Achieving world heritage status

Criteria

To qualify for inscription on the World Heritage List, nominated properties must have outstanding universal value; must meet the specified criteria and must have authenticity and  integrity.

The Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention provide guidance for States Parties and others on the rules relating to the Convention.

They include advice on preparing nominations, on the business of the  World Heritage Committee, and on the criteria under which outstanding universal value is assessed.

The UK Tentative List

To qualify for World Heritage listing, a site must be of outstanding universal value. The criteria for meeting this test are set out in UNESCO’s Operational Guidelines [650 kb]. Most state parties to the World Heritage Convention, including the UK, are only allowed to submit one nomination per annum for World Heritage Site status.

In order to be nominated for World Heritage listing a Site must first be on the Tentative List.  The UK’s List comprises sites which may be nominated for World Heritage Inscription over the next 5-10 years. The current Tentative List will be reviewed in 2010 as part of a wider policy review of World Heritage being carried out by DCMS with the support of CADW and Historic Scotland.

Nomination

Individual Governments are responsible for nominating sites in their country. Nominations are then subject to a rigorous assessment by UNESCO’s advisers (ICOMOS for cultural sites and IUCN for natural sites) over an 18 month period. Decisions on whether to inscribe sites on the World Heritage List are taken by the World Heritage Committee at its annual meeting each July. The Committee oversees the implementation of the World Heritage Convention. It is made up of 21 of the member states of the Convention, each elected for a six year term. Historic Scotland attends the annual meeting of the Committee as part of the UK delegation.

Scottish Ministers put forward sites for nomination and are responsible for ensuring compliance with the Convention in relation to sites in Scotland. Historic Scotland carries out these roles for cultural Sites on their behalf. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is responsible for the UK's general compliance with the Convention, and for nominating sites in England. It acts as the State Party on behalf of all the devolved administrations.

The Antonine Wall was the UK nomination for 2008. It was taken forward as part of the trans-national serial World Heritage Site: the Frontiers of the Roman Empire which also includes Hadrian’s Wall and the German Limes. It was successfully inscribed as a World Heritage Site in July 2008.

Protection and management

In order to stay on the List, States Parties are required to ensure that the outstanding universal values of the Sites are maintained. UNESCO requires that Management Plans be produced for each World Heritage Site, to bring together all responsible parties in order to ensure a co-ordinated approach to its management.  

What do management plans tell us?

Such plans help to set out clearly the special qualities and values of the site, to establish a framework for decision making, and to provide information on threats and opportunities for each site, in order that it can be managed in a sustainable manner.

Each site is different and each management plan has to fit the specific character and needs. Historic Scotland is both guardian and manager for the Orkney site. Historic Scotland also has a key role to play in all the other sites in Scotland, and provides advice and support to the managers of the  these Sites.

Management Plans for The Heart of Neolithic Orkney and The Old and New Towns of Edinburgh can be found in our Publications section.