UNESCO World Heritage

UNESCO World HeritageSites in Danger & Delisted Sites

The List of World Heritage in Danger is designed to inform the international community of conditions which threaten the very characteristics for which a property was included on the World Heritage List, and to encourage corrective action.

44 World Heritage Sites in Danger

44 World Heritage Sites in DangerReasons these sites are in danger• armed conflict and war• earthquakes and natural disasters• pollution• poaching• uncontrolled urbanization• unchecked tourist development

Examples of Sites in Danger

• Bamiyan Valley, Afghanistan

• Timbuktu, Mali

• Liverpool, UK

• Rio Platano, Honduras

• Gros Morne National Park, Canada?

Buddha's of Bamiyan Valley, Afghanistan

Giant Buddha statues carved into the cliff wall (built in 550 CE) were destroyed by Taliban officials in 2003, months after it was recognized as a World Heritage Site. Currently listed as “Site in Danger”

BEFORE AFTER

Armed Conflict and War

In Danger: Bamiyan Valley, Afghanistan

NPR link

• http://www.npr.org/2011/07/27/137304363/bit-by-bit-afghanistan-rebuilds-buddhist-statues

Natural Disasters: Timbuktu, MaliTimbuktu was an intellectual and spiritual capital and a centre for the propagation of Islam throughout Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Although continuously restored, these monuments are today under threat from desertification.

In Danger: Timbuktu, Mali

Urbanization: Liverpool, UKOne of the world’s major trading centres in the 18th and 19th centuries. Liverpool played an important role in the growth of the British Empire and became the major port for the mass movement of slaves and emigrants from northern Europe to America.

In danger due to proposed construction of a development at the historic docklands

In Danger: Liverpool, UK

Poaching: Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve, Honduras

the reserve is one of the few remains of a tropical rainforest in Central America and has varied plant and wildlife. In its mountainous landscape over 2,000 indigenous people have preserved their traditional way of life.;In danger due to:• illegal logging• Poaching • presence of drug traffickers.

In Danger: Rio Platano, Honduras

Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland

• a rare example of the process of continental drift, where deep ocean crust and the rocks of the earth's mantle lie exposed. More recent glacial action has resulted in some spectacular scenery, with coastal lowland, alpine plateau, fjords, glacial valleys, sheer cliffs, waterfalls and many pristine lakes.

• Criteria: (vii)(viii)

A rare example of glacial action resulting in some spectacular scenery, with fjords, glacial valleys, sheer cliffs, waterfalls and many pristine lakes.

At risk due to potential oil exploration off the coast of the park

• Gros morne links

• http://www.ctvnews.ca/video?playlistId=1.1286290

• http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/Local+Shows/Newfoundland/Radio+Noon+(NL)/ID/2385806719/?page=15

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dc42JAHNPw• RMR in Gros Morne

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qoQ9DAqNto• Gros morne travel ad

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHmsHU1zuoc• Travel ad 2009

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O10q4gYryM

In Danger? Gros Morne National Park, Canada

Delisted World Heritage Sites

Some sites are not properly protected or maintained, so the WHC removes these sites from their list

•Dresden Elbe Valley, Germany•Arabian Oryx Sanctuary, Oman

Dresden Elbe Valley, GermanyThe 18th- and 19th-century cultural landscape of Dresden Elbe Valley is crowned by the Pillnitz Palace and the centre of Dresden with its numerous monuments and parks from the 16th to 20th centuries. Some old villages have retained their historic structure and elements from the industrial revolution.

Dresden Elbe Valley - DelistedUNESCO removed the Dresden Elbe Valley from the World Heritage List due to the building of a four-lane bridge in the heart of the landscape which meant that the property failed to keep its “outstanding universal value”

Delisted: Elbe Valley, Germany

Arabian Oryx Sanctuary, Oman A home to many rare animals including the first free-

ranging herd of Arabian Oryx since the global extinction of the species in the wild in 1972 and its reintroduction here in 1982.

Arabian Oryx Sanctuary - DelistedUNESCO deleted the property because of:

• Government decision to reduce the size of the protected area by 90%

• poaching and habitat degradation.

• Oil and gas extraction in the park

In 1996 the population of the Arabian Oryx in the site was at 450 but it has since dwindled to 65 with only about four breeding pairs making its future viability uncertain

Delisted: Oryx Sanctuary, Oman