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The programme aims to catalogue, name, and conserve sites of outstanding Cultural or Natural importance to the common heritage of Humanity . Under certain conditions, listed sites can obtain funds from the World Heritage Fund. The programme was founded with the ''Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage'', which was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on 16 November 1972 . Since then, 184 (as of July 2007) States Parties have ratified the convention. As of 2007 , a total of 851 sites are listed: 660 cultural, 166 natural, and 25 mixed properties, in 142 States Parties. UNESCO references each World Heritage Site with a unique identification number; but new inscriptions often include previous sites now listed as part of larger descriptions. As a result, the numbering system currently ends above 1200, even though there are fewer on the actual list. Each World Heritage Site is the property of the country on whose territory the site is located, but it is considered in the interest of the international community to preserve each site for future generations of humanity. The protection and conservation of these sites are a concern of all the World Heritage countries.
HISTORY Pre-convention In 1959 , the government of Egypt decided to build the Aswan High Dam , an event that would flood a valley containing treasures of ancient civilization such as the Abu Simbel temples. UNESCO then launched a worldwide safeguarding campaign, despite appeals from the governments of Egypt and Sudan . The Abu Simbel and Philae temples were taken apart, moved to a higher location, and put back together piece-by-piece. The cost of the project was approximately US $80 million, about $40 million of which was collected from 50 different countries. It was widely regarded as a total success, and led to other safeguarding campaigns (saving Venice and its lagoon in Italy , the ruins of Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan , and the Borobodur Temple Compounds in Indonesia ). UNESCO then initiated, with the International Council On Monuments And Sites , a draft convention to protect the common cultural heritage of humanity. Convention and background The United States initiated the idea of combining cultural conservation with nature conservation. A White House 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 developed similar proposals in 1968 , and they were presented in 1972 to the United Nations conference on Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden . A single text was ultimately agreed on by all parties involved, 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 . NOMINATING PROCESS A country must first take an inventory of all its significant cultural and natural properties. This is called the Tentative List, and is important because a country may not nominate properties that have not already been included on the Tentative List. Next, it can select a property from this list to place into a Nomination File. The World Heritage Centre offers advice and help in preparing this file, which needs to be as comprehensive as possible. At this point, the file is independently evaluated by two organizations: the International Council On Monuments And Sites and the World Conservation Union . These bodies then make their recommendations to the World Heritage Committee. The Committee meets once per year to determine whether or not to inscribe each nominated property on the World Heritage List, and sometimes defers the decision to request more information from the States Parties. There are ten selection criteria that a site must meet to be included on the list. SELECTION CRITERIA Cultural criteria
Natural criteria
STATISTICS See Also: Table of World Heritage Sites based on State Parties There are currently 851 World Heritage Sites located in 142 State Parties. Of these, 660 are cultural, 166 are natural and 25 are mixed properties. Further site classification includes the classification of the State Parties among five geographic zones: Africa , Arab States (composed of northern Africa and the Middle East ), Asia-Pacific (includes Australia and Oceania ), Europe and North America (specifically, USA and Canada ), and Latin America and the Caribbean . Note that Russia and the Caucasus States are classified as belonging to the Europe and North America zone. The UNESCO geographic zones also give greater emphasis on administrative, rather than geographic associations. Hence, Gough Island , located in the South Atlantic, is part of the Europe & North America region since it was the United Kingdom which nominated the site. The table below includes a breakdown of the sites according to these zones and their classification: LISTS OF WORLD HERITAGE SITES
WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE SESSION The World Heritage Committee meets several times a year to discuss measures on the management of existing World Heritage Sites, and accept the nominations from interested countries. A session, known as the World Heritage Committee Session, takes place annually where sites are officially inscribed on the World Heritage List, after presentations made by the IUCN and/or ICOMOS, and deliberations made among the State Parties. The annual session takes place in various cities all over the world. With the exception of those held in Paris (France), where the UNESCO headquarter office is located, only State Parties who are members of the World Heritage Committee have the right to host a future Session, pending approval by the Committee, as well as provided that the concerned State Party’s term will not expire before it hosts the Session. SEE ALSO
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