Managing Disaster Risks for World Heritage

Published in June 2010 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO, ICCROM, ICOMOS and IUCN concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

The World Heritage Centre of UNESCO, ICCROM, ICOMOS, IUCN and other participating organizations disclaim any errors or omissions in the translation of this document from the original version in English, or from primary errors in any of the data interpreted within it.

About the World Heritage Resource Manual Series

Since the World Heritage Convention was adopted in 1972, the World Heritage List has continually evolved and is growing steadily. With this growth, a critical need has emerged for guidance for States Parties on the implementation of the Convention. Various expert meetings and results of Periodic Reporting have identified the need for more focused training and capacity development in specific areas where States Parties and World Heritage site managers require greater support. The development of a series of World Heritage Resource Manuals is a response to this need.

The publication of the series is a joint undertaking by the three Advisory Bodies of the World Heritage Convention (ICCROM, ICOMOS and IUCN) and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre as the Secretariat of the Convention. The World Heritage Committee at its 30th session (Vilnius, Lithuania, July 2006) supported this initiative and requested that the Advisory Bodies and the World Heritage Centre proceed with the preparation and publication of a number of thematic Resource Manuals. The 31st (2007) and 32nd (2008) sessions of the Committee adopted the publication plan and determined a prioritized list of titles.

An Editorial Board consisting of members of all three Advisory Bodies and the World Heritage Centre meets regularly to decide on different aspects of their preparation and publication. For each manual, depending on the theme, one of the Advisory Bodies or the World Heritage Centre functions as the lead agency responsible for coordination, while the final production is ensured by the World Heritage Centre.

The Resource Manuals are intended to provide focused guidance on the implementation of the Convention to States Parties, heritage protection authorities, local governments, site managers and local communities linked to World Heritage sites, as well as other stakeholders in the identification and preservation process. They aim to provide knowledge and assistance in ensuring a representative and credible World Heritage List consisting of well-protected and effectively managed properties.

The manuals are being developed as user-friendly tools for capacity-building and awarenessraising on the World Heritage Convention. They can be used independently for self-guided learning as well as material at training workshops, and should complement the basic provisions for understanding the text of the Convention itself and the Operational Guidelines for implementation.

The titles in this series are produced as PDF online documents which can be freely downloaded and are also available on CD-ROM.