Participation: By invitation only The meeting is organized under
the auspices of UNESCO by: The Swiss Federal Office for Culture,
The Swiss Federal Office for Environment, The Israel National
Commission for UNESCO. Background and contents A buffer zone
serves to provide an additional layer of protection to a World
Heritage property. The concept of a buffer zone was first
included in the Operational Guidelines for the implementation of
the World Heritage Convention in 1977. In the most current
version of the Operational Guidelines of 2005 the inclusion of a
buffer zone into a nomination of a site to the World Heritage
List is strongly recommended but not mandatory. Many World
Heritage properties face problems that directly or indirectly
derive from the situation of their buffer zone. New
constructions within a buffer zone may have an impact on the
World Heritage property and could threaten its Outstanding
Universal Value; a different legal status of a buffer zone could
also impact the conservation, the protect