The most significant feature of the 1972 World Heritage Convention is that it links together in a single document the concepts of nature conservation and the preservation of cultural properties. The Convention recognizes the way in which people interact with nature, and the fundamental need to preserve the balance between the two.

The strategic objectives of the initiative are credibility, conservation, capacity-building, communication, and communities.¹

This collection gathers a selection of Open Access resources from the World Heritage Centre, particularly those that relate to Muslim communities and their interaction with other cultures. The collection is under development. For the full body of UNESCO publications on World Heritage and other topics, consult the UNESCO Digital Library.

¹ UNESCO World Heritage Center. n.d. “The World Heritage Convention.” UNESCO. Accessed December 11, 2023. https://whc.unesco.org/en/convention/. Archived at: https://perma.cc/7USS-GL9N