Management Plans for World Heritage Sites - Unesco

Introduction
There is a comprehensive instrument applicable to the responsibilities set out in the
World Heritage Convention, concerning both the legal bases, procedures and the
technical principles. A management plan for a World Heritage site is an integrated
planning and action concept that lays down goals and measures for the protection,
conservation, use and development of World Heritage sites. The revised version of the
“Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention” 1 ,
which came into effect on February 1, 2005, makes such a plan compulsory for
properties inscribed on the World Heritage List. The Operational Guidelines 2 list the
following essential modules of a management plan:
• legislative, regulatory and contractual measures for protection,
• boundaries for effective protection,
• buffer zones,
• management systems,
• sustainable use.
The proposed format and content of a management plan that meets the requirements
of UNESCO are based on the “Recommendation concerning the Protection, at National
Level, of the Cultural and National Heritage” (Annex A) and on the Questionnaire
for Periodic Reports for Europe and North America carried out for the first time
in 2004/2005 (Annex B). The plan should contain an introductory section stating the
outstanding universal value of the property and its authenticity and/or integrity. This
should be accompanied by the central modules already mentioned and information
on the state of preservation, potential threats, monitoring, science and research,
financial resources, the number of employees and their qualifications, participating
institutions, training offers, awareness raising and promotional efforts, numbers of
visitors, visitor guidance, as well as tourism and traffic concepts.
“Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention”,
2005, (henceforth cited as Operational Guidelines). See http://whc.unesco.org/en/
guidelines online.
2 Ibid., Chapter II.F, §§ 96- 9.