The World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced the inscription of five new natural sites and three cultural sites to the World Heritage List at the close of business Wednesday. The committee is currently holding its 28th session, meeting in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.
Two countries, Saint Lucia and Togo, make their first appearance on the World Heritage List with the decision. Greenland, administered by Denmark, also makes its first entry in the list, which now numbers 762 properties.
The committee also approved the extension of three natural world heritage sites.
The 21-member World Heritage Committee will continue this week to review sites submitted by states parties to the 1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, and sites to be placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger. Zhang Xinsheng, chairperson of China's National Commission for UNESCO and vice minister of education, is chairing the session.
The committee is expected to finalize the inscriptions by Friday. The session will continue until July 7.
The new natural sites added to the World Heritage List are Ilulissat Icefjord of Denmark; the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra, Indonesia; the Natural System of Wrangel Island Reserve, Russian Federation; the Pitons Management Area of Saint Lucia; and the Cape Floral Region of South Africa.
The cultural sites inscribed so far are the Tomb of Askia in Mali; the Portuguese City of Mazagan (El Jadida), Morocco; and the Koutammakou, Batammariba, Togo.
A volcanic archipelago with spectacular landscapes was approved as an extension at St. Kilda in the UK, first inscribed as a natural site in 1986. The 14-square-kilometer Inaccessible Island was added to the UK's Gough Island Wildlife Reserve in the south Atlantic, first inscribed in 1995. Costa Rica's Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, inscribed in 1999, was extended with the addition of a 15,000-hectare private property, Santa Elena.
(Xinhua News Agency July 1, 2004)
