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Significance of the Nomination
Natural World Heritage status brings great prestige to a site and is a massive image boost for the participating regions. Inscription of the German beech forests on the UNESCO World Heritage List would put them on a par with sites such as the Grand Canyon in the USA or the Serengeti in Tanzania.
Criteria for successful nomination
To be inscribed on the World Heritage List, a site must fulfil the criteria set out in the World Heritage Convention. The key criterion in all cases is “outstanding universal value”. Other factors considered are whether the nominated site shows sufficient integrity (i.e. the site must still be in a relatively intact natural state) or authenticity (which requires cultural properties to be genuine). It must also be shown that an appropriate strategy is in place for the protection, management and conservation of the property.
The nomination process
The completed application for the sites, known as the nomination file, can be submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre by 1 February in any given year. Over the course of the following months, the World Heritage Centre reviews the file and checks it is complete. The World Heritage Centre then sends it to the appropriate Advisory Body for natural heritage nominations, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), for evaluation by its experts. The IUCN evaluates whether the site meets the criteria set out in the World Heritage Convention. The evaluation includes a site visit to the nominated property. Based on its expert evaluation, the IUCN then makes a recommendation to the World Heritage Committee, which decides, one year after submission of the file, whether the site will be inscribed on the World Heritage List. The World Heritage Committee comprises representatives of 21 countries which are States Parties to the Convention. The inscription of Germany’s beech forests could take place in summer 2011.