Background

The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (the “World Heritage Convention”) was adopted at the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (“UNESCO”) on 16 November 1972 and came into force on 17 December 1975. Its origins can be traced to two separate but related factors. The first is that by 1972 the international community was becoming increasingly receptive to the concept of a “common heritage”. In the context of the Convention this concept maintains that there are certain outstanding natural and man-made features such as the Serengeti or the Pyramids, the Galapagos Islands or the Taj Mahal, which are more than the heritage of just one State. They constitute part of the heritage of all people, and mankind as a whole has certain rights with respect to their conservation. The second factor is that by 1972 the international community had shown itself willing to take positive action to help protect these sites. When the Nubian monuments of the Upper Nile, including the 30 foot high statue of Ramses II at Abu Simbel, were threatened by flooding in 1960 as a result of the newly constructed Aswan High Dam, the response of the international community was prompt, and international campaigns were organised by UNESCO and others to save the famous monuments from destruction.