Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Unesco World Heritage sites

One of the International Herald Tribune's multi page reviews of an international heritage issue. This looks at the role of Unesco, the relative value of adding more sites to the list, and how achieving World Heritage status is used to boost the economy via tourism: "Unesco's manifesto sounded simple enough- It set up a World Heritage Convention in 1972 to protect cultural and natural sites of 'outstanding universal value.' The convention established a World Heritage Committee, a rotating group of 15 (now 21) nations, and a World Heritage Fund to provide oversight, technical assistance and loans. The World Heritage Center in Paris oversees the program, and the committee annually decides on new designations. It has become clear, though, that for many sites, getting on the list might be more an end goal than the beginning of conservation efforts. Once the four- to five-year nomination process is over, Unesco generally doesn't provide funds or technical assistance from its 35-person staff (plus consultants), nor regular monitoring to ensure that the ambitious plans come to fruition. . . . Penin Pedersen, the Unesco tourism official, said there was no solid evidence that World Heritage nomination leads to an increase of tourism. The circumstantial evidence, however, is strong. The nomination of Calakmul in 2002 literally put it on the map. "
Visit the above page to read the full story.

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