Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- List of Acronyms
- Introduction
- Section 1 Bridging Nature and Culture
- Section 2 Urbanism and Sustainable Heritage Development
- Section 3 Integrated Planning and Indigenous Engagement
- Section 4 Living Heritage and Safeguarding Outstanding Universal Value
- 17 Aligning national priorities and World Heritage conservation: iSimangaliso Wetland Park, South Africa
- 18 Participatory methodologies and indigenous communities – project-based learning: Sian Ka'an, Mexico
- 19 Village on the winding river: Historic Villages of Korea: Hahoe and Yangdong
- 20 World Heritage and Chinese diaspora: Kaiping Diaolou and Villages, China
- 21 Role of fisheries and ecosystem-based management: Shiretoko, Japan
- Section 5 More than the Monumental
- Bibliography
- List of Contributors
- Photo Credits
- Index
17 - Aligning national priorities and World Heritage conservation: iSimangaliso Wetland Park, South Africa
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- List of Acronyms
- Introduction
- Section 1 Bridging Nature and Culture
- Section 2 Urbanism and Sustainable Heritage Development
- Section 3 Integrated Planning and Indigenous Engagement
- Section 4 Living Heritage and Safeguarding Outstanding Universal Value
- 17 Aligning national priorities and World Heritage conservation: iSimangaliso Wetland Park, South Africa
- 18 Participatory methodologies and indigenous communities – project-based learning: Sian Ka'an, Mexico
- 19 Village on the winding river: Historic Villages of Korea: Hahoe and Yangdong
- 20 World Heritage and Chinese diaspora: Kaiping Diaolou and Villages, China
- 21 Role of fisheries and ecosystem-based management: Shiretoko, Japan
- Section 5 More than the Monumental
- Bibliography
- List of Contributors
- Photo Credits
- Index
Summary
Poverty among a wealth of natural resources
South Africa became a State Party to the World Heritage Convention in 1997. It was the first engagement with international heritage law after the dawn of democracy in 1994. In 1999, dedicated legislation was adopted, the World Heritage Convention Act (Act 49 of 1999), which incorporates the principles and values of the World Heritage Convention into South African law.
The Act brings a South African perspective to the management of World Heritage sites by acknowledging the urgent national need for development and poverty alleviation. It requires the government to find effective ways of combining the conservation of South Africa's unique endowment of natural resources with job-creating sustainable economic development (Porter et al., 2003). This integration of conservation and development in South African environmental legislation is unique to the World Heritage Convention Act, and makes iSimangaliso Wetland Park a ‘new model in protected area management’.
iSimangaliso Wetland Park was listed as South Africa's first World Heritage site for its outstanding universal value under three criteria of the ten recognized by the Convention. This case study shows that in the context of South Africa, as a developing country, it is crucial to both conserve the site's values and address the high levels of poverty and inequality.
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- World HeritageBenefits Beyond Borders, pp. 203 - 216Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012
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