Twenty Years of World Heritage Cultural Landscapes, 1992 - 2012 49 TH IFLA WORLD CONGRESS CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA 2012 LANDSCAPES IN TRANSITION World Heritage Selection Criteria To be included on the World Heritage List, sites must be of outstanding universal value to humankind and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria established by the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention (UNESCO, 2005): i. To represent a masterpiece of human creative genius; ii. To exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design; iii. To bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared; iv. To be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history; v. To be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change; vi. To be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria); vii. To contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance; viii. To be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth’s history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features; ix. To be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals; x. To contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation. Authors Patricia M. O’Donnell, FASLA, AICP - [email protected] Principal and founder of Heritage Landscapes LLC, Preservation Landscape Architects & Planners (USA), is a recognized expert in the field of landscape preservation. She holds dual masters degrees in landscape architecture and urban planning (U. of Illinois). Her professional contributions include service as IFLA Cultural Landscapes Committee Global Chair, International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) expert member, and participant in the UNESCO World Heritage process. With offices in Vermont and Connecticut, Heritage Landscapes has successfully completed over 400 projects and received 59 professional awards since 1987. Gregory W. De Vries, ASLA - [email protected] Senior project manager at Heritage Landscapes LLC, holds masters degrees in landscape architecture (U. of Michigan) and cultural anthropology (U. of Florida). Greg has engaged a wide range heritage preservation topics through participation in the IFLA Cultural Landscapes Committee and the Expert Committee on Cultural Landscapes of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). Greg’s prior experiences with landscape planning and design projects in Central America and the Caribbean offer a unique perspective to his contributions and have led to successes such as the 2011 nomination of the St. Mary’s Biosphere Reserve in St. Kitts through the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme. Sarah LeVaun Graulty, MHP - [email protected] Project manager at Heritage Landscapes LLC, holds a masters degree in Historic Preservation (U. of Vermont) and a bachelors degree in Art History (Smith College, Massachusetts). Sarah draws on her historic preservation background, US National Register of Historic Places experience, and tenure as a cultural resources specialist with New Hampshire Department of Transportation to contribute to numerous projects at Heritage Landscapes. Summary In 1992, UNESCO World Heritage adopted three definitions for cultural landscapes and provided for listing of these resources as World Heritage Sites. Twenty years under these constructs has yielded 98 of varying scales and types, as places of outstanding, universal value that transcend national boundaries. The study of these places sheds light on opportunities and challenges for all cultural landscapes. Cultural landscapes are products of the interaction of people and nature, and vulnerable to the influence of both. The presenters researched and analyzed cultural landscapes listed as World Heritage today. The listed sites were analyzed by location, type of cultural landscape, criteria for inscription, vulnerability, and management. Cultural landscapes listed as World Heritage in danger and sites with known threats were researched to investigate the issue of vulnerability and exposure to pressures. Site management data were scrutinized to discern strategies and tools being applied. The research process yielded a broad understanding of the landscapes listed, noting the prevalence of the evolved-continuing landscape type. Further, it is evident that places where people continue to live and thrive are the most subject to change. World heritage cultural landscapes exemplify vulnerabilities due to pressures such as population growth, socio-economic transformation, environmental change, and human conflict. Variability in the application of management strategies accounts for a range of outcomes at world heritage sites. Excluding sites experiencing ongoing war or civil unrest, cultural landscapes with management challenges indicate a lack of clarity concerning boundaries, inadequate buffer zones, competing economic interests within the property, lack of state investment, and general economic transitions that affect living landscapes. Successful management strategies for cultural landscapes facing threats include effective tourism monitoring, enforceable legal frameworks, community participation, updated management plans, support of multiple stakeholders, land use planning in productive landscapes, capacity building specific to heritage values, support of traditional practices. Stewards of world heritage cultural landscapes may be able to share successful strategies to overcome challenges in the future. Cultural Landscape Categories & Cultural Heritage Criteria There is a defined relationship between cultural heritage criteria and cultural landscape categories as indicated in World Heritage Papers Series No. 26: Cultural Landscapes, A Handbook for Conservation and Management (N.Mitchell, M.Rössler, and P.Tricaud, 2009: Ap.2). Criterion i - The most easily identifiable is the clearly defined landscape designed and created intentionally by man. This embraces garden and parkland landscapes constructed for aesthetic reasons which are often (but not always) associated with religious or other monumental buildings and ensembles. Criteria ii-v - The second category is the organically evolved landscape. This results from an initial social, economic, administrative, and/or religious imperative and has developed its present form by association with and in response to its natural environment. Such landscapes reflect that process of evolution in their form and component features. They fall into two sub-categories: • A relict (or fossil) landscape is one in which an evolutionary process came to an end at some time in the past, either abruptly or over a period. Its significant distinguishing features are, however, still visible in material form. • A continuing landscape is one which retains an active social role in contemporary society closely associated with the traditional way of life, and in which the evolutionary process is still in progress. At the same time it exhibits significant material evidence of its evolution over time. Criterion vi - The final category is the associative cultural landscape. The inclusion of such landscapes on the World Heritage List is justifiable by virtue of the powerful religious, artistic or cultural associations of the natural element rather than material cultural evidence, which may be insignificant or even absent. Basic Numbers 98 World Heritage Cultural Landscapes 30 Historic Urban Landscapes UNESCO World Regions Cultural Landscapes • 10 Africa • 3 Arab States • 21 Asia & the Pacific • 43 Europe & North America • 15 Latin America & the Caribbean Types of World Heritage Property for Inscription • 91 cultural • 7 mixed cultural-natural Cultural Landscape Types • 7 clearly defined • 32 organically evolved - relict • 73 organically evolved - continuing • 25 associative Vulnerable Cultural Landscapes • 3 listed as World Heritage in Danger • 32 sites with explicit threats Primary Threats to World Heritage Cultural Landscapes Population Growth • 10 population growth • 3 urban sprawl Socio-Economic Transformation • 9 economic change • 2 poverty • 2 out-migration • 2 mining, extractive industries • 1 modern infrastructure • 1 tourism • 1 cultural change Environmental Change • 8 climate-related issues • 1 earthquake Human Conflict • 4 war • 1 civil unrest Other • 2 various threats due to remoteness • 1 various threats