"The whole of Beemster is enthusiastic" An exceptional site Cultural heritage fort Spijkerboor (Defence Line of Amsterdam) world heritage   preserving heritage   reclamation   home    In the seventies UNESCO, eager to implement the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, set up the World Heritage Committee. The aim is to protect the quality of unique areas or objects that mean a great deal to the worldwide history of mankind as far as possible. Signatories can nominate properties for the World Heritage List: China, for instance, has put forward the Great Wall and Egypt the pyramids. Rob de Jong, a policy-maker at the Department of Conservation in the Netherlands, took charge of the nomination of the Beemster Polder, which was submitted by the State Secretary for Cultural Affairs. No. 5 The properties on the Dutch list have played a special role in Dutch history, and their like is not to be found anywhere else in the world. Rob de Jong: "There are nine buildings and areas on our list. UNESCO has already certified four of them as World Heritage sites, and Beemster Polder is No. 5. An exceptional site, especially seeing that we have a World Heritage site within a World Heritage site." Here Rob is referring to the fact that the Defence Line of Amsterdam passes through Beemster. To date Beemster is the first place in the world to have a site within a site. Quality One of the criteria for a property to be designated a World Heritage site is that both the local authority and the community must feel special ties with it. "Only if people are aware of the quality of cultural heritage can you preserve a site for the future," says Rob. "The whole of Beemster is enthusiastic, and rightly so." The World Heritage designation helps to preserve the site. If a protected property is endangered it is put on the agenda of the World Heritage Committee. "UNESCO can ask the government of the country in question to take steps. There were environmental problems on the Galapagos Islands, for instance, and the threat was removed thanks to the intervention of UNESCO."   The list the Netherlands has submitted to UNESCO's World Heritage Committee includes: Amsterdam city centre the Van Nelle factory in Rotterdam the Rietveld Schröder House in Utrecht the Dutch Defence Line (Hollandse Waterlinie) the former island of Schokland (a World Heritage site since 1995) the Defence Line of Amsterdam (a World Heritage site since 1996) the windmills at Kinderdijk (a World Heritage site since 1997) the Wouda Steam Pumping Station at Lemmer (a World Heritage site since 1998) Beemster Polder (a World Heritage site since 1999)