Established 1982
Kuranda Riverboat - World Heritage. What's it all about?
Let's start by asking this question, what do the Wet Tropics and Great Barrier Reef of Far North Queensland, have in common with the Colosseum, The Great Wall of China, The Acropolis in Athens, the Holy See in Vatican City, the Tower of London, the Pyramids or the Statue of Liberty?
They are all "sites" considered to be of such universal importance that their loss or ruination wound be a loss to all humanity , they have met World Heritage criteria and are inscribed on the World Heritage list.
World Heritage is a UNESCO body established in November 1972 for the "protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage of Outstanding Universal Value".
The establishment of this body was a response to the observation that "the cultural heritage and the natural heritage are increasingly threatened with destruction not only by the traditional causes of decay, but also by changing social and economic conditions which aggravate the situation with even more formidable phenomena of damage and destruction".
Considering that deterioration or disappearance of any item of the cultural or natural heritage constitutes a harmful impoverishment of the heritage of all nations of the world.
Thus World Heritage was a response to the ongoing loss of our combined human heritage and of natural sites of wonder and environmental importance around the world.
World Heritage had it's origin in 1959 when the rising waters of the newly completed Aswan High Dam threatened to inundate Abu Simbal and the Sanctuary of Isis in Philae ( The Isle of Philae), little known but well documented treasures of ancient Egyptian culture. The saving of these two sites was beyond the resources of Egypt and the Sudan but the loss of them was judged as irreplaceable loss for humanity as a whole.
In March of that year, the then director general of UNESCO, Mr. Rene Maheu called upon the international community to raise the required $80 million, to disassemble and reassemble these two sites above the flood line.
This appeal coincided with a growing awareness for the need for protection of cultural and natural sites around the world that had "universal significance" if we were to pass these sites with their current integrity to future generations.
The World Heritage Convention resulted from these concerns, "by affirming that the works of man and the works of nature belong to a single heritage".
The goal of World Heritage "was to identify the cultural and natural properties within each country whose protection would be a matter of concern to the international community as a whole".
As at July 2005 there were 812 World Heritage sites around the world, 16 of which are in Australia.
The listing of a site firstly requires nomination by a member state, then a comprehensive inspection to ensure that the site conforms to World Heritage values as prescribed in the listing criteria of Article 1 of the World Heritage convention. As World Heritage sites are coveted destinations for the tourism industry, the committee must ensure they do not become a rubber stamp for nominations. Thus nomination itself is no guarantee of listing.
For a cultural site to met these criteria they must be monuments: architectural works, works of monumental sculpture and paintings, elements or structures of an archaeological nature, inscriptions, cave dwellings and combinations of features, which are of outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art or science.
Group of buildings: groups of separate or connected buildings which, because of their architecture, their homogeneity or their place in the landscape , are of outstanding 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 points of view."
A monument, group of buildings or site - as defined above- which is nominated for inclusion in the World Heritage List will be considered to be of outstanding universal value for the purposes of the Convention when the committee finds that it meets one or more of the following criteria and the test of authenticity. Each property nominated should therefore:
- represent a master piece of human creative genius; or
- exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture, monumental arts or town- planning and landscape and design; or
- The display and preservation of areas of natural beauty; and
- bear unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared; or
- be an outstanding example of a type of building or architecture ensemble or landscape which illustrates a significant stage or stages in human history; or
- be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement or land- use which is representative of a culture or (cultures), especially when it has become vulnerable under impact of irreversible change; or
- 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 criteria should justify inclusion in the List only in exceptional circumstances or in conjunction with other criteria cultural or natural);
Criteria for the inclusion of natural sites are:
- Criteria for the inclusion of natural sites are:
- geological and physiographical formations and precisely delineated areas that 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 of precisely delineated natural areas of outstanding universal value from a point of view of science or natural beauty;
- a natural property - as defined above - which is submitted for inclusion in the World Heritage List will be considered to be of universal value for the purposes of the convention when the Committee finds that it meets one or more of the following criteria and for fills the conditions of integrity set out below. Sites nominated should therefore:
- 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 the significant geomorphic or physiographic features; or
- be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals; or
- contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance; or
- 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.
To assist in the evaluation the Committee employs the services of two international non- government bodies and independent experts as required. The International Centre for the study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) whose overriding goal is to promote world peace "through the believe that heritage conservation fosters a sense of cultural identity, which is essential for the development of social stability. The other body is the World conservation Union(IUCN) whose goal is to 'influence encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable.
Although neither of these groups is an official organization of UNESCO, their role is written into the convention's guidelines.
If the site is deemed to have met one of the above criteria it will be listed in the following year.
The listing of a site does not change its legal status, it remains the property of the member state, but listing does impose some requirements on the member state.
Among these are to "protect, conserve and present" the world heritage values of the site, integrate this protection into a management plan, keep the community informed about the condition of the property and to strengthen appreciation of the sites World Heritage values through education and information programmes.
n achieving these primary objectives due regard is given to, ensuring the provision of essential services to the communities within and adjacent to the site, allowing use that does not threaten the values or integrity, recognizing the role of current management agencies and involvement of the community in the planning and management of a property.
To ensure that these obligations are being met, sites around the world are monitored by ICCROM and IUCN and other independent experts.
At the annual committee meeting their reports are tabled. This monitoring does not only list problems faced by sites, but also lists the successes where previous problems have been addressed and the committee is now seeing the positive results of these actions. Unfortunately the former out number the latter.
These are a summary of some of the 1995 problems reports:
Sangay National Park (Ecuador) ...poaching,boundary encroachment and unplanned road construction.
Redwood National Park (USA) ...road realignment which will result in the removal of 200 trees
Memphis and its Necropolis - the Pyramid fields of Giza (Egypt) ...ongoing road construction that will cut the site in two, creation of two large refuge dumps within the site
Petra (Jordan) ...impact of new hotels within the site, insufficient or non-existent sewage disposal services, insufficient conservation of antiquities.
Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve (Guinea & the Ivory Coast) ...proposed iron-ore mining project
Mount Athos (Greece) ...overgrazing, chemical pollution and forestry activities
On the Positive side
Victoria Falls (Zambia and Zimbabwe) ...proposal of a new dam was dropped
Great Barrier Reef national park(Australia) ...has temporarily halted a 1500-bed resort development immediately adjacent to the boundary (this development has been subsequently approved by the new Liberal Government)
Florence (Italy) ...restoration complete after the car bombing of the Uffizi Gallery
If the actions of the committee cannot halt continued deterioration of the "values" of a site it may be listed a site in danger of loosing its World Heritage values.
As at December 1995 there were 15 sites listed as in danger.
The Royal Palaces of Abomey (Benin) ...damaged by a tornado
Srebarna Biosphere reserve (Bulgaria) ...drainage of wetlands
Timbuktu (Mali) ...encroachment of desert sands
Bahia Fort (Oman) ...poor restoration practices
Yellowstone National Park (USA) ...pressures of tourism
World Heritage and efforts to maintain the values have other positive effects, conservation of cultural sites keeps alive ancient trades and crafts and encourages research into new conservation techniques. In areas surrounding natural sites locals are taught more sustainable farming and conservation methods to ensure the site is not isolated in a sea of destruction.
To assist sites in maintaining World Heritage values whether it be by training staff, purchase of equipment, further research, establishing management plans or developing buffer zones the committee can give financial assistance. This may be in the form of grants or interest bearing loans and in severe cases long term low interest loans.
For an organization of its size to meet it's goals and obligations one would expect it to have a quite sizeable budget but for 1995 the budget to cover preparatory assistance, global strategy, basic support, monitoring, technical co-operation, training , promotion and advisory services totaled $2,935,000, this equates to 117 seconds of world global military expenditure for the same year. 1.96 minutes of the $79,000,000,000 spent in this area.
As the current UNESCO Director General says" Each citizen of the world should become a defender of world heritage, I Iike to imagine that the World Heritage message is a message of solidarity, of sharing".