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Hebridean islands bid to join world elite
07/02/2003
St Kilda's status as a world heritage site will be confirmed if an application to the UN heritage agency by the Scottish Executive is successful.
The dossier, submitted today to UNESCO - the United Nations Organisation for Education, Science, Culture and Communications - World Heritage Centre in Paris, will extend world heritage site status beyond the islands' seabird colony to give its archipelago's marine environment and the cultural landscape world recognition.
In his foreword to the application, First Minister Jack McConnell said:
"Few who have been to St Kilda and stood in the village surrounded by the cries of a million sea-birds can fail to have been moved by the place and its story.
"This tiny Hebridean archipelago is a place of drama, a place apart. Its inaccessibility amplifies its remoteness, creating a perception of being at the edge of the world.
"St Kilda stands for isolated societies the world over. The extraordinary spirit of the place comes from the imprint left after the ultimate failure, largely through external pressures, of a way of life. The twin aspects - a people's resilience in a hostile environment, and the contrasting fragility of traditional ways of life in the face of overwhelming social and economic change - give the place its emotional power and universal applicability.
"It is for these reasons that I commend this revised nomination for the inscription of St Kilda on the World Heritage List to ensure it is cared for and preserved for future generations."
St Kilda is bidding to join the 23 sites in the world with joint natural and cultural heritage inscription as World Heritage Sites (WHS). It has been inscribed on the World Heritage List for its outstanding bird colonies since 1986.
Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development Allan Wilson, who visited the archipelago last year, said:
"The Scottish Executive is committed to conserving and improving Scotland's unique natural heritage and everyone's enjoyment of it.
"St Kilda is a place apart. It is special, not just for the internationally important seabird colony it supports, but for the splendour and fragility of it environment and social fabric.
"The extension of St Kilda's world heritage status will ensure the protection of this exceptional place for generations to come and will be universally welcomed."
A comprehensive revised nomination document, which sets out why St Kilda is of 'universal value' and how the island group is cared for, is the key document that will be considered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee before it decides on inscription of the site on the World Heritage List.
A final decision will take up to 18 months before it is found out whether the bid is successful. The evaluation process will include scrutiny of the documents by the World Heritage Centre, and probably also a visit to the islands by the two international organisations - the International Committee on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the IUCN world conservation agency.
Both the Nomination Document and the Management Plan are the products of extensive partnership working between a diverse group of key organisations with a major stake in the well-being of the World Heritage Site. These include: the Scottish Executive; the National Trust for Scotland who own St Kilda; Scottish Natural Heritage; Historic Scotland; Comhairle nan Eile an Siar; the Joint Nature Conservation Council; and the Department of Trade and Industry.
The report was prepared by experts from the partner organisations and will shortly be available on the St Kilda website: http://www.kilda.org.uk