UN Chronicle | UNESCO Celebrates World Heritage Convention

30 Years of Preserving Beauty:
UNESCO Celebrates World Heritage Convention
By Nuchhi R. Currier for the Chronicle

Web Article

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) held an international congress in Venice, Italy from 14 to 17 November 2002 to mark the 30th Anniversary of the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. Dubbed "Shared Legacy, Common Responsibility" the congress attracted more than 500 experts who analyzed the successes and challenges of applying the Convention and the efforts of UNESCO to make World Heritage better known and strengthen future partnerships for World Heritage conservation.

The Convention, adopted in 1972, unites 175 States in a common cause—to celebrate the unique cultural and natural heritage of different cultures and civilizations and to preserve it for future generations. Marking the Convention's 30th anniversary on 16 November, UNESCO could proudly claim it had touched 730 sites around the globe in some way—by placing them on the World Heritage List for their "outstanding universal value"—and ensured their existence, preservation and success as enduring monuments of human endeavour and natural beauty.

Cultural Heritage is being approached as an instrument of peace and a factor of development, in addition to its social and cultural value. UNESCO is trying to create awareness in the public and private sectors, as well as civil society, that a new approach to management of cultural heritage is necessary. It not only plays a vital role in rebuilding national pride in conflict-ravaged areas but also promotes economic growth by creating jobs for local populations through crafts, cultural tourism and the emergence of new forms of trade.

"The World Heritage Convention is a noble, vital force in the world, fostering peaceful coexistence and honouring our past in equal measure with our future."

Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO

The concept of preservation of cultural heritage was born as a result of the destruction following the two world wars. The Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, also known as the Hague Convention and adopted in 1954, was a precursor to the World Heritage Convention. The 102 member States undertook to renounce the destruction, pillage and looting of architectural and archaeological sites, collections and museums, and to preserve these wonders from decay and disasters. The treaty has given UNESCO the authority to intervene on moral grounds or for practical logistical expert assistance in reducing or repairing damage caused by conflict, and of undertaking restoration of threatened sites and endangered ecosystems.

In the words of Russel Train, founding Director of the World Wildlife Fund, the World Heritage Convention enshrines "the simple yet revolutionary concept that throughout the world there exist natural and cultural areas of such unique value that they are part of our heritage, not only of individual nations, but of all mankind. It is an idea that gives eloquent expression through cooperative international action to the truth that the Earth is indeed man's home and belongs to us all."

UNESCO and the World Heritage Convention have had some spectacular successes. The international campaign to protect Abu Simbel and other Nubian temples threatened by the flooding of the Nile, for one. The conservation of the city of Venice after the great flood of 1965, the conservation of the threatened Bronze age city of Moenjodaro in Pakistan, and the Buddhist temple compounds of Borobodur Indonesia are more examples of its efficacy.

The first declared UNESCO World Heritage site was Ecuador's Galapagos Islands.

The most recent addition to the site was the Minaret of Jam in Afghanistan.

The first international preservation project: In 1960, the building of the Aswan Dam in Egypt threatened to endanger the Abu Simbel temples—UNESCO organized the dismantling, relocation and reassembly of these archaeological wonders at a cost of $80 million.

The longest running campaign started in Venice in 1966 and reached its second phase in 1993.

This was a project to save the city after the 1965 floods.

There are 33 sites on the List of World Heritage in Danger, most of them in Africa.

$1.5 million have been raised in 30 years through international campaigns, over and above the almost $4 million it receives as annual dues.

The first site to be removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger was Senegal's Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary, in 1988, after sluices ensured better regulation of water in the fragile wetlands area.

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World Heritage Convention, UNESCO

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