UNESCO World Heritage Sites

A World Heritage Site is a natural or cultural site that has been inscribed in the World Heritage List by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee. UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.  

UNESCO adopted a document in 1972 at the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.  Sites designated as having “outstanding universal value” could be added to this list.  The document was ratified by 20 countries and formally took effect in 1975. The document provides a framework for international cooperation in preserving and protecting cultural treasures and natural areas throughout the world. 

In 1978 the World Heritage List was created and twelve sites were inscribed to the list in its first year.  Yellowstone National Park in the USA and L’Anse aux Meadows in Canada made the list in its inaugural year.  There are three types of sites.  As of August 2022, there are 897 cultural sites, 218 natural sites and 39 mixed sites making a current total of 1,154 sites existing across 167 countries in the world. 

Cultural heritage sites include hundreds of historic buildings and town sites, works of monumental sculpture or painting, and important archaeological sites. 

Natural heritage sites are natural areas that are outstanding examples of Earth’s record of life or its geological processes, provide excellent examples of ongoing ecological and biological evolutionary processes, are habitats for rare or endangered animals or plants or are sites of exceptional biodiversity,, or areas that contain natural phenomena that are rare, unique, or of outstanding beauty.  

Mixed heritage sites have elements of both natural and cultural significance.  Several new sites are added to the list at the middle of each year.  Up until 2002, sites were added in December. 

World Heritage designations encourage tourism and often boost local economies. UNESCO also funds and supervises numerous efforts to preserve and restore sites around the world.

Climate change, urbanization and natural disasters are a persistent threat to World Heritage sites around the world. The Arabian Oryx Sanctuary in Oman, the Dresden Elbe Valley in Germany, and the Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City in the UK were removed from the World Heritage List because of development within the protected areas. 

There are about thirty World Heritage sites in Canada.  It is my goal to tell you about these sites in the coming weeks as I continue to write a blog every day for the Daily Content Challenge. When I checked the list of sites in Canada, I discovered I have visited a dozen of them.  

Have a great day everyone.  Keep an eye out for a World Heritage Site near you.

# living life abundantly  # published author # travelling tuesdays