The World Heritage Committee, actually meeting in Phnom Penh for its 37th session, inscribed Mount Etna on the World Heritage List today. It’s the 48th site for Italy, which hold its record of the highest number of sites, followed by Spain (44) and China (also 44, after a new site inscribed at this session).
It’s a significant result, rewarding the hard work which has been provided for years by the local Sicilian authorities together with the Italian Ministry of the Environment. Mount Etna is the biggest volcano in Europe and the most active on a global scale as far as eruptions are concerned.
Already well know to Greeks and Romans, it has been closely studied for centuries by experts and scientists coming from all over the globe.
UNESCO underlined that its “craters, ashes, lava flows and lava caves as well as the Bobe valley make Mount Etna a unique destination for research and education” which still plays a key role, capable of influencing “volcanology, geophysics, and many other sciences studying the Earth”. “Its reputation, its scientific, cultural and education values are of world-wide relevance”.
For more information:
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1427
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/new-sights-added-to%e2%80%88world-heritage-list-31486/
