International Journal o f Heritage Studies, 2015 Vol. 21, No. 2, 177-190, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2014.930066 3 Routledge Taylor & Francis Group World Heritage and outstanding universal value in the Pacific Islands Anita Smith* Faculty o f Arts and Education, Deakin University, Burwood 3125, Australia {Received 1 May 2014; final version received 27 May 2014) Over the past two decades, the World Heritage Committee has sought to address the current and future credibility of the World Heritage List through capacity- building programmes in regions currently under-represented on the List, includ- ing the Pacific Islands, to support States Parties to nominate places of potential outstanding universal value. Since 2004, the Pacific 2009 World Heritage Pro- gramme has been successful in contributing to a dramatic increase in the number of World Heritage site in the independent Pacific Island nations but as this paper discusses, this does not necessarily equated to an increase in the representation of the heritage values of Pacific Islanders on the World Heritage List, highlight- ing tensions between the concept of outstanding universal value, the processes of nomination and the rights of customary landowners in the inscription and management of World Heritage properties in the region. Keywords: Pacific; World Heritage; indigenous The 40th anniversary of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention (UNESCO 1972) in 2012 prompted a year of celebrations of past achievements and reflections on the future of the Convention. It was also nearly a decade since the World Heritage Committee launched the Pacific 2009 World Heritage Programme in an effort to increase representation of the Pacific Island countries on the World Heritage List through capacity building and technical assistance to support the development of World Heritage nominations. In this paper, I discuss the outcomes of the programme and the insights these offer in relation to issues affecting the current and future credibility of the World Heritage List that have been much discussed with the Convention reaching ‘middle age’. The near universal membership of the World Heritage Convention makes it the most popular of all UNESCO’s Conventions and is a reflection of the authority of the signature World Heritage List and the political and economic potential that inscription brings for a national governments. The 40th anniversary of the Conven- tion, while a milestone in its own right, had added gravitas through the near coinci- dence of the greatly anticipated inscription of the 1000th property1 on the World Heritage List. While the 40th anniversary may have been cause for celebration, for many involved in the World Heritage system, 1000 World Heritage sites was less a celebration than a reminder of the fragile sustainability and credibility of the World Heritage List as it continues to grow at much the same rate as it did a decade ago *Email: anita.smith@deakin.edu.au © 2014 Taylor & Francis