In 40 years, UNESCO has declared nearly a thousand landmarks as world heritage
Paris - Facts and interesting details for the 40th anniversary (November 16) of the adoption of the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage by UNESCO:
- This international convention was adopted on November 16, 1972, at the 17th General Conference of UNESCO in Paris by 143 countries and currently has 190 signatories; it entered into force on December 17, 1975. Czechoslovakia ratified the convention in November 1990.
- The goal of the convention is the long-term protection of monuments, to which the countries where these monuments are located are obligated, but other states are also required to cooperate for this purpose. To this end, a World Heritage Fund has also been established, to which the contracting parties are obliged to contribute, and loans can be provided from it for monument protection, but the requesting state must cover a substantial part of the project.
- Among other factors contributing to the establishment of this convention was a project from the early 1960s in Egypt, where a number of ancient monuments were relocated due to the construction of the Aswan Dam under the patronage of UNESCO, with the involvement of Czechoslovak experts. This cooperation, including financial contributions (half was covered by funding from 50 countries), led UNESCO to lay a permanent foundation in the convention.
- Based on this convention, places from all over the world are awarded the title of UNESCO World Heritage Site, either cultural or natural (some are "mixed"). Currently, this list includes 962 sites in 157 countries, of which 745 are purely "cultural heritage." Some of these sites (currently 38) are also listed on the List of World Heritage in Danger if they are at serious risk, for example, due to armed conflict, natural disasters, or extensive rapid urban or tourism development projects.
- Being on the endangered list can, however, serve as a preliminary step toward being removed from the UNESCO list. This has happened twice so far - in 2007, the committee removed the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary in Oman because the local government reduced its territory by 90%, and in 2009, the Elbe Valley in Dresden was delisted due to the construction of a bridge. Next year, a decision will be made regarding the potential delisting of the Kremlin and Red Square in Moscow - the committee is unhappy with the modifications in the Kremlin and the long-standing unwillingness of local authorities to cooperate.
- The decision to list a site or grant a loan from the fund is made by the World Heritage Committee, which consists of 21 members elected by the General Assembly for six years (most members voluntarily shorten their term to four years to allow other countries to participate in the committee). There are no regional quotas or waiting lists; membership in the committee is meant to be "fair representation of different areas and cultures of the world." The committee meets once a year, usually in June since 2002.
The Czech Republic has 12 entries on the UNESCO World Heritage List, the first of which was added in 1992 - the historical centers of Český Krumlov, Prague, and Telč, followed by the Pilgrim Church of St. John of Nepomuk at Zelená Hora in Žďár nad Sázavou, the historic core of Kutná Hora, the Lednice-Valtice Area, the South Bohemian village of Holašovice, the Archbishop's Castle and the Květná and Podzámecké Gardens in Kroměříž, the castle complex in Litomyšl, the Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc, the Tugendhat Villa in Brno, and the Jewish Quarter and Benedictine Monastery complex with the Basilica of St. Procopius in Třebíč.
- Additionally, the Czech Republic has 17 sites on the so-called tentative list of monuments, from which candidates are then chosen for nomination to the official list. Currently, 169 countries have such tentative lists, which include 1561 sites.
- UNESCO also maintains a list of intangible cultural heritage, governed by the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, which has been in effect since April 20, 2006, and to which 146 countries have joined so far (the Czech Republic in February 2009). On this list, the Czech Republic has the dance of young men taken to the army from Slovácko - verbuňk, carnival parades and masks from Hlinecko, falconry (with ten other countries), and the Ride of Kings.
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