MaximsNews Network, NY
MaximsNews Network
03/07/2008
NEWS NETWORK FOR THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
"Giving Power and Resonance to the Voice of the International Community?¢"
UNESCO: WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE MEETS IN QUEBEC: 03/07/2008
(MaximsNews Network)
UNITED NATIONS – / MaximsNews Network / 03 July 2008 — The World
Heritage Committee is considering requests for the inscription of new
sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List while it meets for its 32nd
session in Québec, Canada, from 2 to 10 July.
During this year’s session, hosted by Canada to coincide with the
400th anniversary celebration of the founding of Québec City,
41 States Parties to the World Heritage Convention will present
properties for inscription on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Among them
are five countries that have no sites inscribed on the List:
Kyrgyzstan, Papua New Guinea, San Marino, Saudi Arabia and Vanuatu.
The Committee will also review the state of conservation of the 30
World Heritage sites inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger
and may decide to add new sites to that list of properties whose
preservation requires special attention. The List in Danger features
sites which are threatened by a variety of problems such as natural
disasters, pillaging, pollution, and poorly managed mass tourism, that
may have a negative impact on the universal values for which they were
inscribed on the World Heritage List.
Among sites on the List in Danger, the cultural landscape of Germany’s
Dresden Elbe Valley will come under particular scrutiny. In keeping
with the decision it took at its last meeting, the Committee will
decide whether to keep the property on the World Heritage List or
whether the building of a bridge in the heart of the landscape
warrants its deletion from the List.
The properties submitted by States Parties for inscription on the
World Heritage List number 13 natural and 34 cultural sites (see list
below), including two transboundary sites, and five extensions to
properties already listed.
To date, UNESCO’s 1972 Convention on the Protection of the World
Cultural and Natural Heritage protects 851 properties of `outstanding
universal value,’ including 660 cultural, 166 natural and 25 mixed
properties in 141 States Parties.
The Convention encourages international cooperation to safeguard the
common heritage of humanity. With 185 States Parties, it is one of the
most widely ratified international legal instruments. When they sign
the Convention, States Parties commit to preserve sites on the World
Heritage List, as well as sites of national and regional importance,
notably by providing an appropriate legal and regulatory framework.
The World Heritage Committee, responsible for the implementation of
the 1972 Convention, is comprised of representatives of 21 countries,
elected by the States Parties for up to six years. Each year, the
Committee adds new sites to the List. The sites are proposed by the
States Parties. Applications are then reviewed by two advisory bodies:
cultural sites by the International Council on Monuments and Sites
(ICOMOS), and natural sites by the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) which inform the Committee of their
recommendations. The International Centre for the Study of the
Preservation and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ICCROM) provides
expert advice on conservation and training in restoration techniques.
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 per annum
from the World Heritage Fund, aimed at emergency action, training of
experts and encouraging technical cooperation. UNESCO’s World Heritage
Centre is the Secretariat of the World Heritage Committee.
Accredited journalists were able to attend the opening ceremony of the
32nd session (2 July, 3 p.m.) which included the participation of the
Chairperson of the World Heritage Committee, Christina Cameron
(Canada), representatives of the governments of Canada and
Québec, the Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro
Matsuura, the President of UNESCO’s General Conference, George
N. Anastassopoulos (Greece), and the Chairman of UNESCO’s Executive
Board, Olabiyi Babalola Joseph Yaï (Benin).
The media was briefed about the work of the Committee in regular press
conferences with a first briefing having taken place on Wednesday, 2
July at 9 a.m.
Natural properties submitted for inscription to the World Heritage
List: Quarry of the Fabrica Nacional de Cementos S.A. (FANCESA), Cal
Orck’O, Sucre, Departamento Chuquisaca (Bolivia), an extension to the
Pirin National Park (Bulgaria), The Joggins Fossil Cliffs (Canada),
Mount Sanqingshan National Park (China), Lagoons of New Caledonia:
Reef Diversity and Associated Ecosystems (France), Surtsey (Iceland),
Bradyseism in Phlegraean Area (Italy), Saryarka ` Steppe and Lakes of
Northern Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan), Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve
(Mexico), Hovsgol Lake and its Watershed (Mongolia), `The Putorana
Plateau’ Nature Complex (Russian Federation), Swiss Tectonic Arena
Sardona (Switzerland), Socotra Archipelago (Yemen).
Cultural properties submitted for inscription to the World Heritage
List: Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastra ` Towns of southern
Albania, exceptional testimonies of well-preserved Ottoman settlements
in the Balkan region, an extension (Albania), Cultural Landscape of
Buenos Aires (Argentina), São Francisco Square in the city of
São Cristóvão (Brazil), The Sacred Site of the
Temple of Preah Vihear (Cambodia), Fujian Tulou (China), The Stari
Grad Plain (Croatia), Urban Historic Scenary Camagüey (Cuba),
Spa of LuhaÄ?ovice ` area with a collection of historic spa
buildings and spa-related facilities (Czech Republic), Historic
Monuments and Sites in Kaesong (Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea), The work of Vauban (France), Housing Estates in the Berlin
Modern Style (Germany), System of Fortification at the Confluence of
the Rivers Danube and Váh in Komárno ` Komárom
(Hungary / Slovakia), Mountain Railways of India (serial extension to
include Kalka Shimla Railway (KSR)) (India), River Island of Majuli in
midstream of Brahmaputra River in Assam (India), Cultural Landscape of
Bali Province (Indonesia), The Armenian Monastic Ensembles in Iranian
Azarbayjan ((Islamic Republic of Iran), The Triple-arch Gate at Dan
(Israel), Bahá’i Holy Places in Haifa and Western Galilee(Israel),
Mantua and Sabbioneta (Italy), Hiraizumi – Cultural Landscape
Associated with Pure Land Buddhist Cosmology (Japan), Sacred Mijikenda
Kaya Forests (Kenya), Sulamain-Too Sacred Mountain (Kyrgyzstan),
Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca: Melaka and George Town
(Malaysia), Le Morne Cultural Landscape (Mauritius), Protective town
of San Miguel and the Sanctuary of Jesús de Nazareno de
Atotonilco (Mexico), León Cathedral (Nicaragua), The Kuk Early
Agricultural Site (Papua New Guinea), San Marino Historic Centre and
Mount Titano (San Marino), Al-Hijr Archaeological Site (Madâin
Sâlih) (Saudi Arabia), Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of
Carpathian Mountain Area (Slovakia), Palaeolithic Cave Art of Northern
Spain (extension to Altamira Cave) (Spain), Rhaetian Railway in the
Albula / Bernina Cultural Landscape (Switzerland / Italy), The
Antonine Wall (extension to the Frontiers of the Roman Empire) (United
Kingdom), Chief Roi Mata’s Domain (Vanuatu).
Labels: United Nations, U.N., MaximsNews , UNESCO, UNESCO Director
General Koïchiro Matsuura, 32nd Session of the World Heritage
Committee, World Heritage Committee, UNESCO World Heritage List,
UNESCO Executive Board Chairman Olabiyi Babalola Joseph Yaï,
Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural
Heritage, International Council on Monuments and Sites, ICOMOS,
International Union for Conservation of Nature, International Centre
for the Study of the Preservation and Conservation of Cultural
Heritage, ICCROM, General Conference President Georges
N. Anastassopoulos