granted by the Committee or emergency assistance by the Chairman, for the Simien World Heritage site, as appropriate.
Sites: Simien National Park
The Chairman invited the delegate of Canada to take the floor since this item had been added to the agenda upon his proposal. The delegate of Canada explained that after discussing with the Secretariat of UNESCO the terms of Article 11.4 of the Convention he considered that there was no need for a special procedure to be adopted for the establishment of the List of World Heritage in Danger.
The Secretariat of UNESCO presented to the Committee the initial design and a later version, modified according to the suggestions of the Bureau, of the proposed World Heritage Emblem, prepared by Mr. Michel Olyff.
As conceived by the artist, this emblem symbolized, "in a form sufficiently simple to be inserted on a map and to identify sites", the interdependence of cultural and natural properties. The central square was a form crested by man; the circle represented nature, the two being intimately linked. The emblem was round, like the world, but it was also a symbol of protection. The two designs, identical in their concept, differed in their graphic approach. (Both designs are shown in Annex II.)
Following the Bureau's suggestions, the author presented two versions of the designs, one in black and white, the other in blue and white, the latter being the colours of the United Nations.
The Committee examined the proposed designs very carefully. The delegate of Yugoslavia emphasized that the choice of an emblem was of great importance. The emblem would symbolize for future generations the principles embodied in the Convention. The Committee felt that the proposed emblem fully satisfied the criteria of universality and simplicity, and conveyed the essential objectives of the Convention. Consequently it decided to adopt the emblem in its two graphic versions both to be used, in any colour, depending on the use to be made of them, the technical possibilities and ...
Following the recommendations of the Bureau, the Committee decided that a booklet explaining how nominations to the World Heritage List should be prepared, should be drawn up by ICOMOS and IUCN instead of the model nomination files which they had previously been asked to prepare and that the Secretariat of UNESCO should follow up this decision. This booklet should be published in Arabic, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
In this connection, the delegate of France pointed out that there was also need to develop tools for alleviating the workload involved in the processing and technical review of nominations by the Secretariat of UNESCO, ICOMOS and IUCN. The Secretariat informed the Committee that forms to simplify the correspondence necessary to complete the nominations and relevant documentation were already used and others would be worked out.
At the invitation of the Chairman, the representative of the Director General presented the proposed expenditures for 1978-1979 (document CC-78/CONF.010/8) divided into five different Chapters. The first three chapters concerned what could be considered as purely operational activities - preparatory assistance, technical cooperation including training, and emergency assistance. The fourth chapter provided for programme support - IUCN and ICOMOS participation, and public information activities. The fifth and last chapter covered temporary assistance for the UNESCO Secretariat in order to ...
In connection with the provisions made for training, the delegates of Canada and of the Federal Republic of Germany stressed the importance of the training of administrators and reference was made to the annual International Seminar for parks administrators organized by the School of Natural Resources in cooperation with the U.S. National Park Service at the University of Michigan. The representative of the Director General of UNESCO confirmed that fellowships for such a course could be granted, if requested by a State Party for one of its nationals.
The delegate of Iraq stated the intention of the Regional Centre for Conservation of Cultural Property in the Arab States to submit for approval at the next session of the Committee a project for a course on the conservation of ancient buildings, to be organized in co-operation with the Committee.
The Committee agreed with the proposal of the delegate of France that the provision for emergency assistance be increased from US $100,000 to US $150,000.
The proposed expenditure for programme support , i.e. contracts with ICOMOS and IUCN and public information activities, as well as the funds allocated to temporary assistance for the UNESCO Secretariat, were supported by the delegates of Canada, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Iran, Nigeria and the United States of America. The latter having suggested that a certain amount of flexibility be introduced for Chapters IV and V of the proposed expenditure, the Committee, at the proposal of the delegate of Canada, decided to provide for a contingency allocation of 3% of the total ...
Taking into account the total resources available in the World Heritage Fund which, as shown in document CC-78/CONF.010/INF.2, amounted to $555,695.25 as at 31 July 1978, the Committee adopted the following revised budget for the period September 1978/September 1979 :
Item of expenditure / Funds authorized
I. Preparatory Assistance
Preparation of nominations to the World Heritage List and(or) preparation of requests and feasibility studies for technical cooperation projects (provision of experts, equipment or financial grants required for the work foreseen under this item), as ...
The delegate of the United States of America expressed his concern with the workload imposed on the Secretariat by the various activities carried out under the Convention. This concern was shared by all the other members of the Committee who at the same time stated their appreciation of the work already undertaken by the Secretariat. The Committee consequently requested the Chairman to write to the Director General informing him of the decision to grant temporary assistance from the World Heritage Fund for a one-year period and drawing his attention to the need for additional permanent ...
The Committee authorized the Secretariat to amend the above-mentioned Operational Guidelines, adopted by the Committee at its first session, to bring them into line with the decisions taken at the second session.
The Committee approved the draft text of its report to the General Conference of UNESCO at its 20th session, as set out in document CC-78/CONF.010/9, and authorized the Secretariat to complete this report with the decisions taken at its second session.
In his statement, the observer of the World Food Programme indicated that his Organization gave food assistance to social and economic development projects. He went on to describe the project undertaken by the Egyptian Government in co-operation with UNESCO and the World Food Programme for the preservation of the Philae temples, to which the WFP had made a substantial contribution in the form of food assistance as part- payment of wages for about 1,700 workers engaged in the restoration of the monuments. The project, in addition to its evident cultural value, would also provide an ...
The delegate of Egypt invited the Committee to hold its third session in Cairo in September 1979. This invitation was greatly appreciated by the Committee which accepted by acclamation the kind offer of the Egyptian Government.
In closing the second session of the Committee, the Chairman thanked all those who had contributed to making the meeting possible and the deliberations successful.
The Committee elected Mr. Francesco Francioni (Italy) as Chairperson of the World Heritage Committee and Mr. Noel Fattal (Lebanon) as Rapporteur. The Vice-Chairs elected were: Benin, Ecuador, Japan, Morocco and the United States of America.
The Second General Assembly of States Parties to the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1972) met in Paris on 24 November 1978.
Of the 40 States which were Parties to the Convention as at 24 November 1978, and thus had the right to vote, the following 34 States were represented at the meeting :
Algeria
Jordan
Argentina
Morocco
Australia
Nepal
Bolivia
Niger
Brazil
Nigeria
Bulgaria
Norway
Canada
Pakistan
Costa ...
2 GA 7
Election of the Chairperson, Vice-Chairpersons and Rapporteur of the General Assembly and adoption of the Rules of Procedure
7. The General Assembly then adopted its Rules of Procedure and elected by acclamation . Punisa A. Pavlovic as Chairman, the representatives of .Ecuador and Norway as Vice-Chairmen, and Mr. Tidjani Hamet (Niger) as Rapporteur.
8. The agenda of the meeting was approved unanimously by the General Assembly which devoted two sessions to the election of members of the Committee and to the determination of the amount of the contribution to the World Heritage Fund.
9. Twenty-one State Parties had presented their candidature for election to the World Heritage Committee : Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Costa Idea, Cyprus, :Ethiopia, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, Panama, Poland, Senegal, Sudan, Switzerland, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zaire.
10. The Chairman explained to the General Assembly the procedure to be followed for the election of members of the Committee. As a result of the increase in the number of States having ratified or accepted the Convention, the number of members of the ...
2 GA 17
Determination of the amount of the contributions to the World Heritage Fund in accordance with the provisions of Article 16 of the World Heritage Convention
17. The General Assembly then considered Item 7 of the Agenda, and decided unanimously that the amount of the contribution foreseen in Article 16, paragraph 1, of the Convention would be fixed at of the contribution of States Parties to the Regular Budget of the Organization for 1979-1980. In-reply to a question raised by one of the delegates, the Deputy Assistant Director-General (Operational Activities) of the Sector of Culture and Communication, explained that the amounts of the contributions to the World Heritage Fund indicated in the annex to document CC-78/CONF.011/4 had been ...
18. The observer from Guatemala announced to the General Assembly that his government had decided to ratify the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, and that he was depositing that day with the Secretariat two nominations for inclusion in the World Heritage List relating to Tikal National Park and the Old City of Guatemala.19. One delegate underlined the importance of the work already accomplished by the Committee and invited the delegations to take note of two fundamentally important documents which could serve as a basis for future action to ...
3 BUR XI.19
Nomination submitted by Yugoslavia of the Kotor natural and historical region to the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger
The Bureau decided to recommend that this site be entered on the two lists provided that the Committee agreed with a special procedure for the emergency inscription of properties on the World Heritage List.
The Bureau decided that the technical cooperation request should be examined after the Committee had taken decisions on the above mentioned matters.
The Bureau noted that the Secretariat had received a request for $60,000 for technical co-operation for Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal. However, this request had been received after the deadline and had not been fully processed. The Bureau consequently decided to examine it at a later session.
Sites: Sagarmatha National Park
After examining the request, the Bureau decided to grant to Ecuador funds amounting to $12,000 in connection with the organization of a ten-day seminar in the Galapagos for national park personnel.
Sites: Galápagos Islands
The third session of the World Heritage Committee was held in Cairo, Egypt (22 October 1979) and in Luxor, Egypt (23-26 October) at the kind invitation of the Egyptian Government. The meeting was attended by the following States members of the World Heritage Committee: Australia, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Iran, Italy, Nepal, Pakistan, Panama, Senegal, Switzerland, United States of America and Yugoslavia.
Representatives of the International Centre for Conservation (ICCROM), of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) attended the meeting in an advisory capacity.
Observers from three States Parties to the Convention which were not members of the Committee, namely Canada, Federal Republic of Germany and Honduras also attended the session, as well as observers from two other international organizations: the Organization for Museums, Monuments and Sites of Africa (OMMSA) and the International Union of Architects (IUA).
The full list of participants will be found in Annex I to this report.
The Chairman, Mr. David Hales, declared the session open and proposed that items 2 to 4 of the Provisional Agenda be considered before the inaugural ceremony.
This Proposal was accepted by the Committee which proceeded to examine the Provisional Agenda prepared for the meeting. The Chairman proposed that:
i) an additional item be added to the agenda as item 5, namely"Report by former Chairman and Rapporteur on activities undertaken during the period September 1978-October 1979 and action to be taken thereon";
ii) items 5 and 6 of the Provisional Agenda be examined as one item, and
iii) item 14 should be reworded as follows "Support services to the Secretariat and to the advisory international organizations".
With those modifications, the ...
The Committee had before it a recommendation from the Bureau that the Committee's Rules of Procedure be amended to provide for the replacement of the Rapporteur when the Rapporteur was unable to act at any session of the Committee or part thereof or was unable for any reason to complete his term of office (document CC-79/CONF.003/2). The procedure proposed for the replacement of the Rapporteur was identical to that foreseen in the Rules of Procedure for the replacement of the Chairman.
After examining the Bureau's proposal, the Committee therefore decided to amend its Rules of Procedure by inserting immediately after Rule 14 an additional Rule providing for the replacement of the Rapporteur. Rules 15 to 37 would be re-numbered accordingly.
Dr. Shehata Adam (Egypt) was elected as Chairman of the Committee by acclamation. The Committee then elected by acclamation the following States members of the Committee as Vice-Chairmen: Bulgaria, Nepal, Panama, Senegal and United States of America and Mr. Michel Parent (France) as Rapporteur.
In a reply to a member of the Committee, Dr. Shehata Adam, in his capacity as Chairman of the Committee, stated that States members of the Bureau would be invited to designate as their representatives at meetings of the Bureau persons qualified in both the natural and the cultural heritage, so that a proper balance would be maintained.
The Committee was honoured by the presence of H. Exc. Mrs. Jihan El-Sadat, First Lady of Egypt and of H. Exc. Dr. Mansour Hassan, Minister of Presidency, Information and Culture, who both addressed the meeting during the inaugural ceremony; the representative of the Director General, Mr. G. Bolla, and the Chairman of the Committee also addressed the meeting.
3 COM VI.12
Report by former Chairman and Rapporteur on activities undertaken during the period September 1978-October 1979 and Action to be taken thereon
In reporting to the Committee on activities undertaken during the previous year, the former Chairman, Mr. David Hales, focussed on significant successes noted by the Committee and he also referred to serious problems for the future. He drew attention to the increase in the number of ratifications or acceptances of the Convention which totalled 48, to the substantial increase in the number of fellowships provided under the World Heritage Fund as well as in the assistance provided for the protection of sites. Mr. Hales also laid stress on the vast increase in the number of nominations ...
3 COM VI.13
Report by former Chairman and Rapporteur on activities undertaken during the period September 1978-October 1979 and Action to be taken thereon
The Rapporteur then proceeded to report on the last two sessions of the Bureau. The written report of the 2nd session, which took place in Paris from 28-30 May 1979, gave rise to no comments from the members of the Committee.
3 COM VI.14
Report by former Chairman and Rapporteur on activities undertaken during the period September 1978-October 1979 and Action to be taken thereon
The report on the third session of the Bureau which took place in Cairo on 21 October 1979 was read before the Committee. Those points raised by the Bureau which called for decisions by the Committee and which were not the subject of an item on the Agenda were then taken up by theCommittee.
3 COM VI.15
Report by former Chairman and Rapporteur on activities undertaken during the period September 1978-October 1979 and Action to be taken thereon
Thus, with respect to paragraph 16 of the report on the different types of recommendation formulated by the Bureau to the Committee on nominations, the Committee decided to adopt for its third session the procedure proposed by the Bureau which is as follows: nominations would not be examined by the Committee: (a) when the deadlines for their submission had not been respected, (b) when their proper processing had not been possible and (c) when it was evident that the supporting documentation was incomplete and/or inadequate; on the other hand those nominations which raised problems of ...
3 COM VI.16
Report by former Chairman and Rapporteur on activities undertaken during the period September 1978-October 1979 and Action to be taken thereon
The Committee agreed with the proposal or the Bureau that in the case of properties which fully met the criteria for inclusion in the World Heritage List and which had suffered damage from disasters, the normal deadlines for the submission and processing of dossiers may be waived by the Bureau.
3 COM VI.17
Report by former Chairman and Rapporteur on activities undertaken during the period September 1978-October 1979 and Action to be taken thereon
The Committee also shared the concern of the Bureau at the establishment in the United Kingdom of an organization bearing the name of "World Heritage Association" and of a Fund called "Heritage Trust". The Committee felt strongly that the use in names of the term "World Heritage" should be strictly limited to those activities directly related to the Convention and considered that the use of these terms in the titles of other organizations could only lead to confusion which would be regrettable. It therefore requested the Chairman to write to the above-mentioned Association, expressing the ...
3 COM VI.18
Report by former Chairman and Rapporteur on activities undertaken during the period September 1978-October 1979 and Action to be taken thereon
Following the recommendation of the Bureau, the Committee decided to set up three working groups, as follows:
A. On criteria for the evaluation of cultural property and the processing of nominations, composed of:
Australia, Bulgaria (Chairman), Ecuador, France, Iran, Italy, Panama, United States of America, Canada (observer), ICOMOS and OMMSA.
B. On the management of the Convention and its financial implications, composed of:
Australia, France, Nepal, Pakistan, Senegal (Chairmen), Switzerland, United States of America, Yugoslavia, ICOMOS, IUCN and ICCROM.
C. On criteria for the ...
3 COM VII.19
Draft agreement between the World Heritage Committee and States receving technical co-operation
After examining the document before it, the Committee approved, as recommended by the Bureau, the revised draft text as prepared by the Secretariat. Furthermore, it decided to delegate authority to the Chairman to sign such agreements on its behalf. However, in exceptional cases or where necessary for practical reasons, the Committee authorized the Chairman to delegate authority for this purpose to a member of the Secretariat, to be designated by him.
3 COM VIII.20
Procedure for the eventual deletion from the World Heritage List of properties in case of deterioration leading to the loss of the characteristic which determined their inclusion (Document CC-79/CONF.003/10)
The document on this item which proposed a procedure with respect to the deletion of properties from the World Heritage List was introduced by Mr. Bolla who drew attention to the different stages in the proposed procedure. A wide exchange of ideas ensued, during which several participants expressed the hope that the State Party on whose territory the property was located would inform the Secretariat of the Committee if any property inscribed on the List had seriously deteriorated and others drew attention to the obligation contracted by the States Parties under the Convention to properly ...
3 COM VIII.21
Procedure for the eventual deletion from the World Heritage List of properties in case of deterioration leading to the loss of the characteristic which determined their inclusion (Document CC-79/CONF.003/10)
With respect to the source of information on the deterioration of a world heritage site, the Committee presumed that it would in most cases be the State Party on whose territory the property was located which would transmit such information to the Secretariat. However, information on the deterioration of a site may be made available by other sources and it would be for the Secretariat to check, as far as possible, on the source of the information and on the substance in consultation with the State Party concerned. The Committee requested the Secretariat in such cases to inform the ...
3 COM VIII.22
Procedure for the eventual deletion from the World Heritage List of properties in case of deterioration leading to the loss of the characteristic which determined their inclusion (Document CC-79/CONF.003/10)
After some discussion, the Committee retained the proposal that decisions such as the sending out of fact-finding missions should be taken by the Committee, except in the case where emergency action was necessary, when the Bureau would be authorized to request the Secretariat to take such measures. It was understood that in all cases, the State Party concerned would be consulted. The question of organizing regular inspection missions was also raised, but the Committee felt that each action should not be taken, particularly in view of the States' obligations to adequately preserve ...
3 COM VIII.23
Procedure for the eventual deletion from the World Heritage List of properties in case of deterioration leading to the loss of the characteristic which determined their inclusion (Document CC-79/CONF.003/10)
The representative of ICOMOS proposed that ICOMOS should be consulted on the choice of experts to be sent on fact-finding missions in connection with the state of preservation of cultural properties. In reply, Mr. Bolla indicated that ICOMOS was regularly consulted on the roster of experts maintained by the Secretariat but that any obligation for the Secretariat to consult ICOMOS, in addition to the State Party which was always consulted on the choice of experts, would invariably lead to delays in the sending out of missions.
3 COM VIII.24
Procedure for the eventual deletion from the World Heritage List of properties in case of deterioration leading to the loss of the characteristic which determined their inclusion (Document CC-79/CONF.003/10)
The Committee adopted the procedure proposed by the Secretariat subject to amendments to stage A on the source of information on the deterioration of a property and subject to reference to cases where the necessary corrective measures for threatened natural sites have not been duly taken (see paragraph 40 below). It was decided to incorporate this procedure in the "Operational Guidelines". The full text of the procedure is to be found in Annex II to this report.
Following the recommendation of the Bureau, the Committee approved the draft form for requests concerning preparatory or emergency assistance and fellowships as annexed to document CC-79/CONF.003/8.
The Committee took note of the report of the Secretariat on public information activities undertaken during the preceding year. This report called for decisions by the Committee on the publication of the World Heritage List and on the proposal received from the Swedish firm, Upsala Ekeby, to produce glass and silverware commemorating the World Heritage Convention.
On the publication of the World Heritage List, the Committee decided:
(a) to retard the publication of the List in order to include the properties placed thereon at its third session;
(b) that the List of World Heritage in Danger and the List of properties for which international assistance has bean granted would be published as appendices of the List;
(c) that the list of properties for which international assistance has been granted would include reference to properties for which technical assistance has been granted but would make no mention of preparatory assistance;
(d) to ...
The proposal from Upsala Ekeby to produce glass and silverware gave rise to considerable discussion, since it raised the principle of using tho World Heritage Emblem and depictions of World Heritage Sites for commercial purposes. There was some reticence among members of the Committee to authorize any commercial company to use the Emblem or pictures of the sites for such purposes. On the other hand the Committee underlined the need to create a world-wide interest in the Convention and recognized the importance of publicity. The Committee therefore decided:
(a) that the World Heritage ...
After examining the proposals of the Secretariat for promotional activities for 1980 (document CC-79/CONF.003/6.2) the Committee authorized the Secretariat to proceed with the following activities within a total budget of $36,900:
Estimated cost($)
(a) creation of a photo library of world heritage sites 9,600
(b) slide series and sound-track 7,000
(c) poster 7,500
(d) postcards 4,000
(e) journalists' seminars 2,800
(f) postage stamps 6'000// $36,900
In response to a question from a member of the Committee who sought to avoid the publication of information on cultural and natural world heritage sites in separate publications, Mr. Batisse indicated that the Secretariat was studying the possibility of enlarging the scope of the Cultural Heritage bulletin to cover not only cultural sites but also natural heritage sites.
The question was raised as to whether the Committee would authorize States Parties to the Convention to produce material bearing the Emblem such as postage stamps and postcards for publicity purposes and for raising financial contributions to the Fund. The Committee was of the opinion that States Parties were free to use the Emblem for such purposes, and could make additional voluntary contributions to the Fund by this means.
3 COM XI.(b).37
Amendments to the criteria for the inclusion of natural properties in the World Heritage List and guidelines for the evaluation of nominations by IUCN
In view of the difficulty of assessing nominations without an adequate inventory, the Committee decided to encourage States Parties to prepare such inventories. It was furthermore decided to ask IUCN to prepare a proposal for the next meeting of the Bureau relating to the methodology and cost of preparing an inventory on a global basis.
3 COM XI.(b).38
Amendments to the criteria for the inclusion of natural properties in the World Heritage List and guidelines for the evaluation of nominations by IUCN
The Committee decided to instruct IUCN to use great caution in the application of criterion (iv) when it was the sole criterion for recommending sites for the World Heritage List. The sites nominated under this criterion should be habitats where "significant populations" or "concentrations of populations" of rare or endangered species of plants or animals survive, that is, sites representing in some way "superlative situations".
3 COM XI.(b).40
Amendments to the criteria for the inclusion of natural properties in the World Heritage List and guidelines for the evaluation of nominations by IUCN
The Committee noted that several areas nominated which meet the criteria may be marginal because of the inability of States, for various reasons to apply the rigid management criteria which they believe is necessary. The Committee was concerned that this could lead to further deterioration of these sites if corrective measures were not implemented. The Committee therefore decided to amend the "Operational Guidelines" by adding a sub-paragraph (vi) to paragraph 11 as follows:
"Where the intrinsic qualities of a World Heritage site are threatened by action or works of man and yet meet the ...
The application of the procedure foreseen in paragraph 40 above to cultural properties will be considered by the Committee at a later meeting.
The Committee requested the Secretariat to prepare a revised text of the "Operational Guidelines" reflecting the above-mentioned decisions and to present this text to the Bureau at its next session. One question that should be studied in this connection would be the possibility of adding a criterion on integrity for the evaluation of cultural properties.
The Committee considered that it would be desirable to be able to examine nominations at its fourth session within the framework of a national inventory of cultural and natural properties which the State Party considers suitable for inclusion in the World Heritage List. This would allow for a preliminary evaluation of the comparative value of properties within that State. The Committee therefore expressed the hope that each State Party concerned would make available to the Committee before its next session a list of those properties which it intends to nominate to the World Heritage List ...
3 COM XI.32
Amendments to the criteria for the inclusion of cultural and natural properties in the World Heritage List and Guidelines for the evaluation of Nominations to the World Heritage List by ICOMOS and IUCN
The Committee considered that it was absolutely essential that the List contained only properties which were of outstanding universal value. Unless this general criterion was applied to every nomination, the List could rapidly decline in value and indeed in credibility. With this in mind, the Committee recommended that the wording in the "Operational Guidelines" and the nomination forms should more adequately reflect this overriding consideration, and that ICOMOS and IUCN should be instructed to regard this requirement as of critical importance in their evaluation of nominations.
3 COM XI.33
Amendments to the criteria for the inclusion of cultural and natural properties in the World Heritage List and Guidelines for the evaluation of Nominations to the World Heritage List by ICOMOS and IUCN
The Committee heard the reports of the two working groups set up to examine amendments to the criteria and guidelines for the evaluation of nominations and took the decisions set out below:
3 COM XI.34
Amendments to the criteria for the inclusion of cultural and natural properties in the World Heritage List and Guidelines for the evaluation of Nominations to the World Heritage List by ICOMOS and IUCN
On the general question of the number of inscriptions to be entered on the World Heritage List, as well as of the selection criteria to be applied, the Committee recalled that the Convention foresees in Article 11 paragraph 1 that each State Party "shall in so far as possible submit to the World Heritage Committee _an inventory of property forming part of the cultural and natural heritage_, situated in its territory and _suitable for inclusion_" in the World Heritage List (passages not underlined in the text of the Convention). The Committee recommends that States Parties in future ...
3 COM XI.35
Amendments to the criteria for the inclusion of cultural and natural properties in the World Heritage List and Guidelines for the evaluation of Nominations to the World Heritage List by ICOMOS and IUCN
In response to specific questions raised by Mr. Michel Parent's report, the Committee adopted the following principles:
(i) States Parties may propose in one single nomination several individual cultural properties, which may be in different geographical locations but which should:
-be linked because they belong to the same historico-cultural group, or-be the subject of a single safeguarding project, or-belong to the same type of property characteristic of the zone.
the geographical zone in which these properties are situated should be delimited and the cultural properties individually ...
3 COM XI.36
Amendments to the criteria for the inclusion of cultural and natural properties in the World Heritage List and Guidelines for the evaluation of Nominations to the World Heritage List by ICOMOS and IUCN
The Committee took note of the typology proposed in Mr. Michel Parent's report. It considered that it was on the basis of the inventories submitted by States Parties that such a typology could be finalized. The question will therefore continue to be studied until its next session.
3 COM XI.39
Amendments to the criteria for the inclusion of natural properties in the World Heritage List and guidelines for the evaluation of nominations by IUCN
The Committee considered the complex issues concerning sites occupied by migratory species on a seasonal basis and decided to add to paragraph 11 on integrity in the "Operational Guidelines" a new sub-paragraph (v) as follows:
"In cases of migratory species, integrity will require critical areas necessary for the survival of the species to be included in the nomination. States which are parties to the Convention are requested to seek the co-operation of other States which contain seasonable sites for populations of World Heritage species so as to ensure that these species are protected ...
The Australian Delegation drew attention to the fact that, on several occasions, members of the Committee and representatives of IUCN and ICOMOS had referred to the threat to which certain nominated sites were exposed, and had suggested that this factor should influence the favourable and rapid acceptance of the site in question. The Delegation expressed concern at this development, pointing out that acceptance should be based only on the established criteria dealing with the intrinsic properties of the site and, further, that if the threat affected the integrity of the site, acceptance ...
The Committee took up one by one those nominations which had been recommended by the Bureau for inscription on the List, those which had been recommended by the Bureau not to be entered on the List and nominations which raised a problem of application of the criteria, in accordance with the Committee's decision mentioned in paragraph 15 above. In each case the Committee heard, as appropriate, the comments of the representatives of IUCN and/or ICOMOS who referred to the criteria met by the property in question.
The Committee decided to enter in the World Heritage List the following 45 properties:
No. Name of property / State Party___________________________________________
19 Fasil Ghebbi, Gondar Region / Ethiopia
20 Ancient City of Damascus Syrian / Arab Republic
The Committee noted the reservation expressed by ICOMOS concerning the threat to the site from rapid urban development.
31 Auschwitz concentration camp / Poland
The Committee decided to enter Auschwitz concentration camp on the List as a unique site and to restrict the inscription of other sites of a similar nature.
33 ...
Sites: Abu Mena Amphitheatre of El Jem Ancient City of Damascus Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis Antigua Guatemala Archaeological Site of Carthage Auschwitz Birkenau German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945) Białowieża Forest Boyana Church Bryggen Chartres Cathedral Dinosaur Provincial Park Everglades National Park Fasil Ghebbi, Gondar Region Forts and Castles, Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western Regions Grand Canyon National Park Historic Cairo Historical Complex of Split with the Palace of Diocletian Independence Hall Kathmandu Valley Kluane / Wrangell-St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek Madara Rider Medina of Tunis Meidan Emam, Esfahan Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor Ngorongoro Conservation Area Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae Old City of Dubrovnik Palace and Park of Versailles Persepolis Plitvice Lakes National Park Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley Rock Drawings in Valcamonica Rock-Hewn Churches of Ivanovo Sagarmatha National Park Stari Ras and Sopoćani Tchogha Zanbil Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak Tikal National Park Urnes Stave Church Vézelay, Church and Hill Virunga National Park
The Committee decided furthermore to defer the following sites:
No. Name of property / State Party
8 Ichkeul National park / Tunisia
The Committee deferred this nomination until the Tunisian Government has contacted the other States concerned to ensure adequate protection of summering and wintering areas of major migratory species found in Ichkeul.
79 Paphos, Birthplace of Aphrodite / Cyprus
The Committee deferred this nomination until more precise information was available on the possible adverse impact on the sites of the pressing needs of tourism development.
92 Sta. Giulia/St. ...
The Committee furthermore decided not to inscribe the following two sites on the World Heritage List:
No. 5: Zembra and Zembretta Islands National Park (Tunisia) andNo. 73: the Madeleine Island (Senegal).
In order to facilitate the examination by the Committee of nominations, it was decided that in future documents submitting nominations to the Committee would include indication of the criteria under which each nomination was to be considered.
After examining the requests received from States Parties and the recommendations of the Bureau, the Committee decided to grant technical co-operation as follows:
(a) Ecuador
Equipment to enable the authorities to ensure the integrity of tho natural environment of the Galapagos Islands through protective measures.
up to a maximum of $50,000
Sites: Galápagos Islands
After examining the requests received from States Parties and the recommendations of the Bureau, the Committee decided to grant technical co-operation as follows:
(b) Tanzania
Services of an architect-museologist for three weeks in order to draw up a project for the conservation and presentation of the prehistoric sites of Olduvai and Laetolil.
estimated cost $5,400
Sites: Ngorongoro Conservation Area
After examining the requests received from States Parties and the recommendations of the Bureau, the Committee decided to grant technical co-operation as follows:
(c) Egypt
Services of specialists in cultural heritage as well as equipment to draw up a project for the restoration and development of the Islamic Centre of Cairo.
up to a maximum of $ 30,000
Sites: Historic Cairo
The Committee was informed that requests for technical co-operation were forthcoming for the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania and Virunga National Park in Zaire and agreed to delegate authority to the Chairman to approve these requests after consultation with members of the Bureau if he considered it desirable.
The Committee approved the revised nomination form (CC-79/CONF.003/7) subject to the following:
(a) the text should be revised to reflect the decisions taken by the Committee on the criteria for the inclusion of properties in the World Heritage List and guidelines for the evaluation of nominations (see session XI above); the attention of States Parties should be drawn, in particular, to the essential criterion of outstanding universal value that should be met by properties nominated;
(b) The form should emphasize the importance of adequate buffer zones and ask for details on measures ...
The Committee heard the report of the working group on the management of the Convention and its financial implications and took note of the following points:
i) The Convention was now entering its operational phase particularly as regards technical co-operation, emergency assistance and the training of specialists, which implied a considerable increase in the workload of the Secretariat. An amount of approximately $210,000 had been spent by the Unesco Secretariat in 1979 under its Regular Budget for the management of the Convention.
ii) Funds actually obligated in 1979 under the World ...
The Committee then decided:
a) that it was not opportune at the present time to retain a fixed percentage such as 14%, as indicated in paragraph 26 of document CC-79/CONF.003/12, to cover direct management costs of the Convention;
b) to ask the Director-General of Unesco to make additional efforts to provide the Secretariat with an adequate permanent staff to enable it to meet the substantial increase in workload due to the fact that the Convention has now entered its operational phase. Until the Secretariat could be fully constituted and a sufficient number of Member States ratified ...
3 COM XVI.55
Presentation of the Statements of accounts of the World Heritage Fund and adoption of a budget
The Committee took note of the statement of account of the World Heritage Fund for the financial period which ended on 31 December 1978 and the interim statement of account of the Fund for the two-year financial period 1979/80 as set out in document CC-79/CONF.003/9.
3 COM XVI.56
Presentation of the Statements of accounts of the World Heritage Fund and adoption of a budget
The Committee adopted the following budget for the period October 1979 to December 1980.
BUDGET (October 1979 - December 1980)
Activities / Brought forward from 1978-1979 / Additional funds allocated / Total funds authorized for period October 78- December 80
I. Preparatory Assistance / $69,234 /$ 80,000 / $ 149,234 (30 m/m)
II. Technical Co-operation / -- / $165,400 / $ 165,400
III. Training / $4,700 / $ 200,000 / $ 204,700
IV. Emergency / $ 70,000 / $ 100,000 / $ 170,000
V. Promotional Activities / $ 500 / $ 36,400 / $ 36,900
VI. Programme Support
- ICOMOS } ...
The working group on natural criteria also reported to the Committee on its concern at the relatively low number of natural properties so far included in the World Heritage List. It considered that, if the List gave an initial impression of being a list of cultural properties, it would deter further nominations of natural properties. The working group was also concerned that the delegations of States Members at the third session of the Committee did not include a sufficient number of specialists in the natural heritage field which reduced the Committee's ability to evaluate properly ...
The Committee shared the concern of the group. It considered, however, that in view of the difficulty of determining precisely whether persons were competent in the fields of nature conservation or of the protection of cultural property, it would not be feasible to introduce such a rule on the quorum for meetings of the Committee. The responsibility for ensuring balanced representation lay with each State Member of the Committee.
The Committee requested the Secretariat to renew its efforts to ensure that the authorities in each State Party responsible for the natural heritage were fully informed of the activities undertaken under the Convention and of the meetings of the Committee. IUCN could also be of assistance through its direct contacts. It was decided that copies of letters of invitation would be sent to those authorities responsible for the national heritage in the States Parties. The Committee decided furthermore to take up the matter again if the situation did not improve.
3 COM XVII..b).60
Emergency assistance for the Natural and Culturo-historical region of Kotor (Yugoslavia)
Note was taken of the request from Yugoslavia for emergency assistance, in the form of equipment and consultant services, for the Natural and Culturo-historical region of Kotor. However, the Committee felt that further information should be made available on the equipment required and decided to grant in the first instance $20,000 for consultant services.
3 COM XVII.c).61
Charter on the rights and obligations relating to towns inscribed on the World Heritage List (Cracow-Quito)
The Committee noted that a draft Charter had been prepared jointly by the Ecuadorian and Polish authorities on this question and decided to take up the matter at a later stage.
The Committee fully supported the appeal launched by Mrs. El-Sadat for assistance in preserving the Islamic heritage of Cairo and members declared that they would transmit details of the appeal to their respective governments.
Sites: Historic Cairo
The next session of the Committee will take place early in September 1980, probably in France. The precise place and dates will be communicated to all concerned as soon as possible.
Following an expression of thanks from the floor to the Egyptian authorities for the remarkable hospitality offered to the Committee, to the Chairman for the admirable way in which he had conducted the meeting and to all those who had contributed to the smooth running of the meeting,
the Chairman declared the session closed.
The Chairperson drew the attention of the Committee to the two main documents of relevance to their deliberations. WHC-99/CONF.205/5 entitled "Report on the state of conservation of Kakadu National Park, Australia" provided a summary of information and deliberations concerning Kakadu up until the date of finalization of the document at the end of May. WHC-99/CONF.205/INF.4 included the record of the deliberations of the twenty-third session of the Bureau of the World Heritage Committee (5-10 July 1999).
Sites: Kakadu National Park
The Chairperson reminded Committee members that a mission was sent to Kakadu National Park in late 1998, at the request of the twenty-second session of the Bureau in June 1998. The mission was led by the former Chairperson of the World Heritage Committee, Professor Francioni of Italy. Professor Francioni reported on the mission at the twentysecond session of the Committee in Kyoto in 1998.
Sites: Kakadu National Park