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The World Heritage Convention, formally the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, is an international treaty signed on 23 November 1972, which created the
World Heritage Sites A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
, with the primary goals of nature conservation and the preservation of cultural properties. The convention, a signed document of
international agreement A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal perso ...
, guides the work of the
World Heritage Committee The World Heritage Committee selects the sites to be listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance ...
. It was developed over a seven-year period (1965–1972). The convention defines which sites which can be considered for inscription on the
World Heritage List A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
, sets out the duties of each country's governments to identify potential sites and to protect and preserve them. Signatory countries pledge to conserve the World Heritage sites situated on their territory, and report regularly on the state of their conservation. The convention also sets out how the World Heritage Fund is to be used and managed. It was adopted by the General Conference of
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
on 16 November 1972, and signed by the President of General Conference of UNESCO, Toru Haguiwara, and the Director-General of UNESCO, René Maheu, on 23 November 1972. It is held in the archives of
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
.


Development

The
International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia The International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia was the relocation of 22 monuments in Lower Nubia, in Southern Egypt and northern Sudan, between 1960 and 1980. The success of the project, in particular the creation of a coalition of 50 ...
, begun after appeals by
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
and Sudan in 1959, led to the relocation of 22 monuments. The success of the project, in particular the creation of a coalition of 50 countries behind the project, led UNESCO, together with the
International Council on Monuments and Sites The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS; french: links=no, Conseil international des monuments et des sites) is a professional association that works for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage places around the worl ...
(ICOMOS), to prepare a draft convention on the protection of cultural heritage.The World Heritage Convention
"The event that aroused particular international concern was the decision to build the Aswan High Dam in Egypt, which would have flooded the valley containing the Abu Simbel temples, a treasure of ancient Egyptian civilization. In 1959, after an appeal from the governments of Egypt and Sudan, UNESCO launched an international safeguarding campaign. Archaeological research in the areas to be flooded was accelerated. Above all, the Abu Simbel and Philae temples were dismantled, moved to dry ground and reassembled. The campaign cost about US$80 million, half of which was donated by some 50 countries, showing the importance of solidarity and nations' shared responsibility in conserving outstanding cultural sites. Its success led to other safeguarding campaigns, such as saving Venice and its Lagoon (Italy) and the Archaeological Ruins at Moenjodaro (Pakistan), and restoring the Borobodur Temple Compounds (Indonesia). Consequently, UNESCO initiated, with the help of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the preparation of a draft convention on the protection of cultural heritage." A
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
conference in 1965 called for a "World Heritage Trust" to preserve "the world's superb natural and scenic areas and historic sites for the present and the future of the entire world citizenry". The
International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...
developed similar proposals in 1968, which were presented in 1972 to the
United Nations Conference on the Human Environment The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was held in Stockholm, Sweden, from June 5–16 in 1972. When the United Nations General Assembly decided to convene the 1972 Stockholm Conference, taking up the offer of the Government of S ...
in Stockholm. Under the World Heritage Committee, signatory countries are required to produce and submit periodic
data reporting Data reporting is the process of collecting and submitting data which gives rise to accurate analyses of the facts on the ground; inaccurate data reporting can lead to vastly uninformed decision-making based on erroneous evidence. Different from da ...
providing the committee with an overview of each participating nation's implementation of the World Heritage Convention and a 'snapshot' of current conditions at World Heritage properties.


Adoption and implementation

Based on the draft convention that UNESCO had initiated, a single text was eventually agreed upon by all parties, and the "Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage" was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on 16 November 1972. The convention came into force on 17 December 1975, three months after the 20th ratification. The convention began to be implemented in 1977, after the 40th ratification, and the first names were inscribed to the list in 1978. New names have been added to the list every year since then, at the annual sessions of the
World Heritage Committee The World Heritage Committee selects the sites to be listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance ...
.


Contents

The convention contains 38 articles. The key articles are set out below:


Ratification

As of March 2022, the convention has been ratified by 194 states: 190 UN member states, 2 UN observer states (the
Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
and the State of Palestine), and 2 states in free association with
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
(the
Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...
and
Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...
). Only three UN member states have not ratified the convention:
Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarch ...
, Nauru, and
Tuvalu Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-nor ...
.


Bibliography

* * * Meskell, Lynn. “States of Conservation: Protection, Politics, and Pacting within UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee.” Anthropological Quarterly, vol. 87, no. 1, 2014, pp. 217–43. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43652726. Accessed 12 October 2022.


References

{{United Nations United Nations treaties Treaties concluded in 1972 Treaties of the Islamic State of Afghanistan Treaties of Albania Treaties of Algeria Treaties of Andorra Treaties of the People's Republic of Angola Treaties of Antigua and Barbuda Treaties of Argentina Treaties of Armenia Treaties of Australia Treaties of Austria Treaties of Azerbaijan Treaties of the Bahamas Treaties of Bahrain Treaties of Bangladesh Treaties of Barbados Treaties of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic Treaties of Belgium Treaties of Belize Treaties of Benin Treaties of Bhutan Treaties of Bolivia Treaties of Bosnia and Herzegovina Treaties of Botswana Treaties of Brazil Treaties of Brunei Treaties of Bulgaria Treaties of Burkina Faso Treaties of Myanmar Treaties of Burundi Treaties of the State of Cambodia Treaties of Cameroon Treaties of Canada Treaties of Cape Verde Treaties of the Central African Republic Treaties of Chad Treaties of Chile Treaties of the People's Republic of China Treaties 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(1985–2011) Treaties of Suriname Treaties of Eswatini Treaties of Sweden Treaties of Switzerland Treaties of Syria Treaties of Tajikistan Treaties of Thailand Treaties of Togo Treaties of Tonga Treaties of Trinidad and Tobago Treaties of Tunisia Treaties of Turkey Treaties of Turkmenistan Treaties of Tuvalu Treaties of Uganda Treaties of Ukraine Treaties of the United Arab Emirates Treaties of the United Kingdom Treaties of the United States Treaties of Uruguay Treaties of Uzbekistan Treaties of Vanuatu Treaties of Venezuela Treaties of Vietnam Treaties of Yemen Treaties of Zambia Treaties of Zimbabwe Treaties of Czechoslovakia Treaties of East Germany Treaties of the Holy See Treaties of Yugoslavia Treaties adopted by United Nations General Assembly resolutions Treaties extended to Anguilla Treaties extended to Bermuda Treaties extended to the British Virgin Islands Treaties extended to the Cayman Islands Treaties extended to the Falkland Islands Treaties extended to the Isle of Man Treaties extended to Montserrat Treaties extended to the Pitcairn Islands Treaties extended to Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Treaties extended to South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Treaties extended to the Turks and Caicos Islands Treaties extended to the Netherlands Antilles Treaties extended to Aruba Treaties extended to the Faroe Islands Treaties extended to Greenland Treaties extended to British Hong Kong Treaties extended to Portuguese Macau Treaties extended to Jersey November 1972 events