A world heritage site is a cultural or natural site of outstanding universal value. The World Heritage Convention was adopted by UNESCO in 1972 and governs World Heritage Sites.  UNESCO provides for the identification, protection, conservation and presentation of cultural and natural sites of outstanding universal value and maintains a World Heritage List under the management of an intergovernmental World Heritage Committee.  Individual governments are responsible for the nomination of sites for inclusion on the List and their subsequent protection and monitoring if selected.

UNESCO published guidance on the benefits of world heritage site designation, in the 2012 publication “Benefits beyond borders,” focusing on the Outstanding Universal Value of World Heritage Sites in the context of sustainable development”

At the moment there is one World Heritage Site in Northern Ireland: the Giant’s Causeway based on its unique cultural heritage and natural and geological interest.