New World Heritage Sites
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee is chaired by a German.
It may already be 43 years old, but it is still incredibly relevant. Adopted by UNESCO in 1972, the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage is the most important international instrument agreed by the nations of the world to protect our cultural and natural heritage. The destruction of cultural treasures in Syria by the extremist militia Islamic State has highlighted once again how important this effort is.
When the UNESCO World Heritage Committee convenes in Bonn on 28 June to 8 July, it will discuss threatened World Heritage Sites. A German will be in the chair, namely Maria Böhmer, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office. The committee has 21 members, and Germany was elected president for four years in 2011. The agenda will also include decisions on new World Heritage Sites. Forty cultural and natural sites have been nominated, including some in Germany: Hamburg’s Speicherstadt, Naumburg Cathedral and German Viking sites.
