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1.
The 1972 World Heritage Convention is truly unique. It is the only legal instrument conceived to protect both cultural and natural heritage, based on the principle of Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) – the value of a site that is irreplaceable and must be protected for the future.
Each year, during its annual session, the World Heritage Committee adds new sites to the ...
2.
Traditions, ancestral knowledge and ways of life of local communities are essential elements of World Heritage. In the quest to continue safeguarding and promoting cultural and natural treasures of our humanity, UNESCO recognizes the importance of their active participation in World Heritage preservation and management, ensuring their integrity and authenticity.
In this ...
3.
This special issue of World Heritage is about interlinkages between nature and culture.
One of the defining characteristics of the World Heritage Convention is that the governance of both natural and cultural values of Outstanding Universal Value falls under one international instrument, but we have still to harness the full potential it offers to recognize and build on ...
4.
Table of Contents
In Focus
World Heritage: cooperation, communication and capacity buildingThe inscription of a site can result in specific preservation challenges, making skilled and sustainable management practices crucial to protect its Outstanding Universal Value.
Jiuzhaigou ValleyFrom isolation to ‘smart park’Jiuzhaigou Valley has completed the perfect transition from ...
5.
The issues of World Heritage published during 2012 have largely been devoted to commemorating the adoption of the World Heritage Convention forty years ago, in 1972. This has not been a self-congratulatory exercise but rather an analytical survey, which offers some fascinating insights into the unique contribution that the Convention has made and is still making to global ...
6.
Modern heritage – the architecture, town planning and landscape design of the modern era, or the last two hundred years or so – is still underrepresented on the World Heritage List. And yet it is an integral part of many urban ensembles, which represent a majority of sites on the List. Raising awareness of the significance of this heritage, and addressing issues on its ...
7.
Table of Contents
Astronomy and World Heritage Astronomical heritage, or cultural heritage relating to the sky, recognizes the relationships between humanity and the cosmos.
From the Maya to the Inca and beyond These ancient cultures confronted their particular vision of the universe.
The heritage of Galileo 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei’s first astronomical ...
8.
This year, for its 42nd session, the World Heritage Committee is hosted by Bahrain in its capital city of Manama. Bahrain has long dedicated its support to the World Heritage Convention, and already chaired the Committee for its 35th session in 2011, at UNESCO Headquarters.
Bahrain is also home to the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage, a Category 2 Centre working ...
9.
I am particularly pleased that the 43rd session of the World Heritage Committee will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan. We are very grateful to our generous hosts for organizing this session in a World Heritage city.
Baku has always been at the crossroads of cultures. Situated along the western shore of the Caspian Sea, it is part of ancient trade routes from the Central Asian ...
10.
This issue of World Heritage is devoted to a number of truly extraordinary World Heritage sites that allow a better understanding of the history of the Earth and the formation of landscape. It is no surprise that UNESCO has acknowledged this diversity as the basis of the International Year of Planet Earth, a celebration that concludes in 2009. Representatives of two of the ...
11.
While conflicts continue to inflict damage – much of it intentional – on heritage sites, reconstruction becomes a critical topic for discussion. The recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction of damaged sites are complex. They involve questions that go beyond authenticity and integrity. As the architect Jad Tabet says in his introductory article to this issue of World ...
12.
Table of contents
Scenic natural beauty
How can it be judged
The sites inscribed under criterion vii, known commonly as having the “wow” effect, are more than just stunning landscapes, and we take a close look at their unique qualities and conservation challenges.
Stories behind superlative scenery
The concept of aesthetics is no easier to deal with, being additionally ...
13.
Table of Contents
In Focus
Revising the approach to urban conservation The capacity of historic cities to accommodate and benefit from the radical and rapid changes that accompany urban growth while maintaining heritage values is becoming a critical issue.
Towards social inclusion in urban settings More than half of the Earth’s population now lives in urban areas ...
14.
The 40th session of the World Heritage Committee is taking place in Istanbul from 10 to 20 July 2016, and we are extremely grateful to Turkey for generously hosting this session.
Turkey is a country at the crossroads between Europe and Asia, with a diverse heritage of civilizations that have been a cultural and historical influence worldwide. It is home to fifteen World ...
15.
It is a great pleasure for me to share this 50th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention celebration with you.
Over the past five decades, the World Heritage Convention has protected and promoted humanity’s treasures and transformed the way we value and safeguard heritage.
In this issue we look at a few key sites that have marked turning points for the Convention, ...
16.
The illicit trafficking of cultural objects depletes cultures of their identity and contributes to lucrative unlawful trade, which helps to finance terrorism and organized crime. It is a problem that has been growing surreptitiously across the globe. As just one example, since 2011, approximately 25 per cent of Syria’s archaeological sites have been pillaged. Objects from ...
17.
Table of contents
In focus
Fostering resilience: Towards reducing disaster risks to World Heritage, p. 4World Heritage sites are exposed to a wide variety of natural and human-induced hazards, such as earthquakes, cyclones or fires, which can have devastating effects on their value as well as on the lives and assets of the communities concerned.
Post-disaster ...
18.
Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are islands of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.
The UNESCO World Heritage Programme for Small Island Developing States coordinates and develops activities in these areas, providing support for the preparation of new nominations to the World Heritage List, and conservation and management assistance for ...
19.
Water: its role in human evolution. World Heritage sites offer a wide spectrum of water elements, from glorious water gardens to spectacular aqueducts, grand transport canals to ingenious water mills.
This display of human creativity and ingenuity reveals the brilliance of our common heritage and the potential for future technological advances. By gaining a deeper ...
20.
Spain, with its long, complex history and the global character of its territorial and cultural extension, remains marked by a striking diversity of historical influences and regional differences, and it justifiably prides itself on the forty Spanish sites currently inscribed on the World Heritage List. Together, they represent a broad range of categories: religious, ...
21.
The World Heritage Convention arose from the need to identify and protect outstanding natural and cultural sites for future generations. Over time, the effectiveness of the Convention has led to an increasing number of sites inscribed on the World Heritage List, resulting in not only a List including a great variety and number of places around the world, but an awareness ...
22.
Saving natural sites in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
World Heritage Focus: partnerships for conservation
The outstanding architecture of the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi in Kazakhstan
The Guanacaste Conservation Area in Costa Rica: one of the most innovative and influential restoration and conservation projects in the world
Antonio Gaudi: the master ...
23.
The World Heritage Convention was created in 1972 – nearly half a century ago – as a legal instrument to protect our most outstanding cultural and natural sites around the world. It has been adopted since by 194 countries, nearing universality. Concretely, the World Heritage Convention is implemented in myriad ways, big and small, by people around the world.
In this issue, ...
24.
Wetlands are an essential, but often overlooked, aspect of our natural environment. They are vital sources of biodiversity and take many different forms – from lakes, rivers and swamps, to deltas and tidal flats, mangroves and coral reefs. Wetlands are found nearly everywhere, are essential to the survival of countless species of plants and animals, and are therefore ...
25.
Cultural World Heritage sites are representative of the creativity and genius of humanity. While World Heritage belongs to everyone, and we share the responsibility to protect it, each site embodies the history, values, beliefs and skills of the people who created it. Whenever a cultural site is destroyed, it is a particularly devastating loss for those who hold the site ...
26.
From 1 to 10 September 2016, thousands of leaders and decision-makers from government, civil society, indigenous peoples, business and academia will gather together in Honolulu (Hawaii) to share ideas on how to improve the ways we manage the natural environment for human, social and economic development. Held every four years, the IUCN World Conservation Congress (WCC) ...
27.
Special issue on World Heritage sites in New Zealand, at the occasion of the 31st session of the World Heritage Committee held from 23 June to 2 July in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Special Issue
Message from UNESCO Director-General Mr Koichiro Matsuura (p.4)
An Interview with Mr Tumu te Heuheu, Paramount Chief of the Ngati Tuwharetoa Māori Tribe and Chair of the 31st ...
28.
A number of World Heritage routes have played a significant part in the history of the five continents – and the way we focus on them in this issue illustrates how far our thinking has evolved in the thirty-five years since the World Heritage Convention was drafted and adopted.
The initial idea was the logical outgrowth of the need to protect significant monuments ...
29.
This year, the World Heritage Committee will meet for its 41st session in the World Heritage site of the Historic Centre of Krakow. We are very pleased to be hosted by Poland, an early supporter of the World Heritage Convention whose experts even participated in the drafting of the Convention itself. Poland’s heritage sites represent many aspects of World Heritage: a ...
30.
UNESCO's World Heritage is much more than a List of remarkable sites. It represents the common heritage of humanity – a collection of cultural and natural treasures that transcend borders and generations. These sites tell the story of our world, illustrating our diversity, creativity and resilience through the ages.
India, a land of millennia of history, is a living ...
31.
What are the benefits of World Heritage List inscription When it brings higher visibility and increased tourism to a site, how can the site still be protected
Issue 58 of our quarterly magazine explores these questions with a lead article by Jonathan B. Tourtellot, National Geographic Fellow, Geotourism Editor at National Geographic Traveler and World Heritage advocate. ...
32.
Forests, like mountains and oceans, play a critical role in the balance of world climate (as well as in vital carbon capture and retention) and thus in the survival of our species, hence the United Nations’ decision to designate 2011 as the International Year of Forests. This event in fact coincides with the tenth anniversary of the World Heritage Forest Programme and ...
33.
It is a great pleasure to meet for this extended 44th session of the World Heritage Committee to be held from 16 to 31 July 2021 in Fuzhou, China and online.
As China is home to a prodigious array of stunning natural sites and ancient cultural sites – from the iconic Great Wall and the Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries to the Silk Roads and the amazing round buildings of the ...
34.
There was a time when the world appeared boundless and inexhaustible. We are just beginning to realize that it is both limited and surprisingly vulnerable. It follows that if we are to survive at all as a species, we shall have to learn to see the world in a different light. Warnings have been sounded. Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, opened the international ...
35.
At some time during the past one hundred years or so, the great, multimillennial tradition of earthen architecture, which even today is a dominant technique in every world civilization, fell victim to the Modern Ideal.
Being ‘modern’, some thought, meant eating, clothing and housing oneself as one did in the industrial world. If some lived and worked in ...
36.
We are happy to publish this special issue dedicated to the World Heritage sites of the Russian Federation on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention, which the Committee will be celebrating at its meeting in Saint Petersburg on 25 June 2012.
The inscription of both cultural and natural sites on the World Heritage List has progressed rapidly ...
37.
The network of World Heritage properties was inter alia intended to ensure the proper preservation of the natural and cultural values of sites inscribed on the World Heritage List. Today, as the planet finds itself confronted with the impact of climate change, the existence of this network is proving to be of the highest importance in monitoring changing conditions and ...
38.
The year 2020 began with an unprecedented health crisis that has affected each one of us, and we still cannot predict its long-term effects. Not only have we been touched in our personal lives. Lockdown has perturbed our work, our communities and our industries, at times with devastating consequences. And this crisis is not yet over.
Inevitably, our World Heritage sites ...
39.
The 14 World Heritage sites of Canada presented in this issue offer a fascinating pattern. Indeed, they reflect key aspects of the evolution of the very concept of World Heritage over the past 32 years.
The sites predictably include historic cities like Old Québec and Lunenburg, great natural sites like Nahanni National Park, Wood Buffalo National Park, the Canadian ...
40.
The IUCN World Parks Congress meets every ten years, and its November 2014 meeting may prove to be a turning point for protected areas in offering and implementing solutions for the challenges faced by the planet.
Taken together, the national parks, reserves and designated protected areas of every kind (including the World Heritage natural and mixed natural/cultural ...
41.
Cities are among the most quickly evolving environments on the planet. Over half of the world’s population lives in cities today, and knowing how to manage these urban areas as they grow, so that we can both cherish our history and yet help them to flourish socially, culturally and economically while they meet our needs, is a complex and monumental task. We examine these ...
42.
At the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, world leaders agreed that the conservation of biodiversity was one of the cornerstones of sustainable development.
They acknowledged that the world was facing an unprecedented wave of species extinction and the rapid destruction of ecosystems and decided that it was urgent to halt the global loss of biodiversity in order to ...
43.
This year we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention: a unique legal instrument that protects both both cultural and natural heritage. Because of this, the World Heritage List includes the most spectacular sites across the globe, and continues to grow.
The World Heritage Committee, made up of 21 elected countries, meets each year to assess the ...