Global environmental politics: A study of the world heritage convention (1972)

Résumé du document

The UNESCO World Heritage Convention has been established in 1972. It recognizes the way in which people interact with nature, and the fundamental need to preserve the balance between the two. Thus, that convention concerns both the cultural and natural properties, but I will focus in that essay on the natural heritage aspect. Since it is regularly said to be "one of the most important tool for an international cooperation for environmental protection", it appears normal to set out the question why is that system able to be so long-lasting? In fact, it seems to have fixed itself achievable and more precise goals than the others MEA and to have stressed out the necessity of regular updates. Consequently, the World Heritage Convention is always today successful and attractive for both the state parties and the sites concerned. Why does such a need have emerged; how it works; and what are the benefits will be here the key questions.

Extraits

[...] The label can also help to have support of NGO and moreover help to create NGOs: for instance, the site of Sian Ka'an in Mexico has seen the dawn of several organizations as Amigos and Centro Ecologico de Sian Ka'an. One of the more important positive effect is also the increase of cooperation in every level: it attracts the international community intention but the local also participate in settling management actions and training actions. Thus, a Global training strategy for world natural heritage was adopted by the WH Committee in 2001 in Helsinki. [...]

[...] The goal was to strengthen conservation by increasing the capacity of those responsible for and involved with the management and conservation. It is built on three principles: training is a cost effective mean to achieve Committee objective, it should be integrated into the WH planning framework and commitment to high impact, pro-organized act. So the training implicates IUCN, WH Fund and WH Centre which assists site managers, evaluates requests, and advises on ways to improve training activities. The cooperation is also a hallmark in the WH project: for example, transboundary sites are promoted even if they are not easy to run because they force the different national parties to find a solution together and improve collaboration between them, which is really positive related to the security benefit. [...]

[...] studies, especially scientific and technical for the natural sites conservation, provision of experts, supply of equipment the state concerned doesn't possess or can't acquire, low-interest or interest free loans which are repayable in a long term basis and in exceptional cases granting of non-repayable subsidies. A reserve found also exists, for assistance resulting from disasters, natural calamities and the amount of money to transfer is sometimes determined by the General Director. Thus the World Heritage Convention set up the goals and the tools to achieve a preservation of the natural sites inscribed on the list. [...]

[...] Paris : Fayard. CMED (Commission Mondiale sur l'Environnement et le Développement) (sous la direction de Gro Harlem Brundtland). (1989) Notre avenir à tous. Montréal : Editions du Fleuve, 2e édition. PNUD (Programme des Nations Unies pour le Développement) (1990). Rapport mondial sur le développement humain 1990. Paris : Economica. Dictionnaire d'économie et de science sociales 1998 Nathan Encyclopédie Encarta 1997 IFRI (Institut français des relations internationales) (1991). [...]

[...] Nevertheless, the sustainability remains to be a key for the survival and the credibility of the World Heritage. The conservation of natural sites is indeed a long term process: state parties are engaged in an on-going procedure: more than identifying potential sites, they have an active role in protecting and preserving the site. Another crucial aspect is that those countries engaged have an obligation to report regularly to the World Heritage Committee the state of conservation of their World Heritage properties. [...]