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World Heritage: Testimonies to Our Humanity Year of publication: 2022 Corporate author: UNESCO The Convention for the Protection of the Cultural and Natural Heritage is an international agreement based on the principle that some places on Earth embody outstanding universal value that should be part of the shared heritage of humankind. UNESCO recognizes cultural and natural sites of outstanding universal value, and protects them for the benefit of all. As a basis for mutual understanding and dialogue, the responsibility for protecting our shared heritage requires cooperation among all States Parties as well as civil society, local communities and the private sector. The idea of reconciling the conservation of cultural sites with that of natural sites originated in the United States of America. A White House conference in Washington, D.C., in 1965 called for the creation of a โWorld Heritage Foundationโ that would stimulate international cooperation to protect โthe most extraordinary places, landscapes, and historic sites for the present and future of all mankind.โ In 1968, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) made similar proposals to its members. These proposals were presented at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972. Eventually, all parties concerned agreed on a single text. The Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on 16 November 1972. In recognizing both cultural and natural aspects of heritage, the Convention reminds us of the interaction between human beings and nature and the fundamental need to preserve the balance between the two. 
World Heritage, No.104 Year of publication: 2023 Corporate author: UNESCO As the extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee begins in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, we express our gratitude to our hosts for convening the first in-person Committee since the onset of COVID-19. Surrounded by old friends and young professionals alike, we are reminded that this meeting is more than the sum of important decisions taken. It is a powerful platform where we rekindle the sense of โheritage communityโ and renew our commitment to heritage. This issue of World Heritage magazine features African heritage leaders who are empowering peers and creating positive ripple effects from Egypt to Mozambique. A report on climate change details the critical benefits provided by World Heritage forests notably through carbon absorption, with one caveat โ their capacity will continue to decline unless we act now. A compelling story comes from Havana, Cuba, where a major UNESCO programme Transcultura is blending tangible heritage, intangible practices and contemporary creativity, true to the way culture intersects in the local communities. Readers may notice the new design of this World Heritage magazine, which pays homage to the original iconic look. The first issue in 1996 put a spotlight on the accelerating international cooperation to conserve Angkor, bearing fruit in 2004 with the removal from the List of World Heritage in Danger. Just as the magazine has been a witness to history, it continues to champion the evolving principles of heritage safeguarding. This is why this revamped magazine will centrally feature stories of custodians, innovators and trailblazers, in line with the 'fifth C' (Communities) of the Strategic Objectives. The words by the 80-year-old Havana resident Noemรญ Moreno should echo with many of us: 'In the end, we are nothing more than a bird that comes and flies away. History is what remains'. And so we get to work together, pooling experience gained over the past five decades of the 1972 Convention and the ancestral knowledge passed down over centuries, to preserve the remnants of history as best as we can. 
World Heritage Online Map Platform: Technical Note on the Provision of Geospatial Data Year of publication: 2023 Corporate author: UNESCO UNESCOโs World Heritage Online Map Platform (WHOMP) is a Geographic Information System (GIS) developed with the support of the Government of Flanders (Belgium), aiming at the creation of a comprehensive and accessible geodatabase for World Heritage properties worldwide. This platform is hosted and managed by UNESCO which ensures that the data presented correspond exactly to the boundaries of the World Heritage properties and their buffer zones as inscribed in the World Heritage List, including any changes adopted by the World Heritage Committee after the initial inscription of a property.