World Heritage Committee to inscribe new sites and examine conservation of sites already on the List

The World Heritage Committee will consider the inscription of 32 sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List during its next session, from 16 to 27 June in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap (Cambodia).

Media wishing to attend the meeting must register online. The Committee’s debates, chaired by Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, will also be webcast*.

A press conference with the Chair of the World Heritage Committee, the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, and representatives of the Committee’s advisory bodies (International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN; International Council on Monuments and Sites, ICOMOS) will be held at the venue of the session on Monday 17 June at 12.30 p.m.

The following nominations by States Parties to the World Heritage Convention will be examined:

Natural properties: Xinjiang Tianshan (China); Great Himalayan National Park (India); Mount Etna (Italy). Mount Kenya-Lewa Wildlife Conservancy (an extension of “Mount Kenya National Park/Natural Forest, Kenya); El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve (Mexico); Namib Sand Sea (Namibia); Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary (Philippines); Tajik National Park (Mountains of the Pamirs) (Tajikistan); Cat Tien National Park (Viet Nam).

Mixed Natural and Cultural Properties: Pimachiowin Aki (Canada), Archipel des Bijagós – Motom Moranghajogo (Guinea Bissau); Sehlabathebe National Park (Lesotho) (an extension of “uKhahlamba / Drakensberg Park,” South Africa).

Cultural properties: Red Bay Basque Whaling Station (Canada); Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces (China); Historic Monuments and Sites in Kaesong (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea); Levuka Historical Port Town (Fiji); Water features and Hercules within the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe (Germany); Hill Forts of Rajasthan (India); Golestan Palace (Islamic Republic of Iran); Cultural Landscape of Maymand (Islamic Republic of Iran); Medici Villas and Gardens (Italy); Fujisan (Japan); Town and Castle of Vianden (Luxembourg); Isandra Zoma (Madagascar); Agadez (Historic Centre of Agadez), (Niger); Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines (extension of “Wieliczka Salt Mine”, Poland), Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine (Poland / Ukraine); University of Coimbra – Alta and Sofia (Portugal); Al Zubarah Archaeological Site (Qatar); Bolgar Historical and Archaeological Complex (Russian Federation); Historic city of Alanya (Turkey); Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese and its Chora (5th century BC – 14th century AD, Ukraine).

Five of the above sites had already been considered for inscription in the past: Hill Forts of Rajasthan, (India); Al Zubarah Archaeological Site, (Qatar); Historic Monuments and Sites in Kaesong, (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea); Bolgar Historical and Archaeological Complex, (Russian Federation); Tajik National Park, (Tajikistan).

Three of the nominations to be debated are extensions to existing World Heritage sites.

They include the recommendations of the World Heritage Committee’s advisory bodies: IUCN for natural sites and 8B2add. ICOMOS for cultural sites and 8B1Add.

Another important item on the agenda of the Committee will concern the review of the state of conservation of World Heritage sites (see also 7B.Add and 7B.Corr). Information about the state of conservation of sites inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger and add.