In his presentation, Herman van Hooff, director of the host organization, provided an overview of the World Heritage Convention, highlighting that the major aim of this standard-setting instrument, which dates back to 1972, is to cover, in one single document, the concepts of cultural preservation and natural conservation.
The 1972 World Heritage Convention links together in a single document the concepts of nature conservation and the preservation of cultural properties.
The most significant feature of the 1972 World Heritage Convention is that it binds in a single document the concepts of nature conservation and the preservation of cultural properties and sets out the duties of member-states and the international community for the preservation of monuments of world heritage.