Photo. Angkor
Wat in its full pride - Cambodia.
World Heritage
Committee (WHC) is working to make sure that future generations can inherit the
treasures of the past. With 754 cultural and natural sites already protected
worldwide. Most sites face, according to WHC, a variety of threats, particularly
in today's environement. The preservation of this common heritage concerns us
all.
From the website of WHC: The 35 Properties which the
World Heritage Committee has decided to include on the List of World Heritage in
Danger in accordance with Article 11 (4) of the Convention..... (see below).
Threats to the sites
There are
several reasons for threats to the sites. One of the mentioned sites is
Angkor. This site is one of the most
important archaeological sites in South-East
Asia. Stretching over some 400 sq. km,
including forested area, Angkor
Archaeological
Park contains the
magnificent remains of the different capitals of the Khmer Empire, from the 9th
to the 15th century. These include the famous Temple of
Angkor
Wat and, at Angkor Thom, the Bayon
Temple with its countless sculptural decorations. UNESCO has set
up a wide-ranging programme to safeguard this symbolic site and its
surroundings.
According to the World Heritage commitee (whc.unesco.org
), the site of Angkor was inscribed simultaneously on the World Heritage
List and on the List of World Heritage in Danger in
1992, in consideration of the serious threat posed
to the site by long term civil disturbances, with armed
groups investing the site, which was also exposed to frequent plundering with
the removal of sculptures and fragments of sculptures for sale outside
the country.
Various obvious
imperatives for the protection of the site included protective legislation, an
adequately staffed national protection agency, permanent boundaries with
meaningful buffer zones and regular monitoring and co-ordination of the
international conservation effort. Such measures have been taken but the
strengthening of the national agency needs to be pursued. International efforts
to safeguard Angkor make the site the largest conservation workshop in the world
today.
Among the 1998
priorities were hydrological studies of the moats of Angkor. The second phase of the
restoration project for the Pre
Rup Temple, financed by the Government of Italy through its UNESCO
funds-in-trust, was scheduled for November 1998. A digital imagery department is
also being set up at the photographic laboratory at the Angkor Conservation
Office, with international assistance through UNESCO.
The "First Phase
of Safeguarding Angkor" activities, financed by the Japanese Government with a
US$ 10 million contribution to UNESCO funds-in-trust, should be concluded in
1999, and a "Second Phase" will commence with an additional commitment of
Japan to
contribute a further US$ 10 million over the course of the next six
years.
Other
sites which are on the dangerlist:
AFGHANISTAN
Name of
Property: Cultural landscape and archaeological remains of the
Bamiyan
Valley
Date of
Inscription: 05/07/2003
Paris, 27th Session of
the Committee
AFGHANISTAN
Name of
Property: Minaret and Archaeological Remains of Jam
Date of
Inscription: 27/06/2002
Budapest, 26th Session
of the Committee
ALBANIA
Name of
Property: Butrint
Date of
Inscription: 6/12/1997
Naples, 21st Session
of the Committee
ALGERIA
Name of
Property: Tipasa
Date of
Inscription: 28/06/2002
Budapest, 26th Session
of the Committee
AZERBAIJAN
Name of
Property: Walled City of Baku with the
Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden
Tower
Date of
Inscription: 05/07/2003
Paris, 27th Session of
the Committee
BENIN
Name of
Property: Royal Palaces of Abomey
Date of
Inscription: 6/12/1985
Paris, 9th Session of
the Committee
CAMBODIA (as
mentioned above)
Name of
Property: Angkor
Date of
Inscription: 14/12/1992
Santa Fe, 16th
Sessionof the Committee
CENTRAL
AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Name of
Property: Manovo-Gounda St. Floris National Park
Date of
Inscription: 6/12/1997
Naples, 21st Session
of the Committee
COTE
D'IVOIRE
Name of
Property: Comoé
National
Park
Date of
Inscription: 05/07/2003
Paris, 27th Session of
the Committee
COTE
D'IVOIRE /
GUINEA
Name of
Property: Mount
Nimba Nature
Reserve
Date of
Inscription: 14/12/1992
Santa Fe, 16th Session
of the Committee
DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Name of
Property: Virunga
National
Park
Date of
Inscription: 17/12/1994
Phuket, 18th
Session of the Committee
DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Name of
Property: Garamba
National
Park
Date of
Inscription: 7/12/1996
Merida, 20th Session
of the Committee
DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Name of
Property: Kahuzi-Biega
National
Park
Date of
Inscription: 6/12/1997
Naples, 21st Session
of the Committee
DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Name of
Property: Okapi Wildlife Reserve
Date of
Inscription: 6/12/1997
Naples, 21st Session
of the Committee
DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Name of
Property: Salonga
National
Park
Date of
Inscription: 30/11/1999
Marrakesh, 23rd
Session of the Committee
ECUADOR
Name of
Property: Sangay
National
Park
Date of
Inscription: 14/12/1992
Santa Fe, 16th Session
of the Committee
EGYPT
Name of
Property: Abu Mena
Date of
Inscription: 16/12/2001
Helsinki, 25th Session
of the Committee
ETHIOPIA
Name of Property: Simien
National
Park
Date of
Inscription: 7/12/1996
Merida, 20th Session
of the Committee
HONDURAS
Name of
Property: Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve
Date of
Inscription: 7/12/1996
Merida, 20th Session
of the Committee
INDIA
Name of
Property: Manas Wildlife Sanctuary
Date of
Inscription: 14/12/1992
Santa Fe, 16th Session
of the Committee
INDIA
Name of
Property: Group of Monuments at Hampi
Date of
Inscription: 30/11/1999
Marrakesh, 23rd
Session of the Committee
IRAQ
Name of
Property: Ashur (Qal'at Sherqat)
Date of
Inscription: 05/07/2003
Paris, 27th Session of
the Committee
JERUSALEM (site
proposed by Jordan)
Name of
Property: Old
City of
Jerusalem & its
Walls
Date of
Inscription: 17/12/1982
Paris, 6th Session of
the Committee
MALI
Name of
Property: Timbuktu
Date of
Inscription: 12/12/1990
Banff, 14th Session of
the Committee
NEPAL
Name of
Property: Kathmandu
Valley
Date of
Inscription: 05/07/2003
Paris, 27th Session of
the Committee
NIGER
Name of
Property: Air & Ténéré Natural Reserves
Date of
Inscription: 14/12/1992
Santa Fe, 16th Session
of the Committee
OMAN
Name of
Property: Bahla Fort
Date of
Inscription: 9/12/1988
Brasilia, 12th Session
of the Committee
PAKISTAN
Name of
Property: Fort and Shalamar
Gardens in
Lahore
Date of
Inscription: 2/12/2000
Cairns, 24th Session
of the Committee
PERU
Name of
Property: Chan
Chan Archaeological
Zone
Date of
Inscription: 28/11/1986
Paris, 10th Session of
the Committee
PHILIPPINES
Name of
Property: Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras
Date of
Inscription: 16/12/2001
Helsinki, 25th Session
of the Committee
SENEGAL
Name of
Property: Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary
Date of
Inscription: 2/12/2000
Cairns, 24th Session
of the Committee
TUNISIA
Name of
Property: Ichkeul
National
Park
Date of
Inscription: 7/12/1996
Merida, 20th Session
of the Committee
UGANDA
Name of
Property: Rwenzori
Mountains National
Park
Date of
Inscription: 30/11/1999
Marrakesh, 23rd
Session of the Committee
UNITED
STATES
Name of
Property: Everglades
National
Park
Date of
Inscription: 11/12/1993
Cartagena, 17th Session of the Committee
YEMEN
Name of
Property: Historic Town of Zabid
Date of
Inscription: 2/12/2000
Cairns, 24th Session
of the Committee
We in Travel Explorations
hope that the WHC`s good work continues so we manage to keep our planets fantastic treasures
well preserved.
Stein Morten
Lund, 22 April 2004
Additional
information
Source:
whc.unesco.org
whc.unesco.org/danglist.htm
http://whc.unesco.org/toc/mainf4.htm
(update:
05 July
2003)
World Heritage
Committee inscribed recently 24 new sites on the World Heritage List. New sites
include, for the first time, sites in Gambia,
Mongolia,
Kazakhstan
and Sudan. The inscriptions were carried out by the World
Heritage Committee, which has been holding its 27th session, under the chair of
Vera Lacoeuilhe (Sainte-Lucie) at UNESCO Headquarters since June 30. The World
Heritage List now numbers 754 sites, including 149 natural, and 582 cultural and
23 mixed sites "of outstanding universal value
".
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