1. U N E S O C
ulture Unit

2. UNESCO-ICCROM Asian Academy for Heritage Management (AAHM)
3rd Field School: Impact Assessment & Maritime Archaeology
Galle, Sri Lanka • April 2007
UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1972)
An Introduction
Richard A. Engelhardt
UNESCO Regional Advisor for Culture
in Asia and the Pacific

3. 1954: Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict with Regulations for the Execution of the Convention
1970: Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property
1972: Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage
1982: United Nations convention on the law of the sea (UNCLOS)
1996: ICOMOS charter on the protection of the underwater cultural heritage
2001: Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage
2003: Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
2005: Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions

4. “1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage”

5. Purpose of the World Heritage Convention
… ensuring the identification, protection, conservation, presentation and transmission to future generations of the cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity.
II Article 4, Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, 1972

6. ?
What is heritage
and why protect it

7. CULTURAL HERITAGE monuments
architectural works, works of monumental sculpture and painting, elements or structures of an archaeological nature, inscriptions, cave dwellings and combinations of features, which are of outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art or science.
groups of buildings
groups of separate or connected buildings which, because of their architecture, their homogeneity or their place in the landscape, are of outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art or science.
sites
works of man or the combined works of nature and man, and areas including archaeological sites which are of outstanding universal value from the historical, aesthetic, ethnological or anthropological point of view.
I Article 1, Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, 1972

8. NATURAL HERITAGE natural features
consisting of physical and biological formations or groups of such formations, which are of outstanding universal value from the aesthetic or scientific point of view.
geological and physiographical formations
and precisely delineated areas which constitute the habitat of threatened species of animals and plants of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.
natural sites
or precisely delineated natural areas of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science, conservation or natural beauty.
I Article 1, Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, 1972

9. Soltaniyeh (2005)
Bisotun (2006)
Japan
Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area (1993)
Himeji-jo (1993)
Shirakami-Sanchi (1993)
Yakushima (1993)
Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities) (1994)
Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama (1995)
Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) (1996)
Itsukushima Shinto Shrine (1996)
Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara (1998)
Shrines and Temples of Nikko (1999)
Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu (2000)
Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range (2004)
Shiretoko (2005)
Kazakhstan
Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi (2003)
Petroglyphs within the Archaeological Landscape of Tamgaly (2004)
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Town of Luang Prabang (1995)
Vat Phou and Associated Ancient Settlements within the Champasak Cultural Landscape (2001)
Malaysia
Gunung Mulu National Park (2000)
Kinabalu Park (2000)
The World Heritage List is a means of acknowledging sites that are of sufficient importance to be recognized by the international community as a whole.

10. Criteria for Inscription on the World Heritage List
“Outstanding Universal Value”
meeting at least one of ten criteria
II.D. Operational Guidelines

11. (i) represent a masterpiece of human creative genius
Taj Mahal, India
(i) represent a masterpiece of human creative genius

12. The Old Town of Lijiang, China
(ii) exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design

13. Town of Luang Prabang, Lao PDR
(iii) bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared

14. Old Town of Galle and its Fortifications , Sri Lanka
(iv) be an outstanding example of a type of building or architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history

15. Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras
(v) be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement or land-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change

16. Hiroshima Peace Memorial, Japan
(vi) be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance

17. Purnululu National Park , Australia
(vii) be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth's history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of land forms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features; or

18. Kinabalu Park, Malaysia
(viii) be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals; or

19. Nanda Devi National Park, India
(ix) contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance; or

20. Komodo National Park, Indonesia
(x) contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation;

21. How do these criteria help us think about the underwater heritage?

22. States Parties to the World Heritage Convention have the responsibility for:
Identification, inventory, nomination, protection, conservation, presentation and transmission to future generations of the cultural and natural heritage found in their territory
Adoption of general policies to give heritage a function in the community life
Integration of heritage protection into comprehensive planning programmes
Adoption of legal, scientific, technical, administrative and financial measures to protect their heritage
Establishment of national/regional centres for training in the conservation of heritage

23. While fully respecting the sovereignty of the States on whose territory the heritage is situated, States Parties to the World Heritage Convention recognize the collective interest of the international community to cooperate in the protection of this heritage.

24. The Convention does not replace national legislation or the primary responsibility of the national authority. The Convention is a supplementary authority.

25. The World Heritage List
830 sites in 138 States Parties
644 cultural
162 natural
24 mixed
830 sites are listed: 644 cultural, 162 natural, and 24 mixed properties, in 138 States Parties
The World Heritage List includes 812 properties in 137 States Parties, including
    natural,
    natural, and
    -  24 mixed properties
To date, there are 50 properties on World Heritage List have been included as cultural landscapes (as of 1 June 2006)

26. Asia-Pacific Regional Perspective43
121 11
175
Out of 830 World Heritage sites 175 are
situated in the Asia-Pacific Region.

27. ?
What about the
underwater heritage

28. Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage 2001
UNESCO
1972

29. Preconditions for enlistment in the World Heritage List
 Authenticity
 Integrity
 Adequate protection and
management system

30.  Authenticity of cultural heritage is expressed through the following attributes:
Form and design
Materials and substance
Use and function
Traditions, techniques and management systems
Location and setting
Language, and other forms of intangible heritage
Spirit and feeling
Other internal and external factors
II.E.82. Operational Guidelines

31. Maintenance and preservation are considered to be the least invasive measures, while adaptation is considered to be the most invasive.
Described another way, maintenance and preservation represent the lowest level of intervention, while adaptation represents a higher level of intervention.
Source: SS Imon, IFT

32. The “value” of a place is determined by the authenticity and cultural significance of the story told by that place.
The more that significance is cross-cultural, the more it is “universal”.

33.  Integrity is a measure of intactness or wholeness of the natural and/or cultural heritage and its attributes
II.E.87. Operational Guidelines

34.  Adequate protection and
management system
Legislative, regulatory and contractual measures for protection at the national and local levels should assure the survival of the property and its protection against development and change that might negatively impact the outstanding universal value, or the integrity and/or authenticity of the property.
II.F.98. Operational Guidelines

35.  Adequate protection and
management system
Buffer Zones
area surrounding the nominated property which has complementary legal and/or customary restrictions placed on its use and development to give an added layer of protection to the property
II.F.103. Operational Guidelines

36.  Adequate protection and
management system
Management Systems
To ensure the effective protection of the
property for present and future generations
II.F.108. Operational Guidelines

37.  Adequate protection and management system
Common elements of management systems
a thorough and shared understanding of the property by all stakeholders
a cycle of planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and feedback
the involvement of partners and stakeholders
the allocation of necessary resources
capacity-building
an accountable, transparent description of how the management system functions
II.F.111. Operational Guidelines

38.  Adequate protection and management system
Sustainable use
Any ongoing and proposed use of a World Heritage Property should be ecologically and culturally sustainable. However, such sustainable use should not adversely impact the outstanding universal value, integrity and/or authenticity of the property
II.F.119. Operational Guidelines

39. Conservation is Managing Change to Preserve Significance

40. Office of the UNESCO Regional Advisor for Culture in Asia and the Pacific, UNESCO Bangkok
P.O.Box 967 Sukhumvit Road, Prakanong, Bangkok Thailand
Phone: +66 (0) ext. 509
Fax: +66 (0)
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