Every site nominated for the World Heritage List follows a long path set by the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention. That path has changed substantially in recent years: a Preliminary Assessment is now mandatory before any nomination, and the Tentative List rule changed in the 2025 edition. Many guides published before then are no longer accurate. This guide follows the current Operational Guidelines (WHC.25/01, dated 16 July 2025); paragraph numbers below refer to that edition.
Key facts
- A nomination is not accepted unless the site is on the State Party's Tentative List and has undergone a Preliminary Assessment (para 63).
- Complete nominations are due by 1 February; the World Heritage Committee decides in June or July of the following year.
- Each State Party may submit one complete nomination per year, or two if one was previously referred or deferred, within a global annual cap of 35 nominations (para 61).
- Saudi Arabia has eight inscribed properties, one of them natural: Uruq Bani Ma'arid (2023).
The foundation: Outstanding Universal Value
A property is inscribed if it demonstrates Outstanding Universal Value under one or more of ten criteria (para 77). Criteria (i)–(vi) are cultural and (vii)–(x) natural; they were merged into a single list by World Heritage Committee Decision 6 EXT.COM 5.1. Nominated properties shall:
| Criterion | Wording in the Operational Guidelines |
|---|---|
| (i) | represent a masterpiece of human creative genius; |
| (ii) | exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design; |
| (iii) | bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared; |
| (iv) | be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history; |
| (v) | be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change; |
| (vi) | be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance (the Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria); |
| (vii) | contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance; |
| (viii) | be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth's history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features; |
| (ix) | be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals; |
| (x) | contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of Outstanding Universal Value from the point of view of science or conservation. |
Criteria alone are not enough. A property must also meet the conditions of integrity (all properties) and authenticity (properties nominated under the cultural criteria), and must have an adequate protection and management system to ensure its long-term safeguarding (paras 78–108).
Stage one: the Tentative List
A Tentative List is the inventory of sites a State Party intends to nominate. The current Guidelines require a site to be on the Tentative List at least two weeks before a Preliminary Assessment request is submitted, and encourage States Parties to re-submit their lists at least every ten years (para 65).
Note: the 2021–2024 editions required one year before the Preliminary Assessment request, and the 2019 edition one year before the nomination itself. The 2025 edition is the one in force.
Stage two: the mandatory Preliminary Assessment
The Preliminary Assessment is a mandatory desk-based review for every site that may be nominated (para 122). ICOMOS reviews cultural sites, IUCN natural sites, and both jointly where relevant, with no mission to the site. Its purpose is to judge a site's prospects early, before a State Party invests years in a full dossier.
- Deadline: complete requests are due by 15 September, and the assessment is delivered to the State Party on 1 October of the following year (para 168).
- Mandatory gap: at least one year must pass between receiving the outcome and submitting the full nomination.
- Validity: the outcome remains valid for up to five years; if no nomination is submitted by 1 February of the fifth year, a new assessment is needed.
- Annual limit: one request per State Party per year, and 35 requests worldwide (para 60bis).
Stage three: preparing the nomination dossier
The dossier follows a standard nine-section format (para 130 and Annex 5):
- Identification of the property
- Description
- Justification for inscription, including a comparative analysis
- State of conservation and factors affecting the property
- Protection and management
- Monitoring
- Documentation
- Contact information
- Signature on behalf of the State Party
An executive summary with a reduced map and the draft Statement of Outstanding Universal Value is added (para 132). The requirements that most often make a dossier incomplete are:
- Boundaries: a nomination without clearly defined boundaries is considered incomplete; official up-to-date topographic maps must show the boundaries and buffer zone.
- Buffer zone: if none is proposed, the nomination must explain why (para 106).
- Management: a management plan or documented management system must show how the Outstanding Universal Value will be sustained (para 108).
Stage four: submission, evaluation and decision
| When | Step |
|---|---|
| 30 September | Optional draft dossier for Secretariat review; comments by 15 November. |
| 1 February (Year 1) | Deadline for the complete nomination. |
| 1 March | Notice of completeness or incompleteness. |
| March – May following | Advisory Body evaluation (ICOMOS, IUCN or both), including a field mission. |
| 31 January (Year 2) | Interim report, which may request additional information due by 28 February. |
| Six weeks before the session | Evaluations and recommendations sent to the State Party and Committee members. |
| June – July (Year 2) | World Heritage Committee decision. |
How long does the whole path take? Combining the official deadlines: a Preliminary Assessment requested on 15 September returns on 1 October of the following year, a mandatory year must then pass, so the earliest nomination deadline falls on 1 February about two and a half years after the request, and the decision comes about a year and a half after that. In practice, the path from Preliminary Assessment request to Committee decision takes roughly five years at minimum.
World Heritage Committee decisions
- Inscribe: the Committee adopts a Statement of Outstanding Universal Value.
- Refer: specific additional information is needed; the nomination can return at the next session without a new mission, provided criteria and area do not change substantially. After three years it becomes a new nomination.
- Defer: more in-depth study or substantial revision is needed; resubmission follows the full cycle, including a mission.
- Not inscribe: the site may return only in exceptional circumstances, such as new discoveries, new scientific information or different criteria, and as a new nomination.
Where does Saudi Arabia stand?
Saudi Arabia accepted the World Heritage Convention on 7 August 1978 and has eight inscribed properties:
| Property | Inscribed | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Hegra Archaeological Site (al-Hijr / Madā'in Ṣāliḥ) | 2008 | Cultural |
| At-Turaif District in ad-Dir'iyah | 2010 | Cultural |
| Historic Jeddah, the Gate to Makkah | 2014 | Cultural |
| Rock Art in the Hail Region | 2015 | Cultural |
| Al-Ahsa Oasis, an Evolving Cultural Landscape | 2018 | Cultural |
| Ḥimā Cultural Area | 2021 | Cultural |
| Uruq Bani Ma'arid | 2023 | Natural, criteria (vii) and (ix) |
| The Cultural Landscape of Al-Faw Archaeological Area | 2024 | Cultural |
At the Committee's 48th session in 2026, the nomination of the "Coral Reefs in the Gulf of Aqaba" was referred back to Saudi Arabia for additional information, with the Committee noting strong potential under criteria (ix) and (x). Saudi Arabia's Tentative List has fourteen entries, three of them natural: Farasan Islands Protected Area, Bioclimatic Refugia of Western Arabia, and the Coral Reefs of the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea.
Beyond the World Heritage List, the Kingdom has biosphere reserves in UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme, including the Farasan Islands (2021) and Imam Turki bin Abdullah Royal Reserve (2025).
The Rasmala team's experience
Rasmala's experts, independently or as consultants to major international consulting firms, have worked on Saudi nomination dossiers for World Heritage sites and Biosphere Reserves (2025–2026), and on the management plan for the natural component of the Iraqi Marshes World Heritage property. We support organisations at every stage: defining Outstanding Universal Value and criteria, preparing the Preliminary Assessment request, comparative analysis, management plans, and readiness for the evaluation mission.
How we can help
- Natural and world heritage: statements of Outstanding Universal Value, comparative analysis, and boundaries and buffer zones.
- Nature reserve management: management plans and governance arrangements for natural sites under nomination.
- Environmental management and monitoring: the state-of-conservation monitoring indicators a nomination dossier requires.
Guide: Saudi Arabia's UNESCO Global Geoparks
Sources
- World Heritage Centre, Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention (WHC.25/01, 16 July 2025) — whc.unesco.org/en/guidelines
- World Heritage Committee, Decision 44 COM 14 on the Preliminary Assessment — whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/7632
- World Heritage Centre, Saudi Arabia — whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/sa
- World Heritage Committee, Decision 48 COM 8B.6 (Coral Reefs in the Gulf of Aqaba) — whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/9158
- UNESCO, World Network of Biosphere Reserves — unesco.org/en/mab/list
- Saudi Press Agency, Imam Turki bin Abdullah Royal Reserve designated a biosphere reserve — spa.gov.sa/en/N2409018
Sources checked on 3 October 2026. This guide explains the process; the binding reference is the text of the Operational Guidelines in force at the time of submission.
