Articles - The World Heritage Center

After the successful operation of safeguarding the monuments of Nubia and in particular the two temples of Abu-Simbel, which was completed in 1968, the UNESCO started an effort to establish an international convention for the protection of the world-class monuments. This convention known as “Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage” was adopted by the general conference of the UNESCO in November 16, 1972.
It was ratified at the beginning by a limited number of member states and as of October 2006, the number of states engaged reached 184 countries. The convention, besides defining what is meant by both cultural and natural heritage, has set the bases for the formation of an independent center within the UNESCO called “World Heritage Center”, WHC.
The center had among its mandates, the establishment of a ‘World Heritage List’ of sites that have an outstanding universal value. It had also to set criteria for the assessment of what is meant by an outstanding universal value.
The procedure for including a site under the ‘World Heritage List’ was that the country concerned would submit a simplified nomination form which when accepted, the site would be put on a tentative list. Then the country was asked to prepare a full file that was evaluated by the world heritage committee against the criteria.
The convention had identified six criteria to put a site under cultural heritage list. The site had to meet one or more of these criteria to be considered as having outstanding universal value. These criteria as stated in the convention are:
1) Represent a masterpiece of human creative genius
2) 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
3) Bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared
4) Be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history
5) Be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change
6) Be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria)

As for the site to be included in the natural heritage part of the world heritage list, at least one of the following four criteria should be met:
1) Contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance
2) Be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth’s history , including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features
3) Be outstanding examples representing significant ongoing ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals
4) 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
In addition to the above criteria, in order to be deemed item 79

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