New World Heritage Sites

Independent Films, Travel

The World Heritage Committee inscribed a total of 25 sites on United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) World Heritage List this year.

The Committee, which met from 19-29 June during its 35th session in Paris, France, inscribed three natural properties, 21 cultural and one mixed site.

Ningaloo Coast, a newly added natural property, located on the remote western coast of Australia, includes one of the longest near-shore reefs in the world.

Moreover, two properties were added to the World Heritage List in Danger and one was removed from that list.

One of the two properties added to the Danger List is the 2.5 million hectare Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra which is home to an estimated 10,000 plant species, including 17 endemic genera, more than 200 mammal species and some 580 bird species of which 465 are resident and 21 are endemic.

In total, the World Heritage List now numbers 936 properties including 183 natural sites, 725 cultural and 28 mixed.

According to UNESCO, coffee plantations in Colombia are an exceptional example of a sustainable and productive cultural landscape that is unique and representative of a tradition that is a strong symbol for coffee growing areas worldwide.

Another new cultural site, the Persian garden in Iran, exemplifies the diversity of landscape designs that evolved and adapted to different climate conditions while retaining principles that have their roots in the times of Cyrus the Great, 6th century BC.

The World Heritage Committee, responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, comprises representatives of 21 countries, elected by the States Parties of the World Heritage Convention for four years. Each year, the Committee adds new sites to the List.

The World Heritage Committee also examines reports on the state of conservation of inscribed sites and asks States Parties to take appropriate conservation and preservation measures when necessary.

The Committee supervises the disbursement of over $4 million annually from the World Heritage Fund, aimed, among other purposes, at emergency action, training of experts and encouraging technical cooperation.

Tags

• UNESCO. World Heritage sites
• designations
• turkey
• mosque
• Japan islands
• australia
• Sudan
• JordanWadi Rum
• Land of Merve
• Cervenes
• france
• rainforest
• Indonesia
• Columbia
• coffee
• Mombasa
• Fort Jesus

Directors:

• Muhamed Sacirbey (UNTV-UNESCO)

Producers:

• Susan Sacirbey (UNTV-UNESCO)