World Heritage Committee inscribes a total of 21 new sites on UNESCO World Heritage List
The 34th session of the World Heritage Committee meeting in Brasilia since 25 July today finished its consideration of nominations for the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Meeting under the Chairmanship of the Minister of Culture of Brazil, João Luiz da Silva Ferreira, the Committee inscribed 21 new sites, including 15 cultural, 5 natural and 1 mixed properties, making a total of 911 sites inscribed on the List. Three countries, Kiribati, Marshall Islands and Tajikistan, had sites added for the first time. One existing natural site was also recognized for its cultural values and thus becomes a mixed site.

The World Heritage Committee also added four sites to the List of World Heritage in Danger and removed the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) from this List.

The new sites on the World Heritage List of Sites in Danger are (in alphabetical order):

·  Bagrati Cathedral and Gelati Monastery (Georgia)]

·  Rainforests of Atsinanana (Madagascar)

·  Tombs of  Buganda Kings (Uganda)

·  Everglades National Park  (United States of America)

The new mixed site is:

·  Papahānaumokuākea (United States of America)

The new cultural sites are:

·  Australian Convict Sites (Australia)

·  São Francisco Square in the Town of São Cristovão (Brazil)

·  Historic Monuments of Dengfeng, in the “Centre of Heaven and Earth” (China)

·  Episcopal City of Albi (France)

·  Jantar Mantar (India)

·  Sheikh Safi al-Din Khānegāh and Shrine Ensemble in Ardabil (Islamic Republic of Iran)

·  Tabriz Historical Bazaar Complex (Islamic Republic of Iran)

·  Bikini Atoll, Nuclear Test Site (Marshall Islands)

·  Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (Mexico)

·  Prehistoric Caves of Yagul and Mitla in the Central Valley of Oaxaca (Mexico)

·  Seventeenth-century Canal Ring Area inside the Singelgracht, Amsterdam (Netherlands)

·  Historic Villages of Korea: Hahoe and Yangdong (Republic of Korea)

·  At Turaif District in ad-Dir’iyah (Saudi Arabia)

·  Proto-Urban site of Sarazm (Tajikistan)

·  Imperial Citadel of Thang Long-Hanoi (Viet Nam)

The new natural sites are:

·  China Danxia (China)

·  Pitons, Cirques and Remparts of Reunion Island (France)

·  Phoenix Islands Protected Area (Kiribati)

·  Putorana Plateau (Russian Federation)

·  Central Highlands of Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka)                                                                        

World Heritage sites that have been extended are:

·  City of Graz – Historic Centre and Schloss Eggenberg (Austria)

·  Pirin National Park (Bulgaria)

·  Mines of Rammelsberg, Historic Town of Goslar and Upper Harz Water management System

·  Røros Mining Town and the Circumference (Norway)

·  Churches  of Moldavia

·  Prehistoric Rock-Art Sites in the Côa Valley and in Siega Verde (Portugal))

·  Monte San Giorgio (Italy)

The Committee also recognised the cultural values of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (Tanzania), which was inscribed in 1978 as a natural site. This property now becomes a mixed site

The 34th session of the World Heritage Committee opened on 25 July and will close on 3 August. The next session will be held in June 2011 in Bahrain.