Q51: Recently I have been hearing the expression"world heritage."What is it?
A:World heritage refers to historic sites andnatural regions that have beert inscribed asthe heritage of the world for all of human-kind under a convention adopted by theUnited Nations Educational,Scientific andCultural Organization((JNESCO).
The cultural heritage in the world includes vari-ous historic buildings and ancient ruins,and there are also areas of outstanding natural beauty and invaluable areas of habitat for plants and animals.However,much of this heritage is in danger of being damaged by development,natural disasters and other influences.Therefore,the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage-known commonly as the World Heritage Convention-was created for the purpose of protecting through international coop-eration the cultural and natural heritage that is of particular global value in the form of treasures for all humankind.The Convention was adopted at the UNESCO General Conference in1972and as of July1999,157counhies had become States Parties to it.Japan became a States Party to the Convention in1992.Under the World Heritage Convention,the World Heritage Committee,composed of21countries elected from among the States Parties,bases its decisions on rigorous standards and procedures for inscription.As of December1998,582World Heritage Sites had been inscribed.For example,everyone is familiar with cultural World Heritage Sites such as the Palace of Ver-sailles(France),the Statue of Liberty(United States),the ruins of Troy(Turkey),the Great Wall of China(People's Republic of China)and natural World Heritage Sites such as Lake Bai-kal(Russian Federation),the Galapagos Islands(Ecuador),the Great Barrier Reef(Australia)and Kilimanjaro National Park(Tanzania).In Japan,there are currently a total of nine world heritage sites with seven cultural heritage sites and two natural beritage sites(See table).The World Heritage Committee,which meets every year,looks at the protection of inscribed World Heritage Sites and provides countries with international assistance for protection work when there is damage or destruction.
