Criteria of inclusion
The Criteria for Inclusion
To be included on the World Heritage List, sites must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria.
Students in pairs study a selection criterion and identify an item using the advanced search functions and the interactive map provided by WHC List.
In the following sections, each criterion is explained, and we provide links to examples of items of the list included according to each of them).
(i) to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius;
Leptis Magna
Kakadu national park
(ii) to exhibit 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;
Leptis Magna
(iii) to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared;
Leptis Magna
(iv) to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;
The Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew is one of the London's largest UNESCO World Heritage sites offering unique landscapes and iconic architecture from every stage of the Gardens' history. The collection of living plants is the largest and most diverse in the world, growing out in the Gardens and inside the glasshouses.
Fortress of Suomenlinna
Suomenlinna (Veaborg) is a sea fortress and an example of European military architecture of the time.
It has served to defend three different sovereign states overs the years: The kingdom of Sweden, the Russian empire and most recently the Republic of Finland.
(v)
to be 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 VEGA ARCHIPELAGO, NORWAY
The Vega Archipelago reflects the way generations of fisherman-farmers have, over the past 1500 years, maintained a sustainable living in an inhospitable seascape near the Arctic Circle and it also celebrates women’s contribution to the eider down process.
(vi) to be 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);
Kakadu national park
Criterion number 7
To contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance.
The places that respect this criterion are natural and beautiful areas that are not so useful for the economy or for the people but are too magnificent to be lost and this is why they are included in the UNESCO WH List.
Jiuzhaigou
- It is renowned for its scenic and aesthetic majesty.
- There are lakes, waterfaals and limestone terraces.
- Waters are pure and clear.
- Natural beauty.
(ix) to be outstanding examples 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;
Kakadu national park
(x) to contain 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.
(x) to contain 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.
An example : Bialowieza Forest
Bialowieza Forest
The Bialowieza forest world heritage site, on the border between Poland and Belarus, is an immense area for biodiversity conservation, in particular the European Bison. It' is also composed of a largest primary forest including conifers and broadleaved trees covering a total area.
However,its values are extensive and they include protection for:
- 250 bird species
- 59 mammals
- 13 amphibians
- 7 reptiles
- over 12000 invertebrates