UNESCO and the Jurassic Coast

When talking about the Jurassic Coast we often refer to the fact that UNESCO ultimately oversees its World Heritage designation. But what does this mean? and how does it work? To explain we first need to reflect on where it all started.

The single most important thing that underpins everything about World Heritage and the connection to UNESCO is an international agreement created in 1972 and known commonly as the World Heritage Convention. Its full and proper name is the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. It is through the World Heritage Convention that nations can nominate places within their territories to become World Heritage Sites. Interestingly, the World Heritage Convention is just one way in which UNESCO pursue their overall mission to promote international cooperation and foster peace that is built upon the intellectual and moral solidarity of humanity. To quote their own website “UNESCO designated sites connect the world and bring out the best in our shared humanity”. Make no mistake, World Heritage status is far more than just a badge.

The UK ratified the World Heritage Convention in 1984, becoming legally bound by its principals. Every World Heritage Site in the UK has had to go through the same process of nomination to UNESCO and then assessment by their international advisors. They need to establish that the nominated site does indeed possess something called Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), the special quality that sets it apart as not just locally or nationally, but globally important. Part of this assessment looks at whether everything needed is in place to protect the site and meet the legal obligations set out in the Convention. World Heritage status does not come with any ready-made protection or funding from UNESCO.  It is up to the nominating government to make sure appropriate laws and resources are in place within their own systems to meet those requirements. For the Jurassic Coast it remains the laws protecting Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and the Dorset and East Devon National Landscapes that gave the main means of protection, but this is backed up by local planning regulation such as the local plans.

Interestingly, World Heritage Status still has no statutory protection of its own within UK law and Sites continue to be safeguarded by other, existing statutory designations.

In essence, this all means that the day to day work to look after a World Heritage Site happens at the local level. For the Jurassic Coast there is a wide partnership that takes on this responsibility that includes the local authorities, land owners, visitor centres, museums, fossil collectors, and organisations like Natural England and the Environment Agency. The Jurassic Coast Trust sits at the heart of this partnership, helping to support and co-ordinate the work of many different stakeholders as well as leading our own projects.

But where does accountability come in? It all goes back to the World Heritage Convention and the first point of accountability there is the UK Government itself. DCMS are currently the part of the Government that covers the UK’s responsibilities towards the Convention and will deal with UNESCO directly on issues that might arise for World Heritage Sites (WHS) under its jurisdiction. UNESCO undertake monitoring of World Heritage Sites, called periodic reporting, every few years and will flag any concerns they have directly with DCMS. It is then up to the Government and the local management of WHSs to work to resolve things. This doesn’t always go well however and ultimately UNESCO can decide to remove World Heritage Status should it be damaged to a point where they conclude it has lost its Outstanding Universal Value. This is just what happened to Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City, inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2004 and delisted in 2021.

Periodic reporting is not the only way UNESCO monitor World Heritage sites. They can request information directly in response to an issue as it arises through something called a ‘paragraph 174 request’. Again, this goes straight to DCMS who will then ask WHS site managers to assist with a response. This usually happens when someone has informed UNESCO of a problem or concern. Anyone can do this. Any member of the public. Alternatively, the government can take a more proactive approach and choose to inform UNESCO of problems themselves using what is called a ‘paragraph 172 notice’. This can be really useful as UNESCO have access to international experts that can provide valuable advice. Paragraph 172 and 174 are parts of the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention.

The Jurassic Coast has used paragraph 172 notices and been the subject of paragraph 174 requests in the past. Fortunately, none of these has related to anything that has seriously threatened the Sites OUV. In each case however, working to resolve these has mainly involved a collaboration between DCMS, Historic England, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), local authorities and the Jurassic Coast Trust. Historic England and JNCC are key advisers to the government on implementing the World Heritage convention whilst the local authorities and the Jurassic Coast Trust provide specific knowledge about the issue at hand.

All in all, it leaves those involved in looking after the Jurassic Coast in what can sometimes feel like a strange position. We work to safeguard the World Heritage Status of the site, which has no statutory protection of its own, but that is nevertheless subject to binding international legal obligations!  And then there is the need to try and live up to the purposes of the World Heritage programme and the hope that UNESCO has that they can help to foster ‘peace that is built upon the intellectual and moral solidarity of humanity’.

In spite of the complexities and challenges involved, we should all be proud that our coastline, stretching 95 miles along the counties of Dorset and East Devon, is seen as somewhere worthy of global recognition, to be considered a place that has the potential to unite people through natural heritage that is universal in its value and continually inspiring in what it has to teach us about our planet.