July 2007
Oman's Arabian Oryx
Sanctuary, inhabited by the rare species of long horned antelope, has
become the first site ever to be deleted from the World Heritage List
since UNESCO's 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World
Cultural and Natural Heritage entered into force.
At its meeting in Christchurch, which concludes today, the World Heritage
Committee deleted the property because of Oman's decision to reduce the
size of the protected area by 90 percent, in contravention of the
Operational Guidelines of the Convention.
The Arabian oryx is vanishing due to poaching, and now oil
exploration in its sanctuary.
This was viewed by the Committee as destroying the outstanding universal
value of the sanctuary in the Wusta region, which was created in 1994 by
Royal Decree and inscribed on the World Heritage List that same year.
In 1996, the population of the Arabian oryx in the site stood at 450, but
due to poaching and habitat degradation, oryx numbers have dwindled to 65
animals with only about four breeding pairs, making viability of this
population uncertain.
After extensive consultation with the government of Oman, the Committee
felt that the unilateral reduction in the size of the sanctuary and plans
to proceed with hydrocarbon prospection would destroy the value and
integrity of the site.
The sanctuary is also inhabited by other endangered species, including the
Arabian gazelle and houbara bustard.
Over 600 international delegates are in attendance at the 10 day
Christchurch meeting, which is closed to the public.
The Committee also inscribed 22 new sites on UNESCO's World Heritage List
during its session in Christchurch. The new inscriptions include 16
cultural, five natural and one mixed, cultural and natural, property.
The IUCN-World Conservation Union, whose independent advisory role is
written into the text of the Convention, made five recommendations for new
inscriptions and one for a site extension and all were adopted by the
Committee.
The newly inscribed natural sites and cultural sites with natural elements
are found in Africa, Asia and Europe.
Africa:
The Rainforests of the Atsinanana in Madagascar - encompassing six
national parks distributed along the eastern part of the island - was
inscribed as a natural property.
Having separated from all other land masses more than 60 million years
ago, Madagascar's plant and animal life evolved in isolation.
Inscribed both for their importance to ecological and biological
processes, the rainforests are also inscribed for their biodiversity and
the threatened species they support. The rate of endemism within these
forests is exceptionally high at 80 to 90 percent for all species groups.
The property is of global significance for primates. Many rare and
threatened species, including at least 25 species of lemur, inhabit this
site.
Australian Greens Senator Christine Milne, IUCN vice-president and a
member of the IUCN delegation in Christchurch, said, "The inscription of
the exceptionally diverse rainforests of eastern Madagascar on the World
Heritage List, following IUCN's positive recommendation, is a great
success story for Madagascar and global biodiversity conservation."
Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda in Gabon was
inscribed as a mixed site, both cultural and natural. It is the country's
first World Heritage site.
The Gabonese delegation in Christchurch welcomed this news and thanked the
international nongovernmental organizations that have been supporting them
in the conservation of this site.
"This is a great achievement," said Allen Putney, IUCN's World Commission
for Protected Areas vice-chair for World Heritage.
"Lopé-Okanda joins the small circle of World Heritage sites that are
inscribed for both their outstanding natural and cultural values, such as
New Zealand's Tongariro National Park, Peru's Machu Picchu and South
Africa's Drakensberg Park."
South Africa's Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape of dramatic
mountainous deserts in the northwest of the country was inscribed as a
cultural landscape communally owned and managed by the semi-nomadic Nama
people.
"The seasonal migrations of graziers between stockposts with traditional
demountable mat-roofed houses, haru oms, reflect a practice that was once
much more widespread over Southern Africa, and which has persisted for at
least two millennia; the Nama are now its last practitioners," the
Committee said.
Twyfelfontein or Ui-aes in Namibia was inscribed as a cultural site for
its large concentration of prehistoric and historic rock carvings.
Asia
South China Karst was added to the list as a natural site, unrivalled in
terms of the diversity of its karst features and landscapes.
The inscribed site comprises three clusters, Libo, Shilin and Wulong,
which have been specifically selected to protect and present the best
examples of these karst landscapes in the world, the IUCN said, adding,
"The site includes superlative cone and tower karsts, stone forests, and
impressive natural bridges."
David Sheppard, who heads the IUCN delegation in Christchurch, said, "The
South China Karst site represents one of the world's most spectacular
examples of karst landscapes. IUCN particularly welcomes the recognition
of the importance of the meaningful involvement of local people in the
management of this World Heritage site."
Jeju Volcanic Islands and Lava Tubes in South Korea was inscribed as a
natural property of outstanding beauty which bears testimony to the
history of the planet.
Korea's first natural World Heritage site is Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava
Tubes, which comprises three sites that together make up 10.3 percent of
the surface area of Jeju Island, the southernmost territory of the
Republic of Korea.
This shield volcano is some 1.2 million years old and rises to 1,950
meters with Mount Hallasan, Korea's highest peak.
Jeju's Geomunoreum lava tube system is regarded as the finest such cave
system in the world.
Europe
And the Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape of Azerbaijan was inscribed
as an outstanding collection of some 6,000 rock engravings bearing
testimony to 4,000 years of rock art.
On a plateau of rocky boulders rising out of the semi-desert of central
Azerbaijan, the site also features the remains of settlements and burials,
all reflecting an intensive human settlement during the wet period that
followed the last Ice Age, from the Upper Palaeolithic period to the
Middle Ages. The property is part of the larger protected Gobustan
Reservation.
Spain's Teide National Park in the Canary Islands was listed as a natural
site for its beauty and its importance in providing evidence of the
geological processes that underpin the evolution of oceanic islands.
In Switzerland, the Lavaux Vineyard Terraces was inscribed as a cultural
landscape that is an outstanding example of centuries-long interaction
between people and their environment developed to optimize local resources
so as to produce a highly valued wine.
Although there is some evidence that vines were grown here in Roman times,
the present vine terraces can be traced back to the 11th century, when
Benedictine and Cistercian Monasteries controlled the area.
The Primeval Beech Forest of the Carpathian in Ukraine and Slovakia, was
inscribed as a transnational serial natural property of 10 separate
components and as an outstanding example of undisturbed, complex temperate
forests exhibiting the most complete ecological patterns and processes of
pure stands of European beech.
Sheppard said, "The primeval forests of the Carpathians are indispensable
to understanding the evolution and ecology of beech forests, which are
globally significant given their wide distribution in the Northern
Hemisphere."
World Heritage in Danger
The Committee also removed four sites from the List of World Heritage in
Danger, recognizing improvements in their conservation - Everglades
National Park in the United States, the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve in
Honduras, the Royal Palaces of Abomey in Benin, and Nepal's Kathmandu
Valley.
Three World Heritage sites were inscribed on the Danger List because of
concern about threats to their preservation - Ecuador's Galapagos Islands,
Senegal's Niokolo-Koba National Park, the Samarra Archaeological City in
Iraq was inscribed as a cultural site for its rich Abbassid remains.
The Committee also decided to extend the boundaries of Switzerland's
Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn inscribed in 2001.
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