ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the main idea of the book: conservation and development as stakeholder-driven processes at World Heritage Sites (WHS) in Africa. The heritage management philosophy anchored on “protection for posterity” is explained, and this is juxtaposed against the evolving heritage management systems of Africa, World Heritage concept, heritage governance, and stakeholders. The chapter further analyzes the emerging relationships among stakeholders, conservation and development in Africa, and notes the paucity of empirical data in understanding these relationships. To address this knowledge gap, the chapter introduces the main and supportive case studies for this study, including the structure of the book. The chapter concludes that WHS value proposition promoting conservation is being challenged to practically coexist with sustainable development value proposition advanced by those living with WHS in Africa. As such, the future of WHS lies in its ability to practically balancing these value propositions as a stakeholder-driven process.
