Concern over World’s cultural treasures
Sydney Opera House, India’s Red Fort joins World heritage list
After concerns over global warming, United Nations seems to make efforts to preserve World’s Heritage Sites.
UN has handpicked the Sydney Opera House in Australia and India’s Red Fort and added it to the list of the world’s cultural treasures. UNESCO World Heritage Committee has beautifully described Opera House as a “great architectural work of the 20th century” that has had an “enduring influence” on architecture.
Having listed the Taj Mahal in India, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Stonehenge in the U.K., the Grand Canyon National Park in the U.S. and the Great Wall of China as the most famous sites, the committee plans to meet on 2 July in Christchurch, New Zealand, to invite submissions from more than 30 countries.
As a part of this initiative, countries may also receive monetary aid and advice for the conservation of sites by determining the ways to do away with the danger (if any) to the sites on list.
The 21 member committee includes signatories to the 1972 international convention for the protection of the world’s cultural and natural heritage.
Background:
Presently, the list includes 848 cultural and natural sites that are labeled as “outstanding universal value” by the committee.
The Iwami Ginzan silver mine on Japan’s main island of Honshu and ancient fortresses in the former Soviet republic of Turkmenistan also resides on the World Heritage List. This Turkmenistan’s Parthian Fortresses of Nisa is revered as it is considered to “conserve the unexcavated remains” of the powerful empire.