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The efficacy of the World Heritage Convention as a planning tool for the rigorous protection of natural sites

University of British Columbia

People interested in the protection of some areas of land from consumptive use and/or resource extraction have been concerned in recent years because few new areas have been set aside under the protection methods available. As well, even land which has been designated for protection is being threatened with reductions in the strength of that protection so as to permit extensive resource use. The need arose for an administrative method to ensure the long-term, rigorous protection of land. The purpose of the thesis is to evaluate the efficacy of one method which professes to offer rigorous protection, that is, the World Heritage Convention, in relation to the Canadian Rockies region. The World Heritage Convention is a multilateral, international convention which provides international recognition of universally significant natural and cultural heritage, and has been administered under Unesco's auspices since its signing in 1972. Each nation party to the Convention retains sovereignty over World Heritage Sites on their territory, but they are obliged to ensure adequate long-term protection. The Rockies region is currently subject to numerous resource threats, including issues arising from the Four Mountain Parks planning process, the impact of coal, oil and gas development, and a change in the policy for resource management of the Eastern Slopes. The Convention is evaluated against ten criteria which were derived from an examination of the rationales for land protection. Traditional criteria for the evaluation of decision making processes are rejected in favour of independently derived criteria because of an emphasis on the outcomes of resource management decision making, rather than on the processes. The criteria are broadly categorized as including the types of permitted activities, the inclusiveness of the purpose(s) for which the site is designated, the strength of protection, and its implementability. The use of the World Heritage Convention in the Gordon-Upon-Franklin River dam development threat by Tasmania, Australia is characterized as an example of how the World Heritage Convention may be used to focus domestic and international attention and opprobrium for threatened areas. On the basis of this study several conclusions can be drawn regarding the World Heritage Convention's efficacy in enhancing rigorous protection of the Canadian Rockies. The Convention does not offer the level of rigorous protection which is argued for in the thesis because of the permission of some resource extraction and motorized recreation and the lack of a formal monitoring procedure. Nevertheless, it is concluded that it offers more advantages than disadvantages. The advantages include the conferral of prestige and international recognition on the nation and site nominated, a reduced susceptibility to political/financial expediency, the presence of informal monitoring of site quality by the IUCN, and the ultimate leverage (and the resulting political ramifications) of delisting for ensuring the ongoing, durable, protection of definable sites. Additional positive features of participation at the international level are also important for developed countries like Canada: principally this refers to suasion and leverage in the third world for protection of globally significant biomes (e.g., tropical rainforests).

Text

2010-06-20

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/25878

Planning

University of British Columbia

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