Introduction of UNESCO World Heritage Program(2)

Hello, everyone. In this lecture and section, I am going to talk about what is heritage and origin of World Heritage Program

Well, this is a sign of the UNESCO. World Heritage Program. So, let me talk about the World Heritage convention and its background. So the concept of world heritage originates from the convention for the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage. The convention emerged in the context of post-war international cooperation in the 20th century.

So although the concept of universal heritage has a long history, but after the war the international community to the horrors of war, the longing for peace promoted to establish the ideological basis of international cooperation, promote the “human heritage” in the convention and the emergence of the concept of the “universal value”, bring different from Europe in the 19th century new to the concept of traditional protection of cultural relics protection. The idea of combining conservation of cultural sites with those of nature comes from the United States of America.

A White House Conference in Washington, D.C., in 1965 called for a ‘World Heritage Trust’ that would stimulate international cooperation to protect “the world’s superb natural and scenic areas and historic sites for the present and the future of the entire world citizenry”. In 1968, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) developed similar proposals for its members. These proposals were presented to the 1972 United Nations conference on Human Environment in Stockholm.

Well, so what is the World Heritage defined by UNESCO? Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration. The most significant feature of the 1972 World Heritage Convention is that it links together in a single document the concepts of nature conservation and the preservation of cultural properties. The Convention recognizes the way in which people interact with nature, and the fundamental need to preserve the balance between the two.

So well, the overarching benefits to ratify what the convention has is that of the belong to an international community of appreciation and concern for universally significant properties that embody of a world outstanding example of cultural diversity and natural voice. The state parties to the convention by join hands to protect and cherish the world. Nature and culture heritage expressed a shared commitment to preserving our legacy for future generation. So, the prestige that comes from being a State Party to the Convention and having sites inscribed on the World Heritage List often serves as a catalyst to raising awareness for heritage preservation. So, a key benefit of ratification, particularly for developing countries, is access to the World Heritage Fund.

Annually, about US$4 million is made available to assist States Parties in identifying, preserving and promoting World Heritage sites. Emergency assistance may also be made available for urgent action Emergency assistance may also be made available for urgent action to repair damage caused by human-made or natural disasters. In the case of sites included on the List of World Heritage in Danger, the attention and the funds of both the national and the international community are focused on the conservation needs of these particularly threatened sites. Today, the World Heritage concept is so well understood that sites on the List are a magnet for international cooperation and may thus receive financial assistance for heritage conservation projects from a variety of sources.

Sites inscribed on the World Heritage List also benefit from the elaboration and implementation of a comprehensive management plan that sets out adequate preservation measures and monitoring mechanisms. In support of these, experts offer technical training to the local site management team. Finally, the inscription of a site on the World Heritage List brings an increase in public awareness of the site and of its outstanding values, thus also increasing the tourist activities at the site. When these are well planned for and organized respecting sustainable tourism principles, they can bring important funds to the site and to the local economy.

Encourage countries to sign the World Heritage Convention and to ensure the protection of their natural and cultural heritage site is one of the important missions. So there are other important missions such as encourage States Parties to the Convention to nominate sites within their national territory for inclusion on the World Heritage List; And encourage States Parties to establish management plans and set up reporting systems on the state of conservation of their World Heritage sites; And help States Parties safeguard World Heritage properties by providing technical assistance and professional training; And provide emergency assistance for World Heritage sites in immediate danger. So well, there’s another three important things you need to keep in mind.

First is to support States Parties’ public awareness-building activities for World Heritage conservation; Second is encourage participation of the local population The third one is to encourage international cooperation in the conservation of our world’s cultural and natural heritage. So this is the first section. In the next section, I will continue to talk about the meaning of cultural heritage. Thank you.