The 45th session of the World Heritage Committee took place from September 10th to 25th in Riyadh. The Committee is composed of 21 Member States, of which Italy is part.
The Committee, who examines the state of conservation of all sites inscribed on the World Heritage List, has decided not to include “Venice and its lagoon” on the list of World heritage in Danger, contrary to what had been recommended by the Convention’s technical bodies. By doing so, the Committee recognized and applauded the concrete and significant measures adopted by the national and local authorities over the last few year in order to preserve the site’s Outstanding Universal Value.
Moreover, the inscription of the “Evaporitic Karst and Caves of Northern Apennines”, a new Italian site, has been approved, making it the 59th Italian site and the 6th Italian natural site to enter the List. The candidacy was supported in particular by the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security and Emilia-Romagna region.
Overall, the Committee has approved the inscription in the World Heritage List of 42 new sites (33 cultural sites and 9 natural sites) out of the 54 files that had been submitted for this session. Italy remains the most represented country on the List, followed by China, with 57 sites and Germany and France, with 52 sites.
