The cultural and natural criteria are merged into a single set of ten
Until the end of 2004 properties were judged against six cultural criteria and, separately, four natural ones. The 6th extraordinary session of the Committee merged them, and the 2005 revision of the Operational Guidelines states a single numbered list of ten criteria against which any property — cultural, natural or mixed — is assessed. It is a small drafting change with a large conceptual consequence: heritage stops being two kinds of thing.
Historical — it happened, and the record is settled.
Subjects
- Outstanding Universal Value and the ten selection criteria · concept · Global · not located
- World Heritage Committee · institution · Global (sessions rotate by host State) · not located
Evidence
Partly verified — Core facts are sourced; some optional detail is deliberately absent.
Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention
Sets the ten selection criteria, the conditions of integrity and authenticity, the Tentative List and nomination dossier procedure, the criteria for inscription on and removal from the List of World Heritage in Danger, and the procedure for deletion from the World Heritage List. ALSO: Until the end of 2004 sites were selected on six cultural and four natural criteria; from the 2005 Operational Guidelines a single set of ten criteria applies, and a property must meet at least one of them plus demonstrate Outstanding Universal Value.
UNESCO World Heritage Centre / World Heritage Committee; with UNESCO World Heritage Centre · 2005 edition (WHC.05/2, 2 February 2005) and subsequent revisions · Partly verified
https://whc.unesco.org/archive/opguide05-en.pdf — 2005 edition, the revision that merged the ten criteria; current editions at https://whc.unesco.org/en/guidelines/ | also: https://whc.unesco.org/en/criteria/ — UNESCO World Heritage Centre explanatory page on the ten criteria and the 2005 merger of the previously separate cultural (i–vi) and natural (i–iv) sets
Recorded on Outstanding Universal Value and the ten selection criteria
- The first properties are inscribed on the World Heritage List
- Angkor inscribed on the World Heritage List and the danger list on the same day
- The Committee adopts the Global Strategy for a Balanced, Representative and Credible World Heritage List
- The cultural and natural criteria are merged into a single set of ten
- Arabian Oryx Sanctuary deleted — the first site ever removed from the World Heritage List
- Dresden Elbe Valley deleted — the second removal, by a vote of 14 to 5
- Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City deleted — the third and most recent removal
- The Committee declines, again, to place Venice on the danger list
Related
Related because they share a subject in the Atlas — never because the text looks similar.
- The Committee declines, again, to place Venice on the danger list · 2023-09
- Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City deleted — the third and most recent removal · 2021-07-21
- Dresden Elbe Valley deleted — the second removal, by a vote of 14 to 5 · 2009-06
- Arabian Oryx Sanctuary deleted — the first site ever removed from the World Heritage List · 2007
- The Committee adopts the Global Strategy for a Balanced, Representative and Credible World Heritage List · 1994
- Angkor inscribed on the World Heritage List and the danger list on the same day · 1992-12-14
- The first properties are inscribed on the World Heritage List · 1978