Indigenous-based heritage management of UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Rapa Nui and the Indigenous governance of the Rapa Nui National Park

The role of Indigenous peoples in World Heritage Sites remains a controversial topic in regard to the 1972 World Heritage Convention. This paper aims to determine this role, as recognised by UNESCO, by pursuing a systematic analysis of the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention. Furthermore, the Rapa Nui National Park (Rapa Nui/Easter Island) is presented as a case study to exemplify an Indigenous-based governance of a World Heritage Site. By way of an investigation intersecting a documentary analysis of the Operational Guidelines and a descriptive case study of the Rapa Nui National Park based on ethnographic data, this paper aims to show how Indigenous-based management systems of World Heritage Sites can constitute strategies that stand in harmony with Indigenous rights within protected areas.