UNESCO is an enormous organisation, but it’s arguably known best for its comprehensive list of protected World Heritage sites, which it defines as ‘a designation for places on Earth that are of outstanding universal value to humanity’.
The protection of our marvellous planet is becoming ever more urgent, which is why the organisation adds historic buildings, culturally significant landmarks and important natural areas to its list of protected sites every year. And 24 new destinations from all over the world have just been inscribed.
Rome’s ancient Appian Way, one of the world’s earliest and most important roads, was finally added to the list. Another inclusion is India’s Moidams, burial mounds which were created by the Tai Ahom people for around 600 years to bury their kings and other royals. Within this site, there are 90 different moidams, which are set in the foothills of the Patkai Ranges in eastern Assam.
Other inscriptions include the Schwerin Residence Ensemble in Germany and the Flow Country in Scotland. Flow Country the biggest blanket bog and one of the largest carbon stores on the whole planet, and has finally been included after 40 years of campaigning. You can read more about it here.
These are the 24 newly-inscribed UNESCO World Heritage sites
- Beijing Central Axis, China
- Brâncuși Monumental Ensemble of Târgu Jiu, Romania
- Cultural Landscape of Kenozero Lake, Russia
- Frontiers of the Roman Empire - Dacia, Romania
- Hegmataneh, Iran
- Nelson Mandela Legacy sites, South Africa
- Melka Kunture and Balchit, Ethiopia
- Moidams, India
- Phu Phrabat Bat Historical Park, Thailand
- Royal Court of Tiébélé, Burkina Faso
- Sado Island Gold Mines, Japan
- Saint Hilarion Monastery / Tell Umm Amer, Palestine
- Schwerin Residence Ensemble, Germany
- Archaeological Heritage of Niah National Park’s Caves Complex, Malaysia
- Cultural Landscape of Al-Faw Archaeological Area, Saudi Arabia
- Pleistocene Occupation Sites, South Africa
- Historic Town and Archeological Site of Gedi, Kenya
- Umm Al-Jimāl, Jordan
- Via Appia, Italy
- Badain Jaran Desert, China
- Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, Brazil
- The Flow Country, UK
- Vjetrenica Cave, Ravno, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Te Henua Enata – The Marquesas Islands, France
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