1. The Trust is required to develop a National Heritage Register[NHR] by law and will undertake the ongoing development of such a register as recommended by Mr Adrian Mallia in his report “ Proposal for the Establishment of a National Heritage Register for St Helena” August 2005.

2. The Register will comprise two components: a National Heritage Inventory[NHI] that will list all the heritage properties, sites, features and artefacts, including descriptions, photos, maps and other information; and a separate National Heritage List[NHL], which will include those places of national significance. The NHL will focus on buildings, groups of buildings, landscapes and sites.

The NHI will include all heritage property at present on St Helena – buildings, monuments, natural sites, trees, geology, landscapes, archaeological sites or features, marine sites and features, artefacts ( furniture, fine arts, books etc) and also intangible heritage ( folklore, traditional music, food, historic events, traditions etc).

The NHL will comprise a select list of heritage properties of special significance.

This will be a sub-set of the properties and features listed in the NHI.

3. The following criteria will be used in determining inclusion in the National Heritage Inventory:

Importance in the evolution or pattern of St Helena’s history, for example:

• in the evolution of St Helena’s flora, fauna, landscapes or climate       ( including ancient sediment deposits and fossils that can shed light on the evolution of St Helena and its now extinct fauna);
• in maintaining existing processes or natural systems;
• in exhibiting unusual richness in diversity of flora, fauna, landscapes or cultural features;
• for their association with events, developments or cultural phases which have had a significant role in the human occupation and evolution of St Helena (e.g. buildings, sites or artefacts associated with the East India Company);

Demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of St Helena’s heritage

• for rare, endangered or uncommon flora, fauna, communities, ecosystems, natural landscapes or phenomena, or wilderness ( e.g. the Peaks, Deadwood Plain, Prosperous Bay Plain);
• in demonstrating a distinctive way of life, custom, process, land use, function or design no longer practised, in danger of being lost, or of exceptional interest ( e.g.flax production) 

Has the potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of St Helena’s history;

• for information contributing to a wider understanding of St Helena’s natural history;
• for information contributing to a wider understanding of the history of human occupation of St Helena (e.g. old deposits around fortifications that could shed light on life in a garrison).

Importance as a representative in demonstrating the characteristics of a broader class of natural or cultural places or environments;

• in demonstrating the principal characteristics of the range of landscapes, environments, or ecosystems, the attributes of which identify them as being characteristic of their class ( e.g. Diana’s Peak, Prosperous Bay Plain etc)
• in demonstrating the principal characteristics of the range of human activities in St Helena’s environment ( including way of life, philosophy, custom, process, land use, function, design or technique)

Importance in exhibiting particular aesthetic characteristics valued by the community or cultural group;

• importance for the community for aesthetic characteristics held in high esteem or otherwise valued by the community (e.g. High Knoll Fort)

Importance in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period (e.g. Inclined Plane and steps at Jacob’s Ladder, Chinese waterways, some coastal fortifications)

Importance of a strong or special meaning to a group and/or the community as a whole because of social, cultural or spiritual associations:

• as a place highly valued by the community for reasons of religious, spiritual, symbolic, cultural, educational, or social associations

Special association with the life or work of a person, group or organisation that was important in St Helena’s history (e.g. Longwood House, the Castle, the Boer Cemetery etc)

4. The following criteria will be used for the National Heritage List:

The NHL will be restricted to places not artefacts . Places can be buildings, groups of buildings, whole districts or natural areas such as bays.

The Register will be developed in such a manner as to allow the fullest possible use of its data to guide / inform decision-making for the sustainable development of the island and the preservation of its historic and cultural heritage.

To be included in the NHL a place has to have some special significance linked to the evolution and history of St Helena:

• Is of national importance in the past course or present pattern of nature or cultures in St Helena (e.g. remnants of Chinese influence on St Helena)  
• Has the potential to make a contribution of national importance to the understanding of St Helena’s history or environment (e.g. Banks’s Battery, High Knoll Fort, bird fossil deposits)
• Has national importance as a landmark or aesthetic quality, social, spiritual or other cultural associations ( High Knoll Fort, Francis Plain, St Paul’s Cathedral)
• Represents a class of places or environments of national importance to St Helena (e.g.Turk’s Cap valley)
• Represents an uncommon aspect of the history, cultures or environments of St Helena (e.g. Prosperous Bay Plain, Boer Cemetery, Diana’s Peak)
• Has special associations with the life or works of a [person or group important to St Helena (e.g. Longwood House)
• Demonstrates creative or technical excellence of national importance (e.g. the Run, Inclined Plane)

5. The Trust will continue to seek advice on appropriate methods of data collection and storage in order to compile and maintain a NHR which will be useful as a resource when decisions are taken regarding the conservation of St Helena’s unique built, natural and cultural heritage.

6. The Trust will seek to identify artefacts from St Helena held overseas and include them in the NHR (e.g. Burchell prints at Kew).

7. The Trust will seek to make the NHR widely available and consider placing it on the Trust web-site.