Protecting the World’s Treasures

Protecting the World’s Treasures: 5 Questions for World Heritage Centre Deputy Director Kishore Rao

In 1972 the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted, creating the UNESCO World Heritage list. Since then, more than 900 properties have been inscribed on the list. To understand what the World Heritage list is, how sites make it on the list, and how sites are overseen, we went to Kishore Rao, Deputy Director of the World Heritage Centre, who kindly agreed to answer some questions from Britannica Executive Editor Michael Levy for the Britannica Blog. Britannica’s World Heritage site article has a table with links to selected World Heritage sites.

Britannica: The UNESCO World Heritage List was established in 1972, and since then more than 900 properties have been inscribed as World Heritage sites. Why was the convention establishing the World Heritage List adopted?

Rao: The World Heritage Convention was developed and adopted as it became clear that it was necessary for countries to join together to identify and preserve outstanding natural and cultural sites. One particular event that led to the development of the Convention was the construction of the Aswan High Dam in Egypt in the 1950s, which would have flooded the valley containing the Abu Simbel temples, a treasure of ancient Egyptian civilization. UNESCO launched an international safeguarding campaign involving some 50 countries, which made donations enabling the temples to be dismantled, moved to dry ground and reassembled, and where they can still be visited today. The success of this led to other safeguarding campaigns for sites such as Venice and its Lagoon (Italy), the Archaeological Ruins at Moenjodaro (Pakistan) and restoring the Borobudur Temple Compounds (Indonesia). These campaigns showed that countries working together can support each other and take effective action. Everyone benefits from this cooperation, not just the nation that is home to the site.

Britannica: How does a place get considered as a World Heritage site and what are the criteria for inscription?

Rao: A site is proposed by the country in which it is located, and the country submits its nomination to UNESCO. The sites are then assessed through a scientifically rigorous and independent evaluation process, and the evaluation is given to the World Heritage Committee, who decides whether or not to inscribe the site on the List during their annual meeting. The site must have protection and management requirements in place, but most importantly it has to have outstanding universal value, or OUV, which means that it has characteristics that cannot be found anywhere else, and that preserving these values would be of benefit to humanity. Concretely, there are 10 criteria for cultural or natural sites—such as demonstrating a masterpiece of creative genius, or for a natural site, that it be a significant habitat for conservation of biological diversity—and the site must meet at least one of these criteria, and meet the relevant conditions of integrity and authenticity, as well as appropriate protection and management requirements, to be inscribed on the World Heritage List.

Britannica: About how many sites are inscribed as World Heritage sites each year and about how long does the process take from nomination to inscription?

Rao: It varies, but on an average some 20-25 sites are inscribed each year. The process is long because a lot of requirements need to be met. A country must submit a nomination to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre by February 1st of a given year, in order for the site to be considered by the World Heritage Committee at its annual session the following year. In the meantime, the evaluation of the site is prepared by our advisory bodies—ICOMOS and IUCN, which are independent organizations made of up experts who visit the site. Their report is then submitted to the Committee, which makes the decision. In all, the process takes at least a year and a half, and a country can spend years preparing a nomination.

Britannica: There are currently 34 sites listed as in danger, and in 2009 Dresden was removed from the World Heritage list. How does the World Heritage Committee decide what sites are put on this list and how does a site get removed from being in danger?

Rao: As mentioned previously, a site is added to the World Heritage List if it is found to have outstanding universal value which must be preserved for the present and future generations. The goal of the World Heritage Convention and the World Heritage List is to preserve our heritage, so every effort is made to do so. If the value of the site is under threat, from man-made or other causes, then the site may be placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger. This is intended as a supportive mechanism to draws attention to the threat, and is useful for attracting technical and financial resources to mitigate the threat and protect the site. Once the value of the site is no longer in danger, it is taken off the Danger List. In extreme cases, if the OUV of the site is irretrievably lost, then it may be removed from the World Heritage List altogether. So far, this has happened in only two cases.

Britannica: In 2001 the Taliban in Afghanistan destroyed the famous Buddha statues in Bamiyan, Afghanistan. The area and archaeological remains were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2003, and efforts have been made to safeguard the site. Can you describe these efforts and who has been assisting?

Rao: The site of Bamiyan (Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley) was inscribed simultaneously on the UNESCO World Heritage List and List in Danger in 2003. Since then, UNESCO has been implementing emergency safeguarding activities with several specialized institutions, such as different universities and ICOMOS, which all intervene at the site under the direct supervision and coordination of UNESCO. These include ICOMOS-Germany; the Agha Khan Foundation (Bamiyan); ISPRA (Italian Institute for Protection and Environmental Research); the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (NRICP) Tokyo and Nara; RWTH Aachen University, and the Technical University of Munich with a general contribution from the Government of Japan. UNESCO has also worked with the UN Mine Action Centre in Afghanistan (UNMACA) to demine four archaeological areas of the Bamiyan site.
So far, the project has completed many aspects, including stabilizing the cliffs; documenting the fragments of the destroyed Buddha statues; safeguarding the remains of mural paintings in the cliffs and adjacent valleys, site surveillance to prevent illicit excavations; and training Afghan experts in heritage management and conservation. The UNESCO project focuses on urgent conservation measures and the protection of as much of the heritage of Bamiyan as possible.