World Heritage Convention

The Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in 1972. To date 176 countries are parties to the convention. It is the most universal international legal instrument for the protection of cultural and natural heritage.

World Heritage Sites
Under the convention, elements of the cultural and natural heritage of individual countries are considered of such outstanding, universal value that their protection is the concern and responsibility of the international community.

Governments nominate sites and conduct a thorough field inspection and evaluation. If accepted by the World Heritage Committee, a site is inscribed on the World Heritage List. Sites are divided into natural sites, cultural sites, mixed natural/cultural sites and the new category of cultural landscapes. Of the 28 sites from European countries so far inscribed as natural sites and mixed natural/cultural sites, the Beloveshskaya Pushcha/Bialowieza Forest in Belarus and Poland is most widely known.

Web: <whc.unesco.org/pbp>