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Northern Ireland Assembly

Research Paper	October 2007

The role of UNESCO in the designation of World Heritage sites, with particular reference to the giant’s causeway

Aidan Stennett

This briefing paper provides background information on UNESCO, and its role in the provision of World Heritage Sites. It also outlines the Governmental bodies with whom UNESCO liaise, the designation of the Giant’s Causeway as a World Heritage Site, and puts this in the context of similar World Heritage Sites and Non-World Heritage Sites in the UK and Ireland.

Library Research Papers are compiled for the benefit of Members of the Assembly and their personal staff. Authors are available to discuss the contents of these papers with Members and their staff and can be contacted through 9052 1227 but cannot advise members of the public.

Executive Summary

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) was born out of post-World War II reconstruction.

The organisation’s current activities are based upon the development goals set out in the UN’s Millennium Declaration. These goals are:

halving the proportion of people living in extreme
poverty;
achieving universal primary education;
eliminating gender disparity in primary and secondary education;
combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases;
ensuring environmental sustainability.

UNESCO’s work is divided into five operational areas:

Education;
Natural Sciences;
Social and Human Sciences;
Communication and Information;
Cultural.

The World Heritage project comes under the cultural branch of UNESCO’s operations and seeks to “… encourage the identification protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of value to humanity”. The project is embodied in the “Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage”.
The World Heritage Committee is the main body in charge of the Convention. The committee is responsible for:
- Developing the Criteria which a site must meet to be inscribed on the World Heritage list;
- The dissemination of the World Heritage Fund.
Currently there are 851 sites listed on the World Heritage list. To be included a site must be considered to be of “universal value” and fulfil one of ten criteria.
The Giant’s Causeway was granted World Heritage status in 1986. It was considered to be an area of “… outstanding universal value both for its geological phenomena and its natural beauty”, fulfilling criteria vii and viii.
A 2003 UNESCO-ICUN mission to the Giant’s Causeway recommended:
- the drafting of a management plan;
- a new small business centre could be built in the footprints of the old centre without any extension in size;
- no additional development should take place.
The resulting management plan, drafted by the Department of the Environment stated that:

No development will be approved within the World Heritage Site unless there are very exceptional circumstances directly related to the provision of essential facilities for visitors and which would not be detrimental to the landscape or scientific interest of the site.

And that:

No Development within the Distinctive Landscape Setting outside of the settlement development limits will be approved .

The DCMS is the body through which UNESCO liaise with on the granting, maintaining and monitoring of all World Heritage Sites in the UK.
Three privately maintained World Heritage sites in the UK appeared in the British Tourist Authority’s 2001 list of the top ten visitor attractions. These were the Tower of London, Stonehenge and Blenheim Palace.
In a NIAO report on the Navan Centre the failure of the centre was attributed to “unrealistic” visitor forecast, a lack of clearly defined lines of cultural responsibility, a insufficient review process, a lack of private funding, delays caused by a 1997 review of local museum and heritage provision, and Departmental thinking dominated by a belief that economic viability could be achieved.

1 UNESCO

1a Background

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) was established in 1946, fulfilling the aim of developing an organisation that would promote a culture of peace and prevent another world war by establishing an “intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind” i.

The founding meeting in 1946 was attended by 37 signatory countries; since then, major global upheavals, such as the collapse of the Soviet Union, have resulted in a surge in UNESCO membership. Today, UNESCO is made up of 192 member states and is committed to promoting international co-operation in the fields of education, science, culture and communication ii.

UNESCO’s current activities aim to achieve, by 2015, the development goals set out by the UN in its Millennium Declaration. These include:

halving the proportion of people living in extreme
poverty;
achieving universal primary education;
eliminating gender disparity in primary and secondary education;
combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases;
ensuring environmental sustainability iii.

UNESCO’s work is divided into five operational areas:

the education division, whose work includes projects aimed at increasing literacy levels and providing education for all iv;
the natural sciences division, whose work includes providing fresh water for all and promoting biodiversity and sustainable development v;
the social and human sciences division, whose work includes improving links between research and policy development vi;
the communication and information division, whose work includes the promotion of and use of multilingualism and universal access to cyberspace vii;
and the cultural division, whose work includes promotion of cultural diversity and the overseeing of the World Heritage project viii.

This briefing paper examines UNESCO’s role in providing World Heritage Status in general and in relation to the Giant’s Causeway. It looks at UNESCO’s relationship with UK Government bodies, its assessment of privately funded World Heritage Sites elsewhere in the UK and the failure of the Navan Centre (a non-World Heritage Site, but a very significant historical feature in Northern Ireland).

1b World Heritage

The World Heritage project comes under the Cultural branch of UNESCO operations and seeks to “…encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity” ix .

UNESCO’s role in facilitating the project is embodied in the international treaty “ Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage” which was adopted by UNESCO in 1972.

The treaty defines both cultural and natural heritage, outlines the responsibilities of national governments and the international community in the protection of World Heritage sites (WHS), and set up a fund to aid the protection of such sites x.

UNESCO’s stated world heritage mission is to:

encourage countries to sign the World Heritage Convention;
ensure the protection of their natural and cultural heritage;
encourage States Party to the Convention to nominate sites within their national territory for inclusion on the World Heritage List;
encourage State Parties to establish management plans and set up reporting systems on the state of conservation of their World Heritage sites;
help State Parties safeguard World Heritage properties by providing technical assistance and professional training;
provide emergency assistance for World Heritage sites in immediate danger;
support State Parties' public awareness-building activities for World Heritage conservation;
encourage participation of the local population in the preservation of their cultural and natural heritage;
encourage international cooperation in the conservation of the world's cultural and natural heritage.

1c The World Heritage Committee

The World Heritage Committee is the main body in charge of the Convention. The Committee is responsible for developing the criteria a heritage site must meet to allow it to be included on the World Heritage List. The Committee is also responsible for the dissemination of the World Heritage Fund xi.

Currently representatives from 21 states sit on the Committee. According to the World Heritage Convention a Committee Members’ term of office is for six years xii. The Committee meets once per year to determine the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocate financial assistance upon requests from signatory governments. These meetings are also an opportunity to determine whether a property is inscribed on the World Heritage List, examine reports on the state of conservation of inscribed properties and to ask signatory governments to take action when properties are not being properly managed. They also decide upon the inscription or deletion of properties on the List of World Heritage in Danger xiii.

The World Heritage Fund

The World Heritage Fund provides approximately $4 million US to provide international assistance in the following areas xiv:

Preparatory assistance;
Training assistance;
Technical cooperation;
Emergency assistance;
Promotional and educational assistance.

1d The World Heritage List

The first meeting of the World Heritage Committee took place in 1978. At this meeting 12 sites were added to the World Heritage List xv. Today there are 851 comprising 660 cultural sites, 165 natural sites and 25 mixed sites xvi.

In 1994, the World Heritage Committee adopted a Global Strategy in an attempt to address some of the imbalances in the list, which were biased towards developed world and Europe in particular. The Global Strategy was designed to broaden the committee’s understanding of World Heritage to better reflect the variety of cultural and natural treasures to be found globally.

Since the adoption of the global strategy 39 new countries have ratified the World Heritage Convention xvii.

1e World Heritage Criteria

For a site to be included on the World Heritage List it must be considered an area “ universal value” and which is also considered to meet at least one of the following ten criteria:

the site represents a masterpiece of human creative genius;
the site exhibits an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;
the site bears a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared;
the site is an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates a significant stage in human history;
the site is an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change;
the site is directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria);
the site contains superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance;
the site is an outstanding example representing major stages of earth's history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features;
the site is an outstanding example representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals;
the site contains the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.

2 The Giant’s Causeway’s World Heritage Status

The Giant’s Causeway and the Causeway Coast was the first site in the UK to be inscribed on the World Heritage List during the 10 th session of the World Heritage Committee in 1986 xviii.

The site was granted its World Heritage status on the grounds that it was considered to be an area of “…outstanding universal value both for its geological phenomena and its natural beauty” xix . The site’s World Heritage status is based upon its fulfilment of number vii and viii of UNESCO’s ten World Heritage criteria xx.

In February 2003 a joint mission to the area by UNESCO and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) took place. The mission had the following objectives xxi:

To review the boundaries and the buffer Zone of the World Heritage area;
To review the management plan for the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB);
To review all developments at the site (including the visitor centre) following the decision of Moyle District Council to offer areas for development;
To assess the exact location and dimension of the proposed development;
To assess the potential impact of the proposed projects on the values, the visual setting of the World Heritage site and on the surrounding environment;
To assess the environmental impact and the feasibility studies foreseen by the authorities regarding these development projects;
To assess the current situation of the site in terms of management arrangements, planning and the state of conservation.

The joint representatives of UNESCO and ICUN found that a number of potential threats, “including development proposals”, exist, which could threaten the sites “values and integrity”. On the basis of these perceived threats the representatives, in their “Report on the Missions to Giant’s Causeway and the Causeway Coast, recommended that:

… no approval should be given without reviewing a proposed development with in the context of the protection and safeguarding the AONB and the World Heritage Site and its management;

… all stakeholders and local and national authorities are encouraged to work jointly to achieve the adoption of a management plan and an effective partnership to its successful implementation;

… the authorities [be] urged to consider a solution for any visitor centre development which will be approved within the management plans for the World Heritage site and AONB, only after defining the buffer zone of the World Heritage site. At the location of the existing visitor centre… a new small visitor centre could be rebuilt in its ‘footprints’ without any extension in size and height to provide the basic necessary visitor information and interpretation at the entrance to the World Heritage site;

… that no additional development in the vicinity of the main entrance (outside the WHS) should take place xxii.

In their final recommendations the mission team urged responsible parties to proceed with the:

establishment of a small visitor centre and the entrance of the site (at the current location without extension);
appropriate signage with a clear World Heritage message;
and appropriate infrastructure upgrading.

They concluded that “the current size of the structure and footprint should not be exceeded” xxiii.

2a Northern Area Plan 2016

In response to UNESCO’s request that a management plan be adopted by all stakeholders and local and national authorities the Department of the Environment drafted a Northern Area Plan 2016. Some of the key points of the plan are as follows (the full draft report is available in Annex B):

Policy COU 10 states:

No development will be approved within the World Heritage Site unless there are very exceptional circumstances directly related to the provision of essential facilities for visitors and which would not be detrimental to the landscape or scientific interest of the site.

Developing this policy the document goes on to state that the Causeway remains “relatively untouched by intrusive human activity and should remain so”. The Department also states that while it recognises the need for “appropriate essential facilities” (defined as a “high quality reception area” and an “interpretation facility”, along with “associated” facilities) any facilities “associated with the site, but not essential to visitor needs will not be accepted, nor will development generally” xxiv.

Policy COU 12 states:

No Development within the Distinctive Landscape Setting outside of the settlement development limits will be approved except:

exceptionally modest scale facilities, without landscape detriment, which are necessary to meet the direct needs of visitors to the World Heritage Site;

extensions to dwellings that are appropriate in scale and design and represent not more than 20% of the cubic content of existing dwelling;

replacements of existing occupied dwellings with not more than a 20% increase.

These allowances will be permitted only once.

Expanding on this point the document goes on to state that while the Department recognises some visitor related development to be acceptable, such development “should be small scale” xxv.

3 UNESCO/Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Liaison

The DCMS is the body through which UNESCO liaise with on the granting, maintaining and monitoring of all World Heritage Sites in the UK.

The DCMS is responsible for the UK’s general compliance with the World Heritage convention and for nominating sites. The devolved administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are responsible for choosing sites to forward as nominations to the DCMS. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is responsible for forwarding nominations in the UK’s territories and the Home Office for Crown Dependencies.

The DCMS is currently leading a policy review to ensure that outstanding heritage sites in the UK, its Dependencies and Territories are appropriately identified, protected and promoted xxvi.

4 Private Sector World Heritage Sites

The information below provides an overview of successful privately run World Heritage Sites in the UK. Each of the sites outlined in this section were listed on the British Tourist Authority’s (BTA) top ten visitor attractions in 2001 xxvii.

4a The Tower of London xxviii

The Tower of London was listed as the top tourist attraction in the BTA’s 2001 list. According to UNESCO’s World Heritage website the Tower, which was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1988, hosted over 2 million visitors in 2005. The site rated ‘very good’ in terms of conservation, management, visitor management and promotion and ‘good’ in terms of interpretation and education.

The site’s facilities include: ticketing facilities; welcome centre; toilets; five shops; two cafes; interpretation; interactive exhibitions; temporary exhibitions; live interpretation daily; Yeoman Warder guided tours; Facilities for the disabled (induction loops, Braille information and free wheel chair use); education facilities, including the Tower Vaults learning centre which houses two teaching spaces and the Waterloo Block education centre which contains a lecture theatre and teaching room.

Overall the site’s visitor facilities are deemed to be inadequate by UNESCO as they lack school lunch rooms.

UNESCO rates the site’s boundaries as inadequate and voices concern with regard to the attractions lack of a defined buffer zone.

UNESCO has also expressed concerns over the sites conservation, citing:

Continuing harm to the setting of the World Heritage Site. Commercial development of ever-increasing density and scale affecting the setting of the Tower continue to erode its integrity.

4b Stonehenge xxix

Stonehenge was listed fifth on the BMA’s 2001 list. The site, which is managed by English Heritage and was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1986, played host to 1.1 million visitors in 2004.

UNESCO rates the site as ‘good’ in terms of conservation, management, promotion and visitor management and ‘average’ for interpretation and education.

The site is made up of two separate visitor areas: Stonehenge and Averbury. The facilities available at the Averbury site include a museum and interpretation centre, tourist shops, restaurant, toilet facilities, car pars, pub, and public transport links. The Stonehenge site contains a larger car park with coach parking facilities, an information and exhibition space, room for school groups, larger ticketing area, a larger shop, more toilets and an indoor café.

UNESCO deems the sites boundaries inadequate and concludes that further work is needed to define the site’s buffer zone.

Overall, UNESCO’s assessment of the site in 2006 was that it was maintaining its World Heritage Values.

4d Blenheim Palace xxx

Blenheim Palace, inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1987, was ranked as the UK’s tenth best visitor attraction in the 2001 list. The site catered to over 600 thousand visitors in 2004.

UNESCO rated the site very good in terms of education and good in terms of conservation, management, promotion, interpretation and visitor management.

The site’s visitor facilities include formal gardens, pleasure gardens, information centre, shop, coffee shop, miniature train, butterfly house, a maze, an adventure playground, visitors tea room, restaurant, two retail outlets, parking and conference/function facilities.

Overall, the visitor facilities were deemed by UNESCO to be inadequate, lacking sufficient car/coach parking space, traffic circulation and exhibition facilities.

UNESCO states that site has adequate boundaries in place but lacks a clearly defined buffer zone.

Overall, Blenheim Palace was seen by UNESCO (in 2006) to be maintaining its World Heritage Values.

5 The Navan Centre xxxi

Navan Fort, situated just outside Armagh although not a World Heritage Site is considered the “premier archaeological earthwork” in Northern Ireland. The Fort, which is in the care of the Department of the Environment, stands in an archaeological landscape containing the remains of other prehistoric ceremonial monuments.

In 1985 a planning application requesting permission to extend a nearby quarry caused widespread concern and led to a Public Inquiry. The inquiry resulted in the refusal of planning permission and led to the establishment of the Navan Fort Initiative Group (NFIG) in 1987, to consider the best future of the fort and the surrounding area xxxii.

During its first year the NFIG conducted a study to assess the feasibility of building a major visitor centre on the site. The study concluded that there was strong case for investment in the site and the resulting Navan Centre opened in July 1993, at a cost of £3.2 million.

Original forecasts predicted visitor figures of 160,000 per annum within 10 years of opening. However, annual visitor numbers did not exceed 50,000 and averaged 33,000 over the eight years of the centre’s existence (1993-2001). The sites trustees have said that political instability contributed to the reduced numbers xxxiii. As a result of poor visitor turnout the centre experienced financial difficulties throughout most of its life and received regular deficit grants from public funds, the last of which was received in March 2001.

A fire in 2000 also negatively affected the centre, causing it to close during peak season. A refurnished and improved centre was opened in 2000.

In March 2001 the funding package was due to terminate. The business proposal produced by the Navan Centre, for the following three year period showed a diminished need for subsidy xxxiv.

No payments were made to the centre for April and May of 2001, and when a DCAL offer of £50,000 short-term assistance was declined by the centre it closed with liabilities of £125,000 xxxv.

In its report on the Centre the Northern Ireland Audit Office highlights a number of factors which they believe contributed to the closure of the centre xxxvi.

These include:

an inability to achieve projected visitor numbers. The financial viability of the site depended upon revenue generated from admissions fees and profits from the centre shop. The NIAO has concluded that from its inception the visitor forecasts were ‘unrealistic’;
the culture of uncertainty that arose once it became clear that economic viability would not be achievable;

the lack of formal clearly defined lines of departmental responsibility and of a co-ordinated approach to the company and its operation. During the centre’s existence both the DOE and DCAL had an interest in the maintenance of the site;

the lack of clear-cut accountability and monitoring guidelines;

a voluntary board of trustees;

Navan had direct funding relationships with ten organisations including four governmental departments. There was no clear lead responsibility on the part of those departments and as a result the monitoring of the operation was less than satisfactory;

no Department carried out a regular and detailed review of the underlying trading a performance of the company;

despite evidence to the contrary, Departmental thinking appeared to by dominated by a belief that economic viability could be achieved;

advice contained in a 1998 economic appraisal was not followed, even though, in the NIAO’s assessment, adoption of the appraisal’s preferred option may have reduced the trading losses;

no private or corporate funding for the centre ever materialised;

a 1997 review of local museum and heritage provision delayed decision on the future funding of centre for several years.

Annex A

Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage http://whc.unesco.org/?cid=175

The General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization meeting in Paris from 17 October to 21 November 1972, at its seventeenth session,

Noting that the cultural heritage and the natural heritage are increasingly threatened with destruction not only by the traditional causes of decay, but also by changing social and economic conditions which aggravate the situation with even more formidable phenomena of damage or destruction,

Considering that deterioration or disappearance of any item of the cultural or natural heritage constitutes a harmful impoverishment of the heritage of all the nations of the world,

Considering that protection of this heritage at the national level often remains incomplete because of the scale of the resources which it requires and of the insufficient economic, scientific, and technological resources of the country where the property to be protected is situated,

Recalling that the Constitution of the Organization provides that it will maintain, increase, and diffuse knowledge, by assuring the conservation and protection of the world's heritage, and recommending to the nations concerned the necessary international conventions,

Considering that the existing international conventions, recommendations and resolutions concerning cultural and natural property demonstrate the importance, for all the peoples of the world, of safeguarding this unique and irreplaceable property, to whatever people it may belong,

Considering that parts of the cultural or natural heritage are of outstanding interest and therefore need to be preserved as part of the world heritage of mankind as a whole,

Considering that, in view of the magnitude and gravity of the new dangers threatening them, it is incumbent on the international community as a whole to participate in the protection of the cultural and natural heritage of outstanding universal value, by the granting of collective assistance which, although not taking the place of action by the State concerned, will serve as an efficient complement thereto,

Considering that it is essential for this purpose to adopt new provisions in the form of a convention establishing an effective system of collective protection of the cultural and natural heritage of outstanding universal value, organized on a permanent basis and in accordance with modern scientific methods,

Having decided, at its sixteenth session, that this question should be made the subject of an international convention,

Adopts this sixteenth day of November 1972 this Convention.

I. DEFINITION OF THE CULTURAL AND NATURAL HERITAGE

Article 1

For the purposes of this Convention, the following shall be considered as "cultural heritage":

monuments: architectural works, works of monumental sculpture and painting, elements or structures of an archaeological nature, inscriptions, cave dwellings and combinations of features, which are of outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art or science;

groups of buildings: groups of separate or connected buildings which, because of their architecture, their homogeneity or their place in the landscape, are of outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art or science;

sites: works of man or the combined works of nature and man, and areas including archaeological sites which are of outstanding universal value from the historical, aesthetic, ethnological or anthropological point of view.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Convention, the following shall be considered as "natural heritage":

natural features consisting of physical and biological formations or groups of such formations, which are of outstanding universal value from the aesthetic or scientific point of view;

geological and physiographical formations and precisely delineated areas which constitute the habitat of threatened species of animals and plants of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation;

natural sites or precisely delineated natural areas of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science, conservation or natural beauty.

Article 3

It is for each State Party to this Convention to identify and delineate the different properties situated on its territory mentioned in Articles 1 and 2 above.

II. NATIONAL PROTECTION AND INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION OF THE CULTURAL AND NATURAL HERITAGE

Article 4

Each State Party to this Convention recognizes that the duty of ensuring the identification, protection, conservation, presentation and transmission to future generations of the cultural and natural heritage referred to in Articles 1 and 2 and situated on its territory, belongs primarily to that State. It will do all it can to this end, to the utmost of its own resources and, where appropriate, with any international assistance and co-operation, in particular, financial, artistic, scientific and technical, which it may be able to obtain.

Article 5

To ensure that effective and active measures are taken for the protection, conservation and presentation of the cultural and natural heritage situated on its territory, each State Party to this Convention shall endeavor, in so far as possible, and as appropriate for each country:

A. to adopt a general policy which aims to give the cultural and natural heritage a function in the life of the community and to integrate the protection of that heritage into comprehensive planning programmes;
B. to set up within its territories, where such services do not exist, one or more services for the protection, conservation and presentation of the cultural and natural heritage with an appropriate staff and possessing the means to discharge their functions;
C. to develop scientific and technical studies and research and to work out such operating methods as will make the State capable of counteracting the dangers that threaten its cultural or natural heritage;
D. to take the appropriate legal, scientific, technical, administrative and financial measures necessary for the identification, protection, conservation, presentation and rehabilitation of this heritage; and
E. to foster the establishment or development of national or regional centres for training in the protection, conservation and presentation of the cultural and natural heritage and to encourage scientific research in this field.

Article 6

Whilst fully respecting the sovereignty of the States on whose territory the cultural and natural heritage mentioned in Articles 1 and 2 is situated, and without prejudice to property right provided by national legislation, the States Parties to this Convention recognize that such heritage constitutes a world heritage for whose protection it is the duty of the international community as a whole to co-operate.
The States Parties undertake, in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, to give their help in the identification, protection, conservation and presentation of the cultural and natural heritage referred to in paragraphs 2 and 4 of Article 11 if the States on whose territory it is situated so request.
Each State Party to this Convention undertakes not to take any deliberate measures which might damage directly or indirectly the cultural and natural heritage referred to in Articles 1 and 2 situated on the territory of other States Parties to this Convention.

Article 7

For the purpose of this Convention, international protection of the world cultural and natural heritage shall be understood to mean the establishment of a system of international co-operation and assistance designed to support States Parties to the Convention in their efforts to conserve and identify that heritage.

III. INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMITTEE FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE WORLD CULTURAL AND NATURALHERITAGE

Article 8

An Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of the Cultural and Natural Heritage of Outstanding Universal Value, called "the World Heritage Committee", is hereby established within the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It shall be composed of 15 States Parties to the Convention, elected by States Parties to the Convention meeting in general assembly during the ordinary session of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The number of States members of the Committee shall be increased to 21 as from the date of the ordinary session of the General Conference following the entry into force of this Convention for at least 40 States.
Election of members of the Committee shall ensure an equitable representation of the different regions and cultures of the world.
A representative of the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), a representative of the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and a representative of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), to whom may be added, at the request of States Parties to the Convention meeting in general assembly during the ordinary sessions of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, representatives of other intergovernmental or non-governmental organizations, with similar objectives, may attend the meetings of the Committee in an advisory capacity.

Article 9

The term of office of States members of the World Heritage Committee shall extend from the end of the ordinary session of the General Conference during which they are elected until the end of its third subsequent ordinary session.
The term of office of one-third of the members designated at the time of the first election shall, however, cease at the end of the first ordinary session of the General Conference following that at which they were elected; and the term of office of a further third of the members designated at the same time shall cease at the end of the second ordinary session of the General Conference following that at which they were elected. The names of these members shall be chosen by lot by the President of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization after the first election.
States members of the Committee shall choose as their representatives persons qualified in the field of the cultural or natural heritage.

Article 10

The World Heritage Committee shall adopt its Rules of Procedure.
The Committee may at any time invite public or private organizations or individuals to participate in its meetings for consultation on particular problems.
The Committee may create such consultative bodies as it deems necessary for the performance of its functions.

Article 11

Every State Party to this Convention shall, in so far as possible, submit to the World Heritage Committee an inventory of property forming part of the cultural and natural heritage, situated in its territory and suitable for inclusion in the list provided for in paragraph 2 of this Article. This inventory, which shall not be considered exhaustive, shall include documentation about the location of the property in question and its significance.
On the basis of the inventories submitted by States in accordance with paragraph 1, the Committee shall establish, keep up to date and publish, under the title of "World Heritage List," a list of properties forming part of the cultural heritage and natural heritage, as defined in Articles 1 and 2 of this Convention, which it considers as having outstanding universal value in terms of such criteria as it shall have established. An updated list shall be distributed at least every two years.
The inclusion of a property in the World Heritage List requires the consent of the State concerned. The inclusion of a property situated in a territory, sovereignty or jurisdiction over which is claimed by more than one State shall in no way prejudice the rights of the parties to the dispute.
The Committee shall establish, keep up to date and publish, whenever circumstances shall so require, under the title of "List of World Heritage in Danger", a list of the property appearing in the World Heritage List for the conservation of which major operations are necessary and for which assistance has been requested under this Convention. This list shall contain an estimate of the cost of such operations. The list may include only such property forming part of the cultural and natural heritage as is threatened by serious and specific dangers, such as the threat of disappearance caused by accelerated deterioration, large- scale public or private projects or rapid urban or tourist development projects; destruction caused by changes in the use or ownership of the land; major alterations due to unknown causes; abandonment for any reason whatsoever; the outbreak or the threat of an armed conflict; calamities and cataclysms; serious fires, earthquakes, landslides; volcanic eruptions; changes in water level, floods and tidal waves. The Committee may at any time, in case of urgent need, make a new entry in the List of World Heritage in Danger and publicize such entry immediately.
The Committee shall define the criteria on the basis of which a property belonging to the cultural or natural heritage may be included in either of the lists mentioned in paragraphs 2 and 4 of this article.
Before refusing a request for inclusion in one of the two lists mentioned in paragraphs 2 and 4 of this article, the Committee shall consult the State Party in whose territory the cultural or natural property in question is situated.
The Committee shall, with the agreement of the States concerned, co-ordinate and encourage the studies and research needed for the drawing up of the lists referred to in paragraphs 2 and 4 of this article.

Article 12

The fact that a property belonging to the cultural or natural heritage has not been included in either of the two lists mentioned in paragraphs 2 and 4 of Article 11 shall in no way be construed to mean that it does not have an outstanding universal value for purposes other than those resulting from inclusion in these lists.

Article 13

The World Heritage Committee shall receive and study requests for international assistance formulated by States Parties to this Convention with respect to property forming part of the cultural or natural heritage, situated in their territories, and included or potentially suitable for inclusion in the lists mentioned referred to in paragraphs 2 and 4 of Article 11. The purpose of such requests may be to secure the protection, conservation, presentation or rehabilitation of such property.
Requests for international assistance under paragraph 1 of this article may also be concerned with identification of cultural or natural property defined in Articles 1 and 2, when preliminary investigations have shown that further inquiries would be justified.
The Committee shall decide on the action to be taken with regard to these requests, determine where appropriate, the nature and extent of its assistance, and authorize the conclusion, on its behalf, of the necessary arrangements with the government concerned.
The Committee shall determine an order of priorities for its operations. It shall in so doing bear in mind the respective importance for the world cultural and natural heritage of the property requiring protection, the need to give international assistance to the property most representative of a natural environment or of the genius and the history of the peoples of the world, the urgency of the work to be done, the resources available to the States on whose territory the threatened property is situated and in particular the extent to which they are able to safeguard such property by their own means.
The Committee shall draw up, keep up to date and publicize a list of property for which international assistance has been granted.
The Committee shall decide on the use of the resources of the Fund established under Article 15 of this Convention. It shall seek ways of increasing these resources and shall take all useful steps to this end.
The Committee shall co-operate with international and national governmental and non-governmental organizations having objectives similar to those of this Convention. For the implementation of its programmes and projects, the Committee may call on such organizations, particularly the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of cultural Property (the Rome Centre), the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), as well as on public and private bodies and individuals.
Decisions of the Committee shall be taken by a majority of two-thirds of its members present and voting. A majority of the members of the Committee shall constitute a quorum.

Article 14

The World Heritage Committee shall be assisted by a Secretariat appointed by the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
The Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, utilizing to the fullest extent possible the services of the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and the Restoration of Cultural Property (the Rome Centre), the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) in their respective areas of competence and capability, shall prepare the Committee's documentation and the agenda of its meetings and shall have the responsibility for the implementation of its decisions.

IV. FUND FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE WORLD CULTURAL AND NATURAL HERITAGE

Article 15

A Fund for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of Outstanding Universal Value, called "the World Heritage Fund", is hereby established.
The Fund shall constitute a trust fund, in conformity with the provisions of the Financial Regulations of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
The resources of the Fund shall consist of:

A. compulsory and voluntary contributions made by States Parties to this Convention,
B. Contributions, gifts or bequests which may be made by:

other States;
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, other organizations of the United Nations system, particularly the United Nations Development Programme or other intergovernmental organizations;
public or private bodies or individuals;

C. any interest due on the resources of the Fund;
D. funds raised by collections and receipts from events organized for the benefit of the fund; and
E. all other resources authorized by the Fund's regulations, as drawn up by the World Heritage Committee.

Contributions to the Fund and other forms of assistance made available to the Committee may be used only for such purposes as the Committee shall define. The Committee may accept contributions to be used only for a certain programme or project, provided that the Committee shall have decided on the implementation of such programme or project. No political conditions may be attached to contributions made to the Fund.

Article 16

Without prejudice to any supplementary voluntarycontribution, the States Parties to this Convention undertake to pay regularly, every two years, to the World Heritage Fund, contributions, the amount of which, in the form of a uniform percentage applicable to all States, shall be determined by the General Assembly of States Parties to the Convention, meeting during the sessions of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. This decision of the General Assembly requires the majority of the States Parties present and voting, which have not made the declaration referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article. In no case shall the compulsory contribution of States Parties to the Convention exceed 1% of the contribution to the regular budget of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
However, each State referred to in Article 31 or in Article 32 of this Convention may declare, at the time of the deposit of its instrument of ratification, acceptance or accession, that it shall not be bound by the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article.
A State Party to the Convention which has made the declaration referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article may at any time withdraw the said declaration by notifying the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. However, the withdrawal of the declaration shall not take effect in regard to the compulsory contribution due by the State until the date of the subsequent General Assembly of States parties to the Convention.
In order that the Committee may be able to plan its operations effectively, the contributions of States Parties to this Convention which have made the declaration referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, shall be paid on a regular basis, at least every two years, and should not be less than the contributions which they should have paid if they had been bound by the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article.
Any State Party to the Convention which is in arrears with the payment of its compulsory or voluntary contribution for the current year and the calendar year immediately preceding it shall not be eligible as a Member of the World Heritage Committee, although this provision shall not apply to the first election.

The terms of office of any such State which is already a member of the Committee shall terminate at the time of the elections provided for in Article 8, paragraph 1 of this Convention.

Article 17

The States Parties to this Convention shall consider or encourage the establishment of national public and private foundations or associations whose purpose is to invite donations for the protection of the cultural and natural heritage as defined in Articles 1 and 2 of this Convention.

Article 18

The States Parties to this Convention shall give their assistance to international fund-raising campaigns organized for the World Heritage Fund under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. They shall facilitate collections made by the bodies mentioned in paragraph 3 of Article 15 for this purpose.

V. CONDITIONS AND ARRANGEMENTS FOR INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE

Article 19

Any State Party to this Convention may request international assistance for property forming part of the cultural or natural heritage of outstanding universal value situated within its territory. It shall submit with its request such information and documentation provided for in Article 21 as it has in its possession and as will enable the Committee to come to a decision.

Article 20

Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 13, sub-paragraph (c) of Article 22 and Article 23, international assistance provided for by this Convention may be granted only to property forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee has decided, or may decide, to enter in one of the lists mentioned in paragraphs 2 and 4 of Article 11.

Article 21

The World Heritage Committee shall define the procedure by which requests to it for international assistance shall be considered and shall specify the content of the request, which should define the operation contemplated, the work that is necessary, the expected cost thereof, the degree of urgency and the reasons why the resources of the State requesting assistance do not allow it to meet all the expenses. Such requests must be supported by experts' reports whenever possible.
Requests based upon disasters or natural calamities should, by reasons of the urgent work which they may involve, be given immediate, priority consideration by the Committee, which should have a reserve fund at its disposal against such contingencies.
Before coming to a decision, the Committee shall carry out such studies and consultations as it deems necessary.

Article 22

Assistance granted by the World Heritage Committee may take the following forms:

studies concerning the artistic, scientific and technical problems raised by the protection, conservation, presentation and rehabilitation of the cultural and natural heritage, as defined in paragraphs 2 and 4 of Article 11 of this Convention;
provisions of experts, technicians and skilled labour to ensure that the approved work is correctly carried out;
training of staff and specialists at all levels in the field of identification, protection, conservation, presentation and rehabilitation of the cultural and natural heritage;
supply of equipment which the State concerned does not possess or is not in a position to acquire;
low-interest or interest-free loans which might be repayable on a long-term basis;
the granting, in exceptional cases and for special reasons, of non-repayable subsidies.

Article 23

The World Heritage Committee may also provide international assistance to national or regional centres for the training of staff and specialists at all levels in the field of identification, protection, conservation, presentation and rehabilitation of the cultural and natural heritage.

Article 24

International assistance on a large scale shall be preceded by detailed scientific, economic and technical studies. These studies shall draw upon the most advanced techniques for the protection, conservation, presentation and rehabilitation of the natural and cultural heritage and shall be consistent with the objectives of this Convention. The studies shall also seek means of making rational use of the resources available in the State concerned.

Article 25

As a general rule, only part of the cost of work necessary shall be borne by the international community. The contribution of the State benefiting from international assistance shall constitute a substantial share of the resources devoted to each programme or project, unless its resources do not permit this.

Article 26

The World Heritage Committee and the recipient State shall define in the agreement they conclude the conditions in which a programme or project for which international assistance under the terms of this Convention is provided, shall be carried out. It shall be the responsibility of the State receiving such international assistance to continue to protect, conserve and present the property so safeguarded, in observance of the conditions laid down by the agreement.

VI. EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMES

Article 27

The States Parties to this Convention shall endeavor by all appropriate means, and in particular by educational and information programmes, to strengthen appreciation and respect by their peoples of the cultural and natural heritage defined in Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention.
They shall undertake to keep the public broadly informed of the dangers threatening this heritage and of the activities carried on in pursuance of this Convention.

Article 28

States Parties to this Convention which receive international assistance under the Convention shall take appropriate measures to make known the importance of the property for which assistance has been received and the role played by such assistance.

VII. REPORTS

Article 29

The States Parties to this Convention shall, in the reports which they submit to the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on dates and in a manner to be determined by it, give information on the legislative and administrative provisions which they have adopted and other action which they have taken for the application of this Convention, together with details of the experience acquired in this field.
These reports shall be brought to the attention of the World Heritage Committee.
The Committee shall submit a report on its activities at each of the ordinary sessions of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

VIII. FINAL CLAUSES

Article 30

This Convention is drawn up in Arabic, English,French, Russian and Spanish, the five texts being equally authoritative.

Article 31

This Convention shall be subject to ratification or acceptance by States members of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in accordance with their respective constitutional procedures.
The instruments of ratification or acceptance shall be deposited with the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Article 32

This Convention shall be open to accession by all States not members of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization which are invited by the General Conference of the Organization to accede to it.
Accession shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument of accession with the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Article 33

This Convention shall enter into force three months after the date of the deposit of the twentieth instrument of ratification, acceptance or accession, but only with respect to those States which have deposited their respective instruments of ratification, acceptance or accession on or before that date. It shall enter into force with respect to any other State three months after the deposit of its instrument of ratification, acceptance or accession.

Article 34

The following provisions shall apply to those States Parties to this Convention which have a federal or non-unitary constitutional system:

A. with regard to the provisions of this Convention, the implementation of which comes under the legal jurisdiction of the federal or central legislative power, the obligations of the federal or central government shall be the same as for those States parties which are not federal States;
B. with regard to the provisions of this Convention, the implementation of which comes under the legal jurisdiction of individual constituent States, countries, provinces or cantons that are not obliged by the constitutional system of the federation to take legislative measures, the federal government shall inform the competent authorities of such States, countries, provinces or cantons of the said provisions, with its recommendation for their adoption.

Article 35

A. Each State Party to this Convention may denounce the Convention.
B. The denunciation shall be notified by an instrument in writing, deposited with the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
C. The denunciation shall take effect twelve months after the receipt of the instrument of denunciation. It shall not affect the financial obligations of the denouncing State until the date on which the withdrawal takes effect.

Article 36

The Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization shall inform the States members of the Organization, the States not members of the Organization which are referred to in Article 32, as well as the United Nations, of the deposit of all the instruments of ratification, acceptance, or accession provided for in Articles 31 and 32, and of the denunciations provided for in Article 35.

Article 37

A. This Convention may be revised by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Any such revision shall, however, bind only the States which shall become Parties to the revising convention.
B. If the General Conference should adopt a new convention revising this Convention in whole or in part, then, unless the new convention otherwise provides, this Convention shall cease to be open to ratification, acceptance or accession, as from the date on which the new revising convention enters into force.

Article 38

In conformity with Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations, this Convention shall be registered with the Secretariat of the United Nations at the request of the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Done in Paris, this twenty-third day of November 1972, in two authentic copies bearing the signature of the President of the seventeenth session of the General Conference and of the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which shall be deposited in the archives of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and certified true copies of which shall be delivered to all the States referred to in Articles 31 and 32 as well as to the United Nations.

Annex B

Volume 1: Plan Strategy
Giant's Causeway World Heritage Site

http://www.planningni.gov.uk/AreaPlans_Policy/Plans/Northern/draft_plan/Volume1/Part3/PFV/GiantsCauseway_pfv.htm

UNESCO gave approval for the designation of the Giant’s Causeway as a World Heritage Site (WHS) in 1986. Interim planning policy on this as the Region’s only WHS was contained in Policy BH 5 of PPS 6: Planning, Archaeology and the Built Heritage. This is now superseded by the policies in this Plan.

The Causeway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Management Plan was produced by the Environment and Heritage Service in April 2003. This examines not only the AONB, but also its relationship with the WHS in the context of the AONB. It makes it clear that the setting of the WHS is not to be confused with policy relating to the AONB designation, although the AONB landscape is inextricably linked to the WHS. The setting of the WHS extends into the seascape.

The Management Plan identified three categories of setting: distinctive, supportive and connective. The Department has reviewed these landscape settings and established boundaries relating to physical features or historic townland boundaries. It has merged the Supportive and Connective Landscape Settings using inter-visibility between the WHS and its surrounding hinterland that provides a setting to its approaches as the key criterion. The Department will refer to the Management Plan, where appropriate, in respect of development proposals in either of these areas.

The Plan also designates an Area of Constraint on Mineral Developments over the WHS and its settings. In addition to this, and its designations as an AONB, much of the WHS is subject to a hierarchy of scientific designations to protect its earth science and nature conservation interest.

The Causeway Coast AONB Management Plan identified a number of transportation related issues which affect the movement of people and vehicles into and throughout the AONB. The Department of Regional Development’s Roads Service will co-operate with the proposed Causeway Coast Management Group which is being set up to oversee delivery of the actions identified in the Plan.

Policy COU 10
The Giant’s Causeway World Heritage Site

No development will be approved within the World Heritage Site unless there are very exceptional circumstances directly related to the provision of essential facilities for visitors and which would not be detrimental to the landscape or scientific interest of the Site.

The Giant’s Causeway WHS is unique, and both an environmental and economic asset to the Plan area and to Northern Ireland as a whole. The Causeway and its immediate environment remain relatively untouched by intrusive human activity, and should remain so. The Department is, however, conscious of its importance to the Northern Ireland economy as a key visitor attraction, and the need to provide appropriate essential facilities in the vicinity to meet visitor needs. The Department considers essential facilities to include a high quality reception and interpretation facility for the understanding and enjoyment of the WHS. Associated facilities may include ancillary catering and retailing for use by visitors. Attractions associated with the site, but not essential for visitor needs will not be acceptable, nor will development generally. Any development will be required to be sited and designed not to cause detriment to the landscape, which is intrinsic to the site’s appreciation, or to scientific interest.

Designation COU 11
The Distinctive Landscape Setting of the Giant’s Causeway World Heritage Site

The Distinctive Landscape Setting of the Giant’s Causeway World Heritage Site is designated as identified on the Countryside Maps.

The landscape closely associated with the World Heritage Site extends several kilometres south from the Site and is visually intrinsically linked, providing both a backdrop for visitors within the Site and a foreground for visitors approaching the Site.

Policy COU 12
The Distinctive Landscape Setting of the Giant’s Causeway World Heritage Site.

No development within the Distinctive Landscape Setting outside of settlement development limits will be approved except:

exceptionally modest scale facilities, without landscape detriment, which are necessary to meet the direct needs of visitors to the World Heritage Site;

extensions to dwellings that are appropriate in scale and design and represent not more than 20% of the cubic content of existing dwellings;

replacements of existing occupied dwellings with not more than a 20% increase in the cubic content.

These allowances will be permitted once only.

Development proposals within the Distinctive Landscape Setting of the Giant’s Causeway World Heritage Site will be subject to particular scrutiny. The Department considers some visitor related development is acceptable in this area, however, it should be small in scale, both in terms of built form and be directly related to the WHS and require a location in proximity to it, rather than a facility to meet the needs of visitors to the general area. Historically, vernacular dwellings related to the traditional agricultural use of the land and accommodated farming families and workers. Houses were small in mass and scale, and normally single storey, with any extensions appearing as subservient elements to the main structure. The Distinctive Landscape is located within the Causeway Coast AONB, where sensitive development is required.

The relationship of this landscape to the World Heritage Site requires an even stricter approach to development proposals than elsewhere in the AONB, to ensure the balance between landscape and built form is not adversely affected with buildings appearing over-dominant and out of historic context. The Department, therefore, imposes restrictions on the scale of extensions and replacement dwellings to avoid this arising. The Department will seek improvements to the landscape setting where these are appropriate, and are related to the development proposed.

Designation COU 13
The Supportive Landscape Setting of the Giant’s Causeway World Heritage Site

The Supportive Landscape Setting of the Giant’s Causeway World Heritage Site is designated as identified on the Countryside Maps.

The Supportive Landscape Setting incorporates a secondary area south of the Distinctive Landscape but is also significantly visually interrelated with the World Heritage Site. It incorporates an area east, south and west of Bushmills as identified on the Countryside Maps.

Policy COU 14
The Supportive Landscape Setting of the Giant’s Causeway World Heritage Site

Development proposals outside of settlement development limits that comprise modest scale, non-residential tourist facilities that are essential for serving the requirements of visitors to the World Heritage Site only, will exceptionally be permitted in the Supportive Landscape Setting to the World Heritage Site.

Proposals for tourist related development will be assessed against the relevant tourism policies of the Plan, and in addition, the above requirements that they will directly relate to the requirements of visitors to the World Heritage Site and will be of modest scale. In respect of residential development within the Supportive Setting, prevailing regional policies apply.