Cultural and natural heritage in one treaty: the 1972 convention and the fund behind it

Background

The World Heritage Convention's formal name is the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. It was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on 16 November 1972. The page calls its most significant feature the fact that it links together in a single document the concepts of nature conservation and the preservation of cultural properties. The convention established the World Heritage Fund to help States Parties identify, preserve and promote World Heritage sites, financed by compulsory and voluntary contributions, and about US$4 million is made available annually to assist States Parties. The World Heritage Committee develops the selection criteria for inscribing properties on the World Heritage List.