by Rick Cook, Management Assistant, Everglades National Park, United States of America In 1997, Everglades National Park will celebrate its 50th Anniversary; the same year will mark the 25th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention. Both occasions should be times of celebration of past achievements, as well as reflection about the future. When Everglades was placed on the World Heritage List in 1979, it was dying. Indeed, iThad been dying since its establishment in 1947. In inscribing the site, the World Heritage Committee expressed its concerns about the future integrity of Everglades and encouraged the United States to be vigilant. Everglades was the first United States national park to be designated for its biological significance. Even in its authorizing law, the Congress recognized these values and directed that "no developments be undertaken for the entertainment of visitors that would detract from the essential primitive conditions prevailing in the area". Its administration and the charge for its protection was given to the National Park Service to "preserve unimpaired for the benefit and enjoyment of future generations". Over 50 years, the best contemporary knowledge and technology of park managemenThas been brought to bear on Everglades. With an annual budget of US$ 13 million, 230 full time permanent employees, the largest science staff in the U.S. National Park System, and a national and international constituency of support, its situation relative to other significant protected areas in the U.S. and in other nations has been comfortable. Despite all this, however, and even if more resources were brought to bear for traditional park management, the Park continues to die. Florida Bay as Pea Soup Algae Because, perhaps more than any other U.S. national park, Everglades is dependent on the health of the larger ecosystem of which it is a part. As population has dramatically grown in the region from under 500,000 in 1945 to 6 million today, demands on the natural system have increased and diversified. The impacts on the Park have been striking: a 93% decline in numbers of wading birds, 14 threatened or endangered species (63 in the region), the spread of invasive exotic species, mercury contamination in fish and predator species, the decline of Florida Bay as a productive estuary, replaced now by pea soup algae. Future projections indicate a doubling of the population of South Florida in the next 20 years, possibly leading to the biological death of the Park. World Heritage recognition has helped to raise public awareness about these threats. A significant portion of the Park's visitors come from abroad, attracted by the international designation. But the cause is not just one of environment or the aesthetics of heritage conservation. The Everglades protects the region's major source of fresh water, the key to healthy marine and estuarine environments. The park also fosters environmentally based tourism to the region. Thus the arguments for the restoration of the ecosystem are supported by both their economic and scientific values. A Rallying Cry Action is now being to restore aspects of the natural system, and to plan for a sustainable future for its inhabitants. Extraordinary political and financial investments are being made and will be continuously necessary in the next years. Even with all this effort, there is no assurance of success. But we have a beginning, thanks in part to the decision of the World Heritage Committee in 1993, to enter Everglades on the List of World Heritage in Danger. This listing has not been a negative signal, as some seem to assume, but rather a rallying cry to the defense of sites facing real problems. How many more, equally endangered World Heritage Sites, could use this assistance? Unfortunately, the number would be large. In this significant anniversary year, Everglades is hopeful to further highlight the story of commitment and courage that the restoration brings. We also hope to find a way to bring our colleagues from World Heritage site management roles in other parts of the world together to discuss this example, and possible applications elsewhere. In this way, perhaps we can not only celebrate anniversaries, but also make them occasions for re-dedication to a better future, a future which includes a viable Everglades National Park, as well as the other sites of "outstanding universal value" to mankind.