To List or Not to List?

In the words of a UNESCO mission last year, "Commercial interests have driven measures to facilitate large numbers of tourists, compromising the authentic heritage values which attracted visitors to the property in the first place.'' This is most recently seen in the ancient city of Dresden, the site removed from the World Heritage List at this past Conference in Seville, Spain due to the construction of a bridge. Newsweek writer William Underhill reports on the contradiction between the goals of UNESCO and the goals of the country when dealing with World Heritage Sites. Read the full article to understand how UNESCO is working to remedy this situation.

Chinese and U.S. World Heritage sites become Sister Parks

The South China Karst World Heritage Site and the U.S. Mammoth Cave National Park World Heritage Site signed a sister park agreement today. The sister park agreement will mark a starting point for environmental cooperation and communication between the two. Both countries have much to offer one another in areas of sustainable development, scientific research, science popularization, and management. This is the second sister park relationship between China and the U.S., with the first being in 2006 between China's Mount Huangshan and U.S.' Yosemite National Park. Keep reading to learn more about the opportunities for cooperation and communication between the newly created China-U.S. sister parks.

Cahokia Mounds in southern Illinois is a UN World Heritage Site

Noted anthropologist Timothy Pauketat has taken to telling the story of Cahokia, an area encompassing the ruins of the cultural center to the people once referred to by historians as the "Mound Builders." Although this story has often been told in passing to students as they learn their American history, it deserves a much closer look. Pauketat does just that and, "provides a compellingly argued and highly engaging account of a lost civilization in America's own backyard," according to Chicago Tribune contributor, Scott Stevens. Read Stevens article to get his complete review of Pauketat's book, "Cahokia: Ancient America's Great City of the Mississippi."

17 Australian World Heritage areas at risk

An online news source reported that a recent study found that, "seventeen of Australia's iconic World Heritage properties will experience increased risks from climate change." Some of the seventeen at risk sites that are natural are: the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu National Park, Lord Howe Island Group, the Tasmanian Wilderness, and the Greater Blue Mountains. The study places special emphasis on the Great Barrier Reef, which is Australia's largest World Heritage site and the world's largest and most complex coral reef system. The online article summarizes some of the risks and general consensus surrounding the recent study. For further information about the study, read the full report, Implications of climate change for Australia's World Heritage properties: a preliminary assessment

Interior Secretary Travels to North Fork

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar visited North Fork and Middle Fork of the Flathead Rivers in Montana in hopes of some form of designation protecting Glacier National Park and the Flathead Basin from the development of natural resources upstream. Glacier National Park is a peace park with Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada and UNESCO is currently researching a possible declaration of the park "in danger," due to environmental degredation when a coal mine and coal-bed methane drilling operation in southeastern British Colombia was proposed in June. Another mining project was introduced at the end of June by Max Resource Group, demonstrating the current environmental concerns of the park. Interior Secretary Salazar is emphasizing international cooperation between the U.S. and Canada to protect the Flathead Water Basin. Read the full article to find more information on the importance and possiblities of the North Fork and the Flathead Basin.

But Where's George?

Mount Vernon is known, by nearly every American, as the home of our first president and Founding Father, George Washington. But this fact may be the very reason Mount Vernon faces a challenge being accepted as a World Heritage site. As quoted from the Washington Post, "a group advising the U.S. government on getting American sites onto the prestigious list initially rejected Mount Vernon because of the George factor." To learn just what this challenge means for Mount Vernon and how it may overcome it, continue reading: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/03/AR2009070301570.html

U.S. Cultural Preservation Awards for 2009

As this memo from the U.S. Department of State outlines, the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation will be supporting projects at eight World Heritage sites. The AFCP was established by Congress in 2001 to "provide direct grant support for the preservation of cultural sites, cultural objects and collections, and forms of traditional cultural expression in countries around the world." Since its establishment, the AFCP has supported more than 500 cultural preservation projects. Read the memo to find out the newest sites AFCP is supporting: http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2009/June/20090625173410eaifas0.7132532.html#ixzz0Ks6aYFJG&C

U.S. to grant financial support to restore world heritage site in Nepal

As reported in China View, "The United States Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP), 2009, will offer financial support for the restoration of the intricately carved stone sculpture of Tusha Hiti and the Bhandarkhal Tank at the Patan Royal Palace in Nepali capital Kathmandu." The Kathmandu Valley became a World Heritage site in 1979, containing seven groups of monuments and buildings that illustrate the Nepali culture.

Keep reading: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/27/content_11610527.htm06/27/content_11610527.htm

A new plan for Panama's Coiba National Park and World Heritage site

Panama's Coiba Island became a National Park in 2004, and a year later, a World Heritage site. As the largest island along the Pacific coast of Central America, Coiba is home to endemic animal and plant species. After three years of planning to make the park a more effective protected area, Juan Maté, coordinator of marine technical agreements at the Smithsonian, with the support of UNESCO, presented the new management plan for the National Park on June 23rd.

Full Article:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-06/stri-anp062609.php

How Many WH Sites are enough?

In this article, "Everyone Wins a Prize", the Sydney Morning Herald reports on the growing number of World Heritage Sites which could reach 1,000 within the next couple of years. How many are enough?

Click here to find out.

Treasures Without Tourists

To see some of the most spectacular spots on earth before the tour buses arrive, visit the sites being considered for World Heritage designation. Three gems in China's Yunnan province. Click on this link for more information.

Ireland's New World Heritage Tentative List

The Irish Times [http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0420/1224245022487.html] reports that Ireland's government has submitted a new roster of candidate properties it intends to nominate to the UNESCO World Heritage List in the coming years. The new tentative list supersedes the first such Irish list which included 10 properties that were submitted the World Heritage Committee in 1992, a year after joining the World Heritage Convention. Two properties from the earlier list were successfully inscribed as World Heritage Sites.
The World Heritage Committee's Operational Guidelines require countries to revise their tentative lists at least once every 10 years. In 2008, the
United States concluded a 2-year effort to develop its new tentative list of 14 candidate properties [http://www.nps.gov/oia/topics/worldheritage/TL_List.doc].

Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site

Managed by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, in Collinsville, Illinois, is located on the Mississippi River floodplain, across from St. Louis.

This site was first inhabited by Indians of the Late Woodland Culture about AD 700.

It became a World Heritage Site in 1982.

According to the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), Saturday, April 18, 2009 is the International Day for Monuments and Sites, also known as World Heritage Day. Observed every April 18th since 2001, the theme of World Heritage Day 2009 is “Heritage and Science.” ICOMOS intends for the day to raise public awareness concerning the diversity of the world’s heritage and the efforts required to protect and conserve them, as well as to draw attention to their vulnerability. ICOMOS members and committees are holding a variety of activities, conferences and other events.

For more information, click here: Icomos World Heritage Day.

Information on activities in the United Kingdom can be found here.