Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Despite letter to UN, proposed Serengeti Highway could remain a possibility

29 June 2011 -

A letter from the Tanzanian government to the United Nations's World Heritage Center is causing confusion in the international community about the proposed construction of a commercial Serengeti Highway through Serengeti National Park.
Conservationists and world heritage advocates are puzzling over the letter's ambiguous language and certain indeterminate word choices. Though many throughout the international heritage community originally heralded the letter as an announcement of the construction project's abandonment, second looks at the message have raised alarming doubts about the Tanzanian government's intentions on whether or not to build the road.
The Tanzanian government incited uproar among the international heritage committee last summer when it announced its intentions to build a 33-mile highway across the national park, a World Heritage Site. Such a highway would seriously impede the annual north-south migrations of a number of species of iconic African wildlife, including the blue wildebeest.

See the original article from nationalgeographic.com's Daily News page here.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

26 new sites inscribed to World Heritage list

24-28 June 2011 -

The World Heritage Committee has inscribed a total of 26 new sites to the World Heritage list, including an extension of one existing World Heritage Site, this week at their 35th annual session, held in Paris.
The newly inscribed sites include locales of exceptional natural or cultural value in Kenya, Australia, China, Japan, Senegal, Barbados, Germany, Italy, France, Colombia, Sudan, Jordan, Ethiopia, Viet Nam, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, Mongolia, and Nicaragua. Germany's Beech Forests were inscribed by inclusion with Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians, in Slovakia and Ukraine, included on the World Heritage Site list in 2007. One of the sites, Pile Dwellings around the Alps, encompasses 111 small sites in Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy, Germany, and Slovenia. Bridgetown and its Garrison is Barbados's first World Heritage Site.
This year's session brings the total number of World Heritage Sites to 936. Twenty of the new World Heritage Sites are listed as cultural, five natural (including Germany's Beech Forests), and one, Wadi Rum Protected Area in Jordan, mixed.
There will be no more sites inscribed to the list this year. The 35th World Heritage Committee session will end tomorrow.

See press releases on the session from UNESCOPRESS here.

Friday, June 24, 2011

35th Committee inscribes four new World Heritage Sites

24 June 2011 -

The World Heritage Committee inscribed four new World Heritage Sites today: Kenya Lake System in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya; Nigaloo Coast, Australia; Ogasawara Islands, Japan; and West Lake Cultural Landscape of Hangzhou, China.
The Committee's 35th annual session began June 19, in Paris, France. Delegations from 21 States Parties to the World Heritage Convention will be reviewing the conservation statuses of 169 existing World Heritage Sites and considering 33 proposals for new World Heritage Sites until the session ends on June 29.

See the latest press releases from UNESCOPRESS here.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

UN cultural agency calls on Libyans and NATO to protect heritage sites

14 June 2011 –
The United Nations cultural organization has called on the warring parties in Libya to protect two World Heritage List sites, one of which has reportedly been shelled already and the other that is said to be a potential target of NATO air attacks.

The Old Town of Ghadamès, known as “the pearl of the desert,” was shelled by Government forces over the weekend, according to media reports. Other reports have said that NATO has refused to rule out the possibility of bombing the Roman town of Leptis Magna, east of Tripoli, which allegedly has warehouses of Government arms.

Read more, here.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

What Future for the World Heritage Convention?

As the World Heritage Convention approaches its 40th anniversary, how can we ensure that it delivers maximum conservation results? This is the subject of the second World Conservation Debate and we'd like to hear your views.

Read the whole article, here.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Federal, local officials to decide on paving road to Chaco Canyon

7 June 2011 -
A fight over the future of one of New Mexico's greatest historic treasures could soon find a resolution when local county officials and the federal government finally answer a nearly seven year-old question: Should the road to Chaco Canyon be paved?

See the full article, by Bobby Magill, on the New West Travel & Outdoors website here.

Monday, June 6, 2011

ICOMOS recommends against Le Corbusier buildings' World Heritage nomination

3 June 2011 -
A consultant has recommended to UNESCO that they reject a proposal to include 19 buildings designed by French architect Le Corbusier on their list of world heritage sites.
The buildings up for recognition are located in 6 countries, and includes the National Museum of Western Art in Japan.
The International Council Of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) says its recommendation to reject the Le Corbusiers is based on their opinion that they fail to "demonstrate remarkable universal significance of the modern architectural movement," according to the Daily Yomiyuri Online.

See the original article on planetizen.com here.