UNESCO allows 19 new additions to World Heritage List

UNESCO allows 19 new additions to World Heritage List

June 26th, 2013

The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO has recognized 19 sites to be added into the World Heritage List.  The new additions have brought the grand total of World Heritage Sites to 981 in 160 nations. Of those, 759 sites are cultural, 193 natural and 29 mixed properties.
The new additions are:
Natural sites:

1. Xinjiang Tianshan (China)
2. Mount Etna (Italy)
3. El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve (Mexico)
4. Namib Sand Sea (Namibia)
5. Tajik National Park (Tajikistan)

Cultural sites:

1. Red Bay Basque Whaling Station (Canada)
2. Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces (China)
3. Historic Monuments and Sites in Kaesong (Democratic People’s Reublic of Korea)
4. Levuka Historical Port Town (Fiji)
5. Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe (Germany)
6. Hill Forts of Rajashtan (India)
7. Golestan Palace (Iran)
8. Medici Villas and Gardens in Tuscany (Italy)
9. Fujisan or Mount Fuji, sacred place and source of artistic inspiration (Japan)
10. Historic Centre of Agadez (Niger)
11. Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine (Poland / Ukraine)
12. University of Coimbra – Alta and Sofia (Portugal)
13. Al Zubarah Archaeological Site (Qatar)
14. Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese and its Chora (Ukraine)

Beyond adding new sites to its growing list, Unesco has another weapon in its conservation arsenal: World Heritage in Danger. This year, it placed Syria’s six world heritage sites – including the ancient city of Damascus and the ruins of Palmyra — on the danger list in order to draw attention to the risks they face amid political instability. The world’s largest raised coral atoll, Rennell Island in the Solomon Island group, also joined World Heritage in Danger due to the threat of logging. Iran’s ancient Bam Citadel was removed following “sound management.”