UNESCO provides reproductions of items from its archives for non-commercial or personal uses. UNESCO cannot give or deny permission to reproduce or distribute materials found in its archives for which it does not own full copyright. It is the user's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions when reproducing or distributing materials found in UNESCO's archival collections. For assistance, please contact: archives@unesco.org
On 16 November 1972, the 17th General Conference of UNESCO adopted the Convention concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, also known as the World Heritage Convention. The Convention joins together the concepts of nature conservation and the preservation of cultural properties, and recognizes the need to preserve the balance between the two.
The World Heritage Convention provides the selection guidelines for the kinds of natural or cultural properties that can be inscribed on the World Heritage List. It stipulates the duties of State Parties in identifying, protecting, and preserving the properties, and obligates State Parties to provide regular reports on the state of conservation of their properties to the World Heritage Committee. The Convention also defines when international financial assistance may be given, and how the World Heritage Fund is to be used and managed.
The World Heritage Committee, which first met in 1977 in Paris, France, is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, and the World Heritage Centre, established in 1992, manages all day-to-day matters related to World Heritage within UNESCO.
Adoption of the 1972 World Heritage Convention, UNESCO, Paris France © UNESCO.