Introduction
You are a geographer who is having to write a letter explaining that a particular development planned is going to be deterimental to a site that should be nominated as a UNESCO site. There will be people who read the letter that know nothing about UNESCO and the process involved in listing a site as either culturally or naturally significant.
Task
Your task is to provide them with information related to the criteria involved in determining whether a site should be approved as a UNESCO site and what is involved in nominating and accrediting a specific site.
You will need to list the criteria that are used for both cultural and natural sites.
What specific criteria does each site meet.
What management is recommended for these sites.
You will need to choose one cultural and one natural site and explain why they are recognised as significant.
You will need to mention some of the threats associated with cultural and natural sites and what is being done or what could be done to protect such sites.
You will need to present your findings to the class in a written argumentative letter/essay to ensure funding is not cut from your groups cause to protect the nominated site.
You should create a decision making, PMI or futures whel matrix to help you organise your argument.
You are to work in pairs for this activity.
One person compile information for the natural site the other group member compile the information for the cultural site.
Process
You will need to engage with these sites to gather the information needed to complete the task.
Criteria:
http://whc.unesco.org/en/criteria/
FAQ UNESCO site
World Heritage Centre
Useful sites
Interactive site map
http://whc.unesco.org/en/interactive-map/
Conclusion
Well done! You now have a richer understanding of World heritage sites and the process involved in listing and classifying a site as world heritage listed.