What is A World Heritage Site?

Well, someone has been doing their homework!

The Big Question:

What is a World Heritage Site, and does the accolade make a difference?
By Paul Vallely The Independent Friday, 7 November 2008

Why are we asking this now?

A United Nations team is about to visit Bath to decide whether the city still deserves the accolade of a World Heritage Site. There are 28 such sites in Britain but Bath is the only entire city to be listed.

But the heritage police are worried. They originally called Bath "a city that is harmonious and logical, in concord with its natural environment and extremely beautiful". But now they fear this might be spoiled by a new development to which the city council's planning committee has given outline permission. It will add 2,200 houses with shops, a school and a park right next to the River Avon. Some of the buildings are nine storeys high.

Enthusiasts for the scheme attack those who would keep Bath as "a city in aspic" and worry that the whole project may be at risk if the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), which grants world heritage status, disapproves.

What kind of places are given the accolade?

Anything from a city to an individual building, monument, area, forest, mountain, desert or lake. There are currently 878 world heritage sites which include 678 listed for cultural reasons and 174 lauded as wonders of nature. These include the Great Barrier Reef, the Serengeti Desert, the Pyramids of Giza, the Statue of Liberty, the Great Wall of China, Mount Kenya, Edinburgh's Old and New Towns, Hadrian's Wall, Stonehenge, Memphis and its Necropolis, Persepolis, the Palace of Westminster, the centre of St Petersburg, the Banaue rice terraces in the Philippines and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station in Mumbai. The country with the biggest number of sites is Italy, which has 43.

Great Barrier Reef

How did the idea begin?

In 1954, the desert valley containing the twin Abu Simbel temples – which were carved out of a mountainside in southern Egypt in the 13th century BC on the orders of the Pharaoh Ramesses II – were about to be flooded by the building of the Aswan Dam. Frustrated by the Egyptian government's lack of action to protect the ancient buildings, Unesco launched a worldwide campaign that saved the temples by relocating them to higher ground at a cost of $80m, half of it collected from 50 countries.
The project was such a success that Unesco campaigns followed to save Venice and the ruins of one of the world's earliest urban settlements, Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan's Indus Valley, as well as the largest Buddhist structure in existence, the Borobodur temple compounds in Java, Indonesia.

Who decides whether heritage status is granted?

The Unesco World Heritage Committee, which is elected by nation states every four years. It meets once a year to choose the world's natural or human-made wonders in the greatest need of protection. Any country is eligible to send in a list of nominees for protection.
This year, the committee met in Quebec City, Canada, and added an extra 27 places across the globe to its list of "endangered species". Among them were more than 100 monumental tombs at Al-Hijr in Saudi Arabia, built by the Nabataean people between the first century BC and AD100. Another was the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico, where one billion butterflies overwinter each year. The committee also added the island of Surtsey, which appeared 20 miles south of Iceland as a result of volcanic eruptions between 1963 and 1967, and is a pristine natural laboratory for the study of plant and animal colonisation.

What are the criteria for inclusion in the list?

Each site must meet at least one of 10 criteria. They must represent a "masterpiece of human creative genius", be "an important interchange of human values" or "bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to civilisation" past or present. Or they can be an outstanding example of a type of building or settlement which illustrates a significant stage in human history. They can "contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance", or be outstanding examples of major stages of Earth's history or ecological and biological processes in evolution. Sites can also house threatened species "of outstanding universal value".

How political is the choice?

Well, just nine per cent of the world heritage sites are in Africa and seven per cent in Arab countries, compared with 50 per cent in Europe and North America. This does suggest a certain cultural bias, but there are other political considerations. The US, whose government saw Unesco as a stalking horse for Communist and Third World countries to attack the West throughout the 1980s and 1990s, has refused to propose any new heritage sites since 1995. In that year, plans to open a gold mine near Yellowstone Park in Wyoming got the area placed on Unesco's "world heritage in danger" list. Conservatives in Washington decided that the scheme was an undercover attempt to subvert America's rights to govern itself and to destroy the fabric of US sovereignty.

Have there been any other controversies surrounding the scheme?

Pressure groups use world heritage status as a lever in political battles. In Australia, a group of Aborigines teamed up with environmentalists in a dispute over a uranium mine in the middle of the Kakadu National Park, a World Heritage Site which is home to hundreds of species of wildlife and is one of the country's oldest places of human occupation, dating back 60,000 years. Unesco called on ministers in Canberra to put a stop to the mining project, but the government hit backing, saying Unesco's report contained errors of fact, law, science and logic.
There was a similar row over a controversial hydroelectric dam project in La Amistad International Park, a world heritage-designated site which straddles Panama and Costa Rica and is Central America's largest and most diverse virgin rainforest.

What are the benefits?

Listed places receive extra media attention and tourists. That brings extra money in addition to cash from Unesco's preservation fund, though only developing countries can apply for the grants. Britain contributes £130,000 to the fund every year but gets nothing back, although world heritage status can attract extra funding from the national lottery and the private sector.
Publicity can help. Two 150ft statues of Buddha carved into a mountain in the Bamiyan Valley in Afghanistan in the 6th century, and which were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001, have received more than $4m from Unesco to help with the re-sculpting of the damaged stones.

And the disadvantages?

Listed places receive extra media attention and tourists. The higher profile that listing brings can draw an influx of visitors that poorer countries cannot handle. Fore example, the Angkor Wat temples in Cambodia, the Galapagos Islands and Machu Picchu in Peru have all seen massive increases in tourism. Sometimes listing does more harm than good and upsets the delicate balance between promoting places and preserving them.

Does it help to have World Heritage status?
Yes...
* It brings extra funds to poor countries to help conserve places of universal value
* It draws attention to the world's most neglected treasures and places of historic interest or natural beauty
* It can save places from total destruction by natural or human forces

No...
* It brings in floods of extra tourists whose footprint can do more harm than good
* It can have the effect of preserving a living place in aspic and stifling innovation
* It can undermine a country's right to make decisions about its own heritage
Related Articles
Development puts Bath's UN heritage status at risk

Well its happening elsewhere, the blatent disregard for having World Heritage Status. The beautiful city of Bath is under threat of losing their status, at the hands of Property Developers Crest Nicolson whose PR firm appears to be none other than infamous PPS who are the spindoctors for Caltongate Developers, Mountgrange see PPSClientsRead the Icomosobjection to the Bath plans. It all sounds depressingly familiar doesn`t it? Unesco are the body responsible for World Heritage Sites. bathpreservationtrust and bathheritagewatchdog are doing their best to protect their citys` heritage.Here its the EdinburghWorldHeritageTrust and the CockburnAssociation along with concerned citizens.

Disney Status For Capital?

Even with Disney Status, the ubiquitous Edinburgh Scaffolding

Danger of Capital being made into a Disney production


ON THURSDAY Professor Herb Stovel gave the Cockburn Association's annual lecture, this year entitled Keeping the Faith in World Heritage, in which he made many salient points with regard to recent planning decisions made within Edinburgh and how he perceives their impact upon the Outstanding Universal Values that Edinburgh embodies.

Intriguingly, he made the statement that Edinburgh was of a sufficient size to cope with the increased number of visitors associated with WHS, yet failed to make the connection with the three controversial developments – Caltongate, Haymarket and St James Centre – being proposed to house these visitors.



The pursuit of increased tourist numbers is what threatens the OUV. While UNESCO's prime concern may be keeping the city looking pretty, this resident's concern is for their life in the city.



All new large developments are primarily hotel accommodation – aside from the big three already mentioned two hotels are proposed for Princes Street with talk of a third one in the West End; the Cowgate fire site is proposed to become a hotel and both sides of Waterloo Place are either hotel or serviced apartments. So what future for the real people? Bussed and trammed in from outlying districts to serve the tourist core?



The Old Town once boasted a fantastically egalitarian mix and we need provision to be made for young and growing families on modest salaries within the city centre unless we are to become a Disney version of a living city.


Letter to Evening News 20 October 2008

Caltongate Developers Thank Council

The guy outside the City Chambers is saying

"They want to thank the people who made it all possible"

The banner to the left says "Stuff UNESCO" and the banner to the right says

"Cockburn Association - Bring it On"

This excellent cartoon by Frank Boyle in today`s Eve News 28 Aug 08 sums up the mood in Edinburgh yesterday so well

The Times 28 Aug 08 and Crowds Make it another Gold

Unlike the city council leader who doesn`t have a clue what the people of Edinburgh think...

"Councillor Andrew Burns, the city's labour leader, thinks most people in the city would find the research results odd.

He said: "This is very surprising. It is certainly not a description of Edinburgh I recognise."

see Edinburgh a Miserable Place to Live

SNP local councillor knows what`s what, though-

"local councillor David Beckett urged colleagues to take the opportunity to "correct their mistake" and refuse the application.

He said: "The Caltongate plans should have been refused by this council at the first opportunity. "The biggest concern is the effect this will have on the city's World Heritage Status, yet I was told at the last meeting on this subject that it was 'scaremongering' to suggest that this development could cost us that," he said.

He was backed up by Green councillor Steve Burgess, who said the development should at least be delayed until after the Unesco report – which is not expected to be until late next year.

Full article Eve News Article Today and the paper`s editor doesn`t seem to have his ear to the street either -Editorial Today

Prince Charles and World Heritage Talk Tonight

Free Talk on Edinburgh`s World Heritage Status Tonight Friday 6th June 6pm - 7.30pm at 8 St Mary`s Street, just off the Royal Mile

See Map Contact us on 07788 755303

Talk and discussion with Jane Jackson and David Hicks of The Edinburgh World Heritage Trust. What does World Heritage Status mean to Edinburgh and her residents? http://www.ewht.co.uk/

Charles in building projects appeal - Prince Charles in Edinburgh yesterday

The Prince of Wales has called for architects to put beauty at the heart of building projects to create long-lasting communities.

The Malcolm Fraser Building proposed for Jeffrey St as part of Caltongate, above is view of it along East Market Street

He shared his thoughts with an audience - including Scotland First Minister Alex Salmond - at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh on how nature should play a central role.
Evoking the World Heritage status of Scotland's capital, Charles, who is known as the Duke of Rothesay in Scotland, said: "Beauty is surely, when you think about it carefully, at the heart of genuine sustainability.

"If something is beautiful you don't want to knock it down."

Above is from top are the beautiful buildings to be knocked down for Caltongate, The Victorian School known as Canongate Venture, The Sailor`s Ark , unique Art Deco and 1930`s Macrae Tenements.

He said Scottish planners could take a leading role in the UK to build ecologically-sound communities - but warned that attitudes must change.

"We live on a very small island on which presumably many generations will want to live," he said.

"So apart from everything else, we need to work out where the water is going to come from in an increasingly uncertain world. We owe it to our children and our grandchildren not to wreck it all."

Charles called for a return to "civil, courteous and well-mannered" architecture and added: "We must rediscover - rapidly - our respect for nature and her universal principles that can give us everlasting inspiration and environmental hope."

He delivered his speech following a presentation by Mr Salmond, MSP for Gordon and MP for Banff and Buchan, at the seminar hosted by the Prince's Foundation. The foundation has contributed to the design of 50 developments during its 10-year history in the UK and overseas.
These include projects at Ballater in Aberdeenshire, Cumnock in Ayrshire, Lincoln city centre, the urban extension of Plymouth, the new town of Coed Darcy on the former BP oil refinery in South Wales and the regeneration of a strife-torn neighbourhood in Kingston, Jamaica.
The Press Association

Radical Canongate - a look at the radical routes of the canongate and Old Town

Radical Canongate by Craig Maclean - Activist, Photographer and Community Artist

7pm - 9 pm 2nd June 2008 at Canongate Project, 8 St Mary's Street, Edinburgh

Craig Maclean will be showing a short film from the 30s, pictures from the Mining Museum and pictures from the Anti-Poll Tax struggle to look at events in the Canongate where people have taken radical action. Craig will introduce lens based recordings of events in the Canongate and discuss the events, possible from personal reminisce and explore the importance of how the Save Our Old Town campaign and Canongate Project is being recorded, and why it's important not to just leave it to the evening news.

12.30 to 2 pm, 8th June 2008, walk through the Old Town meet at Canongate Project, 8 St Mary's Street

Allan Armstrong has taken an interest in the radical history of Scotland and Ireland for most of his life. Allan is a socialist, activist and trade unionist. Allan will look at the role Edinburgh's Old Town played in shaping radical Scotland and the world. From dissident lawyers, dissenters and protesters to riots and marches to Marx and Engels. Allan will explore the graves, lanes and closes of the Old Town taking you on an adventure of protest, declaration and the demand for liberty and equality.

Edinburgh's "radical road" around the crags was built by "radicals" fleeing persecution from the west of Scotland (in the 19th Century) who were given sanctuary and work in the city, the Radical Road was the fruits of their labour.
For a wider view of the radical road click here

NB: The walk will not include a walk up the radical road

Edinburgh World Heritage on Youtube

"To view the time-lapse film for Edinburgh World Heritage go to Film on Youtube

The following article is in today`s Evening News By ADAM MORRIS
TWO movie-making brothers who scored an unlikely internet hit have finished their new film – for an online bid to attract visitors to the Capital.
Ewen and Al Meldrum spent two years producing a "time-lapse" film, sitting in one spot for hours to take hundreds of shots of the city. As the News revealed last year, it has since become one of the most viewed Edinburgh films on video sharing website, YouTube.Now the brothers have completed their highest-profile production so far, an eight-minute time-lapse film for Edinburgh World Heritage.It is expected to be linked to tourism websites such as VisitScotland, a favourite for millions of people thinking of booking a Scottish break.Health worker Ewen, 39, said he was overwhelmed at the prospect of the latest film being viewed around the world.He said: "As it stands, we put our stuff up on YouTube which is fine, but there's no advertising with that and you just rely upon people coming across it by chance or by word of mouth."The brothers, who spend a significant chunk of their free time sitting in remote corners of Edinburgh filming the city by day and night, have also been commissioned to work for a US cable channel which wants them to film the Scottish Highlands and Islands.And, a year on from their breakthrough production – Koya Moments – Ewen said they had both learned new techniques in the filming of time-lapse movies."Before we would spend months doing it, but we learned a few techniques that speed things up and we were able to finish the Edinburgh World Heritage film in around seven weeks," he said. "We were filming around the time when a lot of roadworks were coming in and bits of the city being dug up so it became problematic towards the end."The latest film focuses on the public spaces of Edinburgh and how peo
ple relate to them, mixed in with some beautiful shots of the Capital's famous landmarks. The brothers – who work under the name Meltec – completed the film in time for last week's World Heritage Day.David Hicks, communications manager for EWH, said it would be a huge asset for the organisation. He said: "It's a fantastic piece of work and shows Edinburgh in a wonderful light."The idea is to get across how public spaces are just as important to Edinburgh's World Heritage status as the landmarks, and how people react to public spaces and what they do in them. This film ties in perfectly with that."There is one scene in particular with a perfect crescent moon descending over the Castle which is my favourite."

World Heritage Day

Had a few days off the blog, as its been a very busy time organising The Canongate Project, more on that below.

Lets hope World Heritage Day today brings hope and real solutions, action to take - to those in rural environments, villages, towns, cities, and countries all over the world who`s very uniqueness, heritage, culture and communities are under enormous threat from the fearless march of progress in the name of regeneration and redevelopment, breathing new life, you know the stock phrases that are used time and time again to make vast profit for the very few at the expense of the many. More on the day here

Flags fly for World Heritage Day

on the BBC website

Flags will be flown from each level of the Scott Monument
Fifty flags of World Heritage Site countries are to be flown from the Scott Monument.
Friday's spectacle, to coincide with the firing of the One O'Clock Gun, marks World Heritage Day.
Volunteers will carry flags to the four levels of the monument and at the sound of the gun will display them from its viewing galleries. City culture leader Deidre Brock said: "The Scott Monument will be full of colour for 15 minutes." She added: "So it really will be worth stopping to look up right after the One O'Clock Gun. "Flags will fly from the bottom right to the top so people will be able to see from some distance, in fact it's worth a visit after the event because a climb to the top offers some of the best panoramic views in the city." The display will be followed by a public seminar at the Storytelling Centre on the value the World Heritage status brings to the city with speakers including director of Edinburgh World Heritage Adam Wilkinson, Edinburgh City Council leader Jenny Dawe and John Graham, chief executive of Historic Scotland.

Edinburgh World Heritage Trust Historic Scotland

Canongate Community Doing it for Themselves

Press Release 17/04/08

Canongate Community Forum is proud to present an innovative 6 week long project to document the historic heart of Edinburgh ’s Old Town , an area that is the focus of a hugely controversial re-development plan.

The launch of the programme on April 18th coincides with World Heritage Day, commemorated around the world which offers the opportunity to debate issues of world heritage and how it can be protected and conserved.

Full Programme Here in PDF

The Canongate Project has been made possible through a grant from the Scottish Communities Action Research Fund (SCARF) and features an in-depth documentation of the area and its people, seminar’s and talks from a range of bodies and individuals, community based activates such as banner making and a film festival, culminating in a street party on Saturday 28th June.

Scotland’s internationally renowned arts impresario Richard Demarco begins the programme with his talk “A Portrait of Edinburgh as a World Heritage Site” on Monday 5th May 2pm, booking is advised for this and all other talks and walks which will prove to be popular.

The Edinburgh World Heritage Trust, The Cockburn Association and other conservation and community focused organisations will be among other talks.

Common Good expert Andy Wightman is one of the many gathering for the Common Good Day Scotland on Saturday May 24th. Campaigners from all over the country will be discussing and making plans to continue the reclaiming of land and assets belonging to the people of Scotland .

Canongate Community Forum secretary and Save Our Old Town campaigner Sally Richardson said; “We are proud to be presenting a packed programme of events and activities as part of the Canongate Project. “During the 6 weeks Edinburgh ’s historic Old Town will have its life and people documented by the community along with activities everyone can get involved in.”

Canongate Community Forum Website