This will be superseded during 2007 by the publication,following consultation, of the finalised SHEP 1 on Scotland’s Historic Environment.The UK has ratifiedthe following international conventions and is bound to ensure that the legislativeframework is in place for their effective implementation:The European Cultural Convention(ratified in 1955);The Convention on the Protectionof the Architectural Heritage of Europe (ratified in 1987);The European Convention on theProtection of the Archaeological Heritage (ratified in 2000);The European Landscape Convention(ratified in 2006 and coming into force in March 2007), andThe Convention concerningthe Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage,adopted by UNESCO in 1972.The UK governmentis also planning to ratify the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of CulturalProperty in the Event of an Armed Conflict.UK-wide policy on the care of the historic environment in the care of government departments - particularly scheduledmonuments and listed buildings - is contained in the Department of Culture, Mediaand Sport’s Protocol for the Care of the Government Historic Estate 2003.There is also a range of policy and guidance produced...