World Heritage Site

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History

Pre-Convention

In 1959, the government of Egypt decided to build the Aswan High Dam, an event that would flood a valley containing treasures of ancient civilization such as the Abu Simbel temples. UNESCO then launched a worldwide safeguarding campaign, despite appeals from the governments of Egypt and Sudan. The Abu Simbel and Philae temples were taken apart, moved to a higher location, and put back together piece-by-piece.

Related Topics:
1959 - Egypt - Aswan High Dam - Abu Simbel - Sudan

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The cost of the project was approximately US $80 million, about $40 million of which was collected from 50 different countries. It was widely regarded as a total success, and led to other safeguarding campaigns (saving Venice and its lagoon in Italy, the ruins of Moenjodaro in Pakistan, and the Borobodur Temple Compounds in Indonesia). UNESCO then initiated, with the International Council on Monuments and Sites, a draft convention to protect the common cultural heritage of humankind.

Related Topics:
Venice - Italy - Pakistan - Indonesia - International Council on Monuments and Sites

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Convention and Background

The United States initiated the idea of combining cultural conservation with nature conservation. A White House conference in 1965 called for a World Heritage Trust to preserve "the world's superb natural and scenic areas and historic sites for the present and the future of the entire world citizenry." The International Union for Conservation of Nature developed similar proposals in 1968, and they were presented in 1972 to the United Nations conference on Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden.

Related Topics:
United States - White House - 1965 - International Union for Conservation of Nature - 1968 - 1972 - United Nations - Stockholm, Sweden

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A single text was ultimately agreed on by all parties involved, and the Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on 16 November 1972.

Related Topics:
16 November - 1972

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