42 sites around the world have been nominated for this year. The agency’s 21-member World Heritage Committee will decide which of the 42 nominated sites to include on the list when it meets in Paris from 19 to 29 June. The committee will also examine the state of conservation of 34 sites on the List of World Heritage in Danger. 911 sites already have been designated: 704 – for culture, 180 – for nature, 27 – mixed. Sites are located in 151 of the 187 State Parties to have ratified the World Heritage Convention. (Two sites are in Bosnia & Herzegovina: the Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar and Mehmed Pasa Sokolovic Bridge in Visegrad - Pictured Above). Sites are proposed by States parties and then the applications are reviewed by either the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) or the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). (Following is from UNESCO Report on the 42 sites under consideration) Six New Countries Six of these countries stand to have properties inscribed on the World Heritage List for the first time during the forthcoming session: Barbados, Jamaica, Micronesia, Palau, Congo, and the United Arab Emirates. List of Nominated Sites Natural properties scheduled for consideration at the time of publication are: Ningaloo Coast (Australia); Pendjari National Park (Benin, an extension of W National Park of Niger); Wudalianchi National Park (China); Ancient Beech Forests of Germany (Germany, an extension of the Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians, Slovakia and Ukraine); Western Ghats (India); Harra Protected Area (Iran); Ogasawara Islands (Japan); Kenya Lake System in the Great Rift Valley; (Kenya); Trinational Sangha (Congo, Cameroon, Central African Republic) and the nomination under new criteria of the World Heritage property of Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park (Viet Nam). Three properties are proposed for both natural and cultural criteria as “mixed natural and cultural” sites. They are: Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park (Jamaica); Wadi Rum (Jordan); and Saloum Delta (Senegal). The following cultural properties will be considered for inscription: Pearling, Testimony of an Island Economy (Bahrain); Bridgetown and its Garrison (Barbados); West Lake Cultural Landscape of Hangzhou (China); Coffee Cultural Landscape (Colombia); Konso Cultural Landscape (Ethiopia); The Causses and the Cévennes (France); The architectural work of Le Corbusier, an outstanding contribution to the Modern Movement (France, Argentina, Belgium, Germany, Japan, Switzerland); Fagus Factory in Alfeld (Germany); The Persian Garden (Iran); The Land of Caves and Hiding (Israel); The Triple-arch Gate at Dan (Israel); The Longobards in Italy, Places of Power, 568 - 774 A.D., (Italy); Hiraizumi – Temples, Gardens and Archaeological Sites Representing the Buddhist Pure Land (Japan); Fort Jesus, Mombasa (Kenya); Fundidora Monterre (Mexico); Transboundary Nomination for Yapese Stone Money Sites in Palau and Yap (Micronesia / Palau); Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Altai (Mongolia); León Cathedral (Nicaragua); Oke-Idanre Cultural Landscape (Nigeria); Historical City of Jeddah (Saudi Arabia); Cultural Landscape of the Serra de Tramuntana (Spain); Archaeological Sites of the Island of Meroe (Sudan); Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps (Switzerland, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia); Ancient villages of Northern Syria (Syrian Arab Republic); Old City and Ramparts of Alanya with Seljuk Shipyard (Turkey); Selimiye Mosque and its social Complex (Turkey); Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatia Metropolitans (Ukraine); Cultural Sites of Al Ain: Hafit, Hili, Bidaa Bint Saud and Oases Areas (United Arab Emirates); Citadel of the Ho Dynasty (Viet Nam). Sites in Danger During the session, World Heritage Committee members will examine the state of conservation of 169 properties including the 34 sites inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger because of serious threats to their outstanding universal value. The World Heritage Committee, responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, comprises representatives of 21 countries, elected by the States Parties of the World Heritage Convention for four years. Each year, the Committee adds new sites to the List. See Related Reports: ---“UNESCO Living Art” - diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/movie/unesco-living-art/23344 ---“Wildlife/UNESCO Heritage in Danger” - www.filmannex.com/movie/wildlifeunesco-heritage-in-danger/24012 ---“Tunisia World Heritage /World Bank” - diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/movie/tunisian-world-heritageworld-bank/23856 By Susan Sacirbey Face Book at "Diplomat Artist" & "Diplomatically Incorrect" Twitter - DiplomaticallyX