Six world heritage sites, including an ancient village in Palestine, now face “major threats” amid global conflict, Unesco has revealed.
According to Unesco, armed conflict and climate change are “heavily affecting heritage and exposing it to serious threats”.
At a meeting in Busan, South Korea, Unesco’s World Heritage Committee inscribed three sites on an emergency basis on its “List of World Heritage in Danger” – the Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape in South Sudan, Mount Amel Castles in Lebanon, and Palestine’s Sebastia.
The Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape is the site of the largest known terrestrial mammal migration in the world. Unesco flagged threats including infrastructure development, commercial poaching, and wildlife trafficking that are dangerously impacting migratory mammals.
“Ongoing conflict” is also jeopardising the conservation of the five Mount Amel Castles, which had already been granted enhanced protection in November 2024 by Unesco’s Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.
For Sebastia, a historic Palestinian town, the main threat facing the site is the planned creation of the Samaria (Shomron) national park, which could divide the property, and ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Three other sites, previously recognised with Unesco status, are also facing serious threats to the values that justified their inscription, said Unesco.
These are the Ancient City of Taurica Chersonese and its Chora in Ukraine, the Historic Inner City of Paramaribo in Suriname, and Tyre in Lebanon.
Due to Ukraine “being temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation”, the conservation or management of the Ancient City of Taurica Chersonese cannot be guaranteed.
Construction projects have been “carried out without an assessment of their impact on the heritage” of the Historic Inner City of Paramaribo. At the same time, the committee expressed its “deep concern” over the ongoing hostilities in Lebanon, which continue to pose a threat to Tyre, an ancient harbour city.
The World Heritage Committee are continuing to discuss additional nominations to the danger list on 27 July.
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