World Heritage Site newsletter #13

June 2007

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It’s June again already, almost time for the announcement of the new entries on The List for 2007. This edition of the newsletter has a preview on that event and a number of remarkable new site reviews.

About possible new WHS

Between the 23^rd of June and the 2^nd of July, the World Heritage Committee will meet for its yearly session in New Zealand. Friday, UNESCO announced that 45 possible new sites will be discussed. The exact composition of these 45 is not made public, but combining the info from various sources I think the ones summed up below are a pretty accurate guess.

Albania	Ville historique de Berat
Argentina	Foundational City Area of La Plata
Australia	Sydney Opera House
Austria	Bregenzerwald Cultural Landscape
Azerbaijan	Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Mehmed paša Sokolovic’s Bridge in Višegrad
Cambodia	Site sacré du temple de Preah Vihear
Canada	Rideau Canal
China	Kiaping Diaolou and Villages
China	South China Karst
Czech Republic	Hand Paper Mill at Velke Losiny
Finland	Paimio Hospital
France / Spain	Rivage méditerranéen des Pyrénées
France	Bordeaux, Port de la Lune
France	Les concrétions des grottes françaises, témoins exceptionnels
Gabon	Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda
Germany	Housing Estates in the Berliner Modern Style
Greece	Old Town of Corfu
India	Red Fort Complex
Iraq	Samarra Archaeogical City
Israel	Bahá'í Holy Places in Haifa and the Western Galilee
Italy	The Dolomites
Italy	Valnerina e Cascate delle Marmore
Japan	Iwami-Ginzan Silver Mine Site and its Cultural Landscape
Kenya	Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forests
Kyrgyzstan	Sulamain-Too Cultural Landscape (Sacred Mountain)
Madagascar	Forêts humides de l’Atsinanana
Mexico	Banco Chinchorro Biosphere Reserve
Mexico	Campus Central de la Ciudad Universitaria
Namibia	Twyfelfontein
Philippines	Batanes Cultural Landscape
Poland	Gdansk – Town of Memory and Freedom
Republic of Korea	Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes
Romania	Sibiu
Serbia and Montenegro	Gamzigrad – Romuliana, the Palace of Galerius
Slovakia / Ukraine	Beech Primeval Forests of the Carpathians
South Africa	Prince Edward Islands
South Africa	Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape
Spain	Teide National Park
Switzerland	Jungfrau – Aletsch – Bietschhorn – extension
Switzerland	Lavaux, vignoble en terrasses face au lac et aux alpes
Tajikistan	Sarazm
Turkmenistan	Parthian Fortresses of Nisa
United Kingdom	Darwin at Down
Vietnam	Ba Be National Park

Being on the List of 45 isn’t a guarantee that the site will definitely make the World Heritage List 2007. During the Committee’s meetings, the reports of the advisory bodies ICOMOS (cultural) and UICN (natural) about the status and merits of the sites are discussed. These reports, and some politics added, can make the difference between ‘In’ or ‘Out’.

Word has spread (word travels very fast on the internet) that the UK entry (Darwin at Down) and the Japanese entry (Iwami-Ginzan Silver Mine) have received negative recommendations from ICOMOS. Maybe the two countries will withdraw their proposed sites, so they can brush them up and send them in another year. As a negative recommendation by the advising body not automatically results in missing out on a place on the list, they also might take the chance and leave it to the discussions.

Sources: http://media-newswire.com/release_1051464.html, http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/406599

Recommended sites

Another milestone has been reached in the number visitor reviews of the various sites: 700 unique sites! That’s 84% of the total – it looks like full coverage comes within reach. I cannot say enough how happy I am with the meaningful additions made on a daily base.

Some of the remarkable new entries of the past months are:

· Frederik Dawson was the first to visit The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius in the Russian Federation: ‘I was so overwhelmed by the whole day memorial service melody and a long queue of pilgrims as well as tourists in this small golden and colorful cathedral, one of the most memorable moments of my Russia trip. The European baroque bell tower is another landmark for the monastery as it is so different with other buildings in the complex…’.

· The Ancient Building Complex in the Wudang Mountains (China) was visited by Cari from Canada, who speaks of her fears that the site is becoming too commercialized.

· Maria Andrade describes the monumental Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas.

· The long awaited first review about Robben Island: a good trip report is provided by Adrian Lakomy.

· In Baja California, Mexico, the Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino, where Kelly Henry took a boat trip to meet the grey whales.

· And finally, three of the regulars have been out and about again to wonderful places like the Chhatrapati Shivaji Station (Christer Sundberg), Banc d’Arguin (Paul Tanner) and Syracuse (Ian Cade).

P.S. : a quick apology to the person who wrote about Ragusa (Val di Noto) a few days ago, and whose review I accidentally washed away with all the spam. Maybe you can post it again?

New visited sites

The last couple of months I’ve been on short trips all over Europe, mainly taking advantage of Dutch national holidays.

The best of those was the one to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. There are many pretty towns in Central and Eastern Europe, and after seen a fair share of them I was still overwhelmed by the qualities of Vilnius (labelled ‘the new Prague’ by travel magazines, so get there quick!).

Next destinations will be included in my China/Tibet tour from September-November 2007 (about 12 new WHS, ranging from Lhasa to Suzhou).

About the website

Looking back to the first newsletter (April 2004), 462 sites with visitor reviews have turned into 700 now. My own 146 visited sites have grown to 238. The website’s daily statistics now show 3300 unique viewers a day (against 1500 in 2004). So it’s all going very well, and I’m planning to continue improving the website and (of course) travelling!

That’s it for this edition, Els
webmaster www.worldheritagesite.org