WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE ADDS 30 SITES TO UNESCO LIST

Kyoto (Japan), December 2 {No.98-261} - UNESCÒs World Heritage Committee, meeting in Kyoto since November 30, has added 30 new sites and one extension to its World Heritage List of cultural and natural sites.

[cultural sites not included in this message]

The three natural sites inscribed this year are:

New Zealand

New Zealand Sub-Antarctic Islands - The site consists of five archipelagos in the Southern Ocean south-east of New Zealand: the Snares, Bounty Islands, Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands and Campbell Island. Located between the Antarctic and Sub-tropical Convergences and the seas, the islands have a high level of productivity, biodiversity, wildlife population densities and endemism among birds, plants and invertebrates. They stand out in particular for the large number and diversity of pelagic seabirds and penguins that nest there. There are 126 bird species in total including 40 seabirds, five of which breed nowhere else.

Russian Federation

Golden Mountains of Altai - These southern Siberian mountains form the major range in the western Siberia bio-geographic region and provide the source of its main rivers - the Ob and the Irtysh. The site comprises three separate areas representing 1,611,457 hectares: Altaiski Zapovednik and a buffer zone around the Teletskoye Lake, Katunski Zapovednik and a buffer zone around Mt. Belukha and the Ukok Quiet Zone on the Ukok Plateau. The region represents the most complete sequence of altitudinal vegetation zones in central Siberia from steppe, forest-steppe, mixed forest, sub-alpine vegetation to alpine vegetation. Altai is also an important habitat for endangered animal species such as the snow leopard.

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Salomon Islands

East Rennell - East Rennell makes up the southern third of Rennell Island, the southernmost island in the Solomon Island group in the western Pacific. Rennell, 86 km long and 15 km wide, is the largest raised coral atoll in the world. The site includes approximately 37,000 hectares and a marine area extending three nautical miles to sea. A major feature of the island is Lake Tegano, which was the former lagoon on the atoll. The lake, the largest in the insular Pacific (15,500 hectares), is brackish and contains many rugged limestone islands and endemic species. Rennell is mostly covered with dense forest with a canopy averaging 20 metres in height. The site is under customary land ownership and management.

The World Heritage Committee, an intergovernmental organisation, is composed of 21 representatives of the 155 States Parties to the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (Paris, November 16, 1972). It is responsible for the implementation of the Convention and determines the inclusion of sites on the World Heritage List on the recommendation of two consultative organisations: the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), for cultural sites; and the World Conservation Union (IUCN), for natural sites. Moreover, the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) provides expert advice on monument restoration and organises training for specialists.

Pacific Environment and Resources Center
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