The World Heritage List

To be accepted for inclusion on the World Heritage List, a cultural heritage site must be recognized as a masterpiece of human creativity or an exceptional monument to an existing or extinct culture. A site may also be representative of a major historical era or illustrative of typical dwellings in a particular culture. It may further be associated with specific events, living traditions, ideologies, religions or beliefs, or with works of art or literature.

A natural World Heritage Site may illustrate an important stage in the evolution of the world or an ongoing ecological or biological process of change. It may also constitute a landscape of exceptional beauty or the habitat of an endangered species of animal.

World Heritage Site status may also be granted on the basis of a combination of cultural and natural values. There are six cultural World Heritage Sites in Finland and one natural one.

If it seems that a World Heritage Site is not sufficiently cared for, it may be transferred to the List of World Heritage in Danger. Examples of threats to a World Heritage Site are uncontrolled growth of tourism or a natural disaster.