Nomination, Inscription, Protection and Management
The ‘Tentative List’ and Nomination Process
As part of its obligation to identify properties that may merit World Heritage status, each State Party produces a ‘Tentative List’. This is an inventory of sites the State Party consider to be of potential outstanding universal value (OUV). As encouraged in the Operational Guidelines, the UK government, advised by an expert panel, examine and re-submit their Tentative List every 10 years.
Once candidate sites for World Heritage status have been placed on the UK Tentative List, they may be invited to put forward a more detailed case for nomination. These submissions are then subject to 'technical evaluation' by an expert panel convened by the government.
Only properties that have made a convincing case that they meet the UNESCO tests for inscription on the World Heritage List are taken forward to nomination.
As part of the Global Strategy for a Representative, Balanced and Credible World Heritage List, State Parties that already have significant representation on the list are requested to slow down their rate of submission of further nominations. Recent UK practice has been to nominate one site every other year, excluding where a UK site is part of a transnational bid.
Gallery
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Management of World Heritage
The Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention offers guidance on key issues, processes, and procedures in the application of the Convention. This includes procedures for inscription, protection, conservation, the granting of International Assistance under the World Heritage Fund, and the mobilisation of national and international support.
The Operational Guidelines require every nominated property to have an appropriate management plan or management system which specifies how the OUV of a property will be preserved (Paragraph 108). Together with legislative and planning measures, these plans form the protection and management system for World Heritage sites. It is recommended that they are reviewed and updated regularly to ensure they remain effective.
States Parties are responsible for implementing effective management for a property and for collaborating with property managers and other stakeholders.
Each World Heritage Site also has its own Statement of Outstanding Universal Value (SOUV), adopted by the Committee at the time of inscription. The SOUV expresses why the site is considered to have OUV and is the basis for protection and management of the site. SOUVs are particularly useful when assessing whether proposals for change will have a positive or negative impact on the World Heritage Site's OUV.
List of World Heritage in danger
The List of World Heritage in Danger is a published record of World Heritage Sites experiencing serious and specific dangers. These are sites which require major operations for conservation and for which assistance has been requested under the Convention. Inscription to the in Danger List alerts the international community to the preservation needs of the site.
