36 CFR 73.3 – Definitions
Cultural Heritage—Article 1 of the Convention defines “Cultural Heritage” as:
Monuments: architectural works, works of monumental sculpture and painting, elements or structures of an archaeological nature, inscriptions, cave dwellings, and combinations of features, which are of outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art, or science;
Groups of buildings: groups of separate or connected buildings which, because of their architecture, their homogeneity or their place in the landscape, are of outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art, or science; and
Sites: works of man or the combined works of nature and of man, and areas including archaeological sites which are of outstanding universal value from the historical, aesthetic, ethnological, or anthropological points of view.
Natural Heritage—Article 2 of the Convention defines “Natural Heritage” as:
Natural features, consisting of physical and biological formations or groups of such formations, which are of outstanding universal value from the aesthetic or scientific point of view;
Geological and physiographical formations and precisely delineated areas which constitute the habitat of threatened species of animals and plants of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation; and
Natural sites or precisely delineated natural areas of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science, conservation, or natural beauty.
Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, or World Heritage Committee, means the Committee established by Article 8 of the Convention and assisted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It is composed of 21 nations participating in the Convention, and is responsible for implementing the Convention at the international level. Countries represented on the Committee are elected by participating nations and serve for three sessions of the UNESCO General Conference (six years). The Committee establishes criteria which properties must satisfy for inclusion on the World Heritage List, sets policy and procedures, and approves properties for inclusion on the World Heritage List.
World Heritage Convention, or Convention, means the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, ratified by the U.S. Senate on October 26, 1973.
World Heritage List, means the List established by Article 11 of the Convention which includes those cultural and natural properties judged to possess outstanding universal value for mankind.
UNESCO, means the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which provides staff support for the Convention and its implementation.
Assistant Secretary, means the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, U.S. Department of the Interior, or the designee authorized to carry out the Assistant Secretary’s responsibilities.
Department, means the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Federal Interagency Panel for World Heritage, or Panel, means the Panel consisting of representatives from the Office of the Assistant Secretary, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service within the Department of the Interior; the President’s Council on Environmental Quality; the Smithsonian Institution; the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation; the Department of Commerce; and the Department of State.
Owner, means the individual(s) or organization(s) of record that own private land that is being nominated for World Heritage status, or the head of the public agency, or subordinate to whom such authority has been delegated, responsible for administering public land that is being nominated for World Heritage status.
Owner concurrence, means the concurrence of all owners of any property interest that is part of the World Heritage nomination.