Ch. 10— Maintaining Biological Diversity Internationally • 267 



and 52 natural sites— 8 in the United States. 

 Sites are selected by domestic committees, tech- 

 nically reviewed by lUCN, and then evaluated 

 and described by the Bureau of the World Her- 

 itage Committee. Approved sites are placed on 

 the World Heritage List. 



Site-selection criteria do not specifically men- 

 tion biological diversity but include areas of on- 

 going biological evolution, areas of superlative 

 natural phenomena, and habitats of endangered 

 species important to science and conservation. 

 Only exceptional sites are chosen, and the fo- 

 cus is on well-known animals, especially mam- 

 mals. Sites must have domestic protection in 

 place before being listed. Most nations select 

 already protected sites, such as national parks, 

 rather than new ones. Managers of such sites 

 may have different priorities than those of the 

 convention. The impact of becoming a World 

 Heritage Site on management practices is not 

 fully known. 



In signing the convention, members agree to 

 protect their properties and those of other na- 

 tions. Although the language in agreement is 

 strong, its legal strength has not been estab- 

 lished and member governments often ignore 

 provisions. Members are assigned a fee or vol- 

 untarily contribute to a World Heritage Fund. 

 Resources are used for training, equipment pur- 

 chases for members with few resources, and 

 assistance in identifying candidate sites. This 

 support, though small, can be crucial to iden- 

 tifying and protecting sites especially in less 

 well-off nations. 



The convention's annual budget averages $1 

 million. The United States, one of the forces 

 behind the convention's founding, normally 

 contributes at least one-fourth of the budget. 

 In fiscal years 1977 and from 1979 through 

 1982, U.S. voluntary contributions averaged 

 $300,000. No contributions were made the fol- 

 lowing two years. The United States contribu- 

 tion in fiscal year 1985 was $238,903. In fiscal 

 year 1986, $250,000 was appropriated (cut to 

 $239,000 under budget-reduction legislation), 

 but no money has yet been contributed. Unless 

 Congress agrees to an Office of Management 

 and Budget request for recision of the entire 



amount, the contribution will be made, which 

 means the United States, having contributed 

 for two consecutive years, can run for a seat 

 on the World Heritage Committee. 



lUCN, is the central nongovernmental orga- 

 nization dealing with onsite diversity mainte- 

 nance on a global scale. As noted earlier, lUCN 

 is actually a network of governments, nongov- 

 ernmental organizations, scientists, and other 

 conservationists, organized to promote the pro- 

 tection and sustainable use of living resources. 

 Founded in 1948, lUCN's membership now in- 

 cludes 57 governments, 123 government agen- 

 cies, 292 national NGOs, 23 international NGOs, 

 and 6 affiliates in at least 100 countries. Dev- 

 eloping-country representation has become a 

 more visible component of the network in re- 

 cent years, although limited active participa- 

 tion by African, Asian, and Latin American 

 countries remains a problem. 



Establishment of lUCN resulted from a de- 

 sire to open up channels of communication be- 

 tween different countries and to serve as an 

 umbrella for various organizations and individ- 

 uals active in international conservation. Early 

 initiatives focused on research and education 

 activities, in part reflecting the initial funding 

 provided through UNESCO. With the establish- 

 ment of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in 1961 

 (largely to serve as a fund-raising initiative for 

 lUCN and ICBP) and of UNEP in 1972 (which 

 provided contract work for lUCN), the empha- 

 sis shifted back to species and habitat conser- 

 vation. Today, lUCN and WWF have emerged 

 as central actors in international environmental 

 policy, with influence in both intergovernmen- 

 tal and national conservation work (10). lUCN 

 support for national programs includes the fol- 

 lowing: 



• provision of aid and technical assistance 

 to countries and organizations; 



• development of a series of policy aids, par- 

 ticularly in relation to the creation and 

 management of national parks and other 

 protected areas, the framing of legislative 

 instruments, and the making of develop- 

 ment policy; and 



• preparation, on request from governments. 



