Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural & Natural Heritage

(World Heritage Convention) signed at Paris (France), 1972; entered into force in 1975

The World Heritage Convention is one of the most widely accepted international legal instruments for the protection of cultural and natural heritage. Administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the convention provides for member States to nominate specific sites that may be approved for inclusion on the World Heritage List. Inclusion on the list obligates the country concerned to develop a management plan for the site and to provide regular reports on the status of the site and the measures being taken to preserve them. UNESCO maintains a List of World Heritage in Danger, designed to call the world's attention to sites whose character is threatened by natural or anthropogenic factors.