The World Heritage Convention, created in 1972, is one of the
most important global conservation instruments. The primary
mission of the Convention is to identify and protect the world's
natural and cultural heritage considered to be of Outstanding
Universal Value. The Convention embodies a visionary idea – that
some places are so important that their protection is not only
the responsibility of a single nation, but is also the duty of
the international community as a whole; and not only for this
generation, but for all those to come. It is governed by the
World Heritage Committee supported by the UNESCO World Heritage
Centre, the secretariat for the Convention, and three technical
advisory bodies to the Committee: IUCN is the Advisory Body on
natural heritage, evaluating sites that are nominated and in
accordance with the relevant Convention criteria 7 - 10: 7. to
contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional
natural beauty and aesthetic importance; 8. to be outstanding
examples representing