World Heritage Committee closes Fuzhou session, adds 34 new heritage sites.
The 44th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee has wrapped up in Fuzhou, the capital of China’s Fujian province, with a total of 34 new sites inscribed on the World Heritage List.
The latest inscriptions, which include 29 cultural sites and five natural sites, bring the total number of sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage to 1,154, reports Xinhua news agency.
Among the newly added sites is “Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China” in Fujian, which brings the number of World Heritage Sites in the country to 56.
The Chongqing Wulipo National Nature Reserve officially became part of the Hubei Shennongjia World Heritage Site after minor modifications to Shenongjia’s boundaries during the season.
The committee reviewed over 200 status of conservation reports of World Heritage properties, and recognized three properties, namely the Great Wall of China, and Tai National Park and Como National Park, both in Cte d’Ivoire, as models of conservation and management. as cases. , said Tian Xuejun, chairman of the 44th session of the World Heritage Committee.
The committee decided to remove the Liverpool-Maritime Mercantile City of Britain from the World Heritage List.
It was the first World Heritage Site removed in the last 10 years.
The Fuzhou Declaration was adopted during the session, reiterating the principle of the Convention regarding the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, and calling for increased support for developing countries, especially African countries and small island developing states.
Tian said the session implemented UNESCO’s Priority Africa Global Strategy, as two of Africa’s assets were newly inscribed on the list.
The Committee also fully recognized the achievements and progress made by the Salaga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in ending the threats of war and poaching, and unanimously agreed to remove it from the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Tian said that the session has made significant progress in improving the application processes of properties.
From September 2023, a pre-assessment will be required to facilitate communication between the committee and the advisory bodies at the initial stage of nominations.
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