Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage

I. Definition of The Cultural And Natural Heritage

Article 1

For the purpose of this Convention, the following shall be considered as
“cultural heritage”:
monuments: architectural works, works of monumental sculpture and
painting, elements or structures of an archeological 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.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Convention, the following shall be considered as
“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.

Article 3

It is for each State Party to this Convention to identify and delineate the
different properties situated on its territory mentioned in Articles 1 and
2 above.

II. NATIONAL PROTECTION AND INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION OF THE CULTURAL AND
NATURAL HERITAGE

Article 4

Each State Party to this Convention recognizes that the duty of ensuring
the identification, protection, conservation, presentation and transmission
to future generations of the cultural and natural heritage referred to in
Articles 1 and 2 and situated on its territory, belongs primarily to that
State. It will do all it can to this end, to the utmost of its own
resources and, where appropriate, with any international assistance and co-
operation, in particular, financial, artistic, scientific and technical,
which it may be able to obtain.

Article 5

To ensure that effective and active measures are taken for the protection,
conservation and presentation of the cultural and natural heritage situated
on its territory, each State Party to this Convention shall endeavor, in so
far as possible, and as appropriate for each country :

(a) to adopt a general policy which aims to give the cultural and
natural heritage a function in the life of the community and to
integrate the protection of that heritage into comprehensive
planning programmes;

(b) to set up within its territories, where such services do not
exist, one or more services for the protection, conservation
and presentation of the cultural and natural heritage with an
appropriate staff and possessing the means to discharge their
functions;

(c) to develop scientific and technical studies and research and to
work out such operating methods as will make the State capable
of counteracting the dangers that threaten its cultural or
natural heritage;

(d) to take the appropriate legal, scientific, technical,
administrative and financial measures necessary for the
identification, protection, conservation, presentation and
rehabilitation of this heritage; and

(e) to foster the establishment or development of national or
regional centres for training in the protection, conservation
and presentation of the cultural and natural heritage and to
encourage scientific research in this field.

Article 6

1. Whilst fully respecting the sovereignty of the States on whose
territory the cultural and natural heritage mentioned in Articles 1
and 2 is situated, and without prejudice to property right provided
by national legislation, the States Parties to this Convention
recognize that such heritage constitutes a world heritage for whose
protection it is the duty of the international community as a whole
to co-operate.

2. The States Parties undertake, in accordance with the provisions of
this Convention, to give their help in the identification,
protection, conservation and presentation of the cultural and natural
heritage referred to in paragraphs 2 and 4 of Article 11 if the
States on whose territory it is situated so request.

3. Each State Party to this Convention undertakes not to take any
deliberate measures which might damage directly or indirectly the
cultural and natural heritage referred to in Articles 1 and 2
situated on the territory of other States Parties to this Convention.

Article 7

For the purpose of this Convention, international protection of the world
cultural and natural heritage shall be understood to mean the establishment
of a system of international co-operation and assistance designed to
support States Parties to the Convention in their efforts to conserve and
identify that heritage.

III. INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMITTEE FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE WORLD CULTURAL
AND NATURAL HERITAGE

Article 8

1. An Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of the Cultural and
Natural Heritage of Outstanding Universal Value, called “the World
Heritage Committee”, is hereby established within the United Nations
Education , Scientific and Cultural Organization. It shall be composed
of 15 States Parties to the Convention, elected by States Parties to
the Convention meeting in general assembly during the ordinary
session of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization. The number of States members of
the Committee shall be increased to 21 as from the date of the
ordinary session of the General Conference following the entry into
force of this Convention for at least 40 States.

2. Election of members of the Committee shall ensure an equitable
representation of the different regions and cultures of the world.

3. A representative of the International Centre for the Study of the
Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (Rome Centre), a
representative of the International Council of Monuments and Sites
(ICOMOS) and a representative of the International Union for
Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), to whom may be
added, at the request of States Parties to the Convention meeting in
general assembly during the ordinary sessions of the General
Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization, representatives of other intergovernmental or non-
governmental organizations, with similar objectives, may attend the
meetings of the Committee in an advisory capacity.

Article 9

1. The term of office of States members of the World Heritage Committee
shall extend from the end of the ordinary session of the General
Conference during which they are elected until the end of its third
subsequent ordinary session.

2. The term of office of one-third of the members designated at the time
of the first election shall, however, cease at the end of the first
ordinary session of the General Conference following that at which
they were elected; and the term of office of a further third of the
members designated at the same time shall cease at the end of the
second ordinary session of the General Conference following that at
which they were elected. The names of these members shall be chosen
by lot by the President of the General Conference of the United
Nations Education , Scientific and Cultural Organization after the
first election.

3. States members of the Committee shall choose as their representatives
persons qualified in the field of the cultural or natural heritage.

Article 10

1. The World Heritage Committee shall adopt its Rules of Procedure.

2. The Committee may at any time invite public or private organizations
or individuals to participate in its meetings for consultation on
particular problems.

3. The Committee may create such consultative bodies as it deems
necessary for the performance of its functions.

Article 11

1. Every State Party to this Convention shall, in so far as possible,
submit to the World Heritage Committee an inventory of property
forming part of the cultural and natural heritage, situated in its
territory and suitable for inclusion in the list provided for in
paragraph 2 of this Article. This inventory, which shall not be
considered exhaustive, shall include documentation about the location
of the property in question and its significance.

2. On the basis of the inventories submitted by States in accordance
with paragraph 1, the Committee shall establish, keep up to date and
publish, under the title of “World Heritage List,”a list of
properties forming part of the cultural heritage and natural
heritage, as defined in Articles 1 and 2 of this Convention, which it
considers as having outstanding universal value in terms of such
criteria as it shall have established. An updated list shall be
distributed at least every two years.

3. The inclusion of a property in the World Heritage List requires the
consent of the State concerned. The inclusion of a property situated
in a territory, sovereignty or jurisdiction over which is claimed by
more than one State shall in no way prejudice the rights of the
parties to the dispute.

4. The Committee shall establish, keep up to date and publish, whenever
circumstances shall so require, under the title of “list of World
Heritage in Danger”, a list of the property appearing in the World
Heritage List for the conservation of which major operations are
necessary and for which assistance has been requested under this
Convention. This list shall contain an estimate of the cost of such
operations. The list may include only such property forming part of
the cultural and natural heritage as is threatened by serious and
specific dangers, such as the threat of disappearance caused by
accelerated deterioration, large-scale public or private projects or
rapid urban or tourist development projects; destruction caused by
changes in the use or ownership of the land; major alterations due to
unknown causes; abandonment for any reason whatsoever; the outbreak
or the threat of an armed conflict; calamities and cataclysms;
serious fires, earthquakes, landslides; volcanic eruptions; changes
in water level, floods and tidal waves. The Committee may at any
time, in case of urgent need, make a new entry in the List of World
Heritage in Danger and publicize such entry immediately.

5. The Committee shall define the criteria on the basis of which a
property belonging to the cultural or natural heritage may be
included in either of the lists mentioned in paragraphs 2 and 4 of
this article.

6. Before refusing a request for inclusion in one of the two lists
mentioned in paragraphs 2 and 4 of this article, the Committee shall
consult the State Party in whose territory the cultural or natural
property in question is situated.

7. The Committee shall, with the agreement of the States concerned, co-
ordinate and encourage the studies and research needed for the
drawing up of the lists referred to in paragraphs 2 and 4 of this
article.

 

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, Conventions: Chronological Index 1971-1990, Education, Environment and Wildlife conventions, Flora and Fauna – Biodiversity conventions, country.