ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the post-inscription obligation to conserve such properties for the benefit of present and future generations. It reviews how ideas about conservation and monitoring evolved and how key actors advanced them through policy development and practical experience. The chapter begins with the Committee's informal conservation efforts linked to the nominations process. It examines how monitoring and management tools such as informal and systematic reporting, Danger listing and international assistance were gradually developed to support the conservation of World Heritage Sites. Instrumental in establishing nature conservation as a discipline, the three conferences also confirmed UNESCO in the lead role for natural heritage conservation within the United Nations system. On the natural side, the case of Ichkeul National Park demonstrates the World Heritage Committee's vigilance in using the nomination process and financial assistance to identify and overcome conservation problems. The World Heritage Convention provided a framework for developing principles and tools of good practice.
