W O R L D   H E R I T A G E   C O N V E N T I O N
 
          XVIII Annual Session of the World Heritage Committee
                Phuket, Thailand, December 12-17, 1994
 
     For the second year in a row we plan to distribute reports from the
annual meeting of the World Heritage Committee, which this year is being held
in Phuket, Thailand.
 
     The World Heritage Committee is the governing body of the World Heritage
Convention -- formally the "Convention for the Protection of the World
Cultural and Natural Heritage." Signed in 1972, the Convention is the primary
instrument in international law protecting natural and cultural sites of
"universal" significance. The Convention has been ratified by 138 countries,
and 411 sites have been placed on the list of properties meriting the world's
protection and management. The Convention's Secretariat, the World Heritage
Centre, is established within the structure of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), headquartered in Paris.
 
     Each year at this time, the World Heritage Committee meets to make
additions to the World Heritage List, based on nominations by Parties to the
Convention of sites in their territories that meet the Convention's rigorous
criteria. Two NGOs are assigned the task of reviewing properties for their
eligibility: IUCN-The World Conservation Union; and the International Council
on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). The Committee also reviews the reports made
by IUCN and ICOMOS on conditions at existing World Heritage sites, and
allocates monies from the World Heritage Fund for threatened World Heritage
properties.
 
     This year, the eighteenth annual session of the Committee is being hosted
by the Government of Thailand. Beginning with the opening session of the
Committee on Monday, December 12, reports from each day's proceedings will be
posted to several different electronic media including the ICOMOS gopher
(gopher://hpb.hwc.ca: 7000/11/.icomos/wh/") mailing lists ARCH-L and ANTHRO-L;
newsgroups sci.archaeology and sci.anthropology; and Gen.landmarks, a
conference on many of the networks of the Association for Progressive
Communication, including Pegasus, EcoNet (IGC), GreenNet, Web, AlterNex, and
Wamani.
 
     If you are interested in seeing the reports, and none of these media are
convenient, write to [log in to unmask] and ask to be added to the Phuket list.
Please understand that his is NOT an automated listserv, simply a forwarding
address, and names must be added manually.
 
     The newsletters are a project of the International Council on Monuments
and Sites and its two North American national committees, ICOMOS Canada and
US/ICOMOS. This year it has been financially supported by the Samuel H. Kress
Foundation, the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training in
Natchitoches, Louisiana, and travel funds from the Fletcher School of Law and
Diplomacy, and Tufts University's School of Arts and Sciences.
 
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              W o r l d   H e r i t a g e   C o m m i t t e e
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 ------ XVIII Annual Session, Phuket, Thailand, December 12-17, 1994 ------
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 This distribution is made possible through grants from the Samuel H. Kress
 Foundation;  the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training;
 the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy; and Tufts University's School of
 Arts and Sciences.   It has been organized with the support of the Inter-
 national Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and its Canadian and U.S.
 national committees, ICOMOS Canada and US/ICOMOS. It has had the technical
 support of the Pegasus Networks (Australia)  and the  Institute for Global
 Communications (U.S.).
 The reports are those of an observer of the meetings  and do not represent
 official publications of ICOMOS,  the World Heritage Centre,  or any dele-
 gation.
   Inquiries to the editor, Peter Stott
  <[log in to unmask]> or fax to (66-76) 340-479 between December 12 and 17
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