Unesco World Heritage Sites: Which destinations are about to be added to the list?

Nominees battle it out for prestigious title

Jaipur City is one of the nominees (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The next destinations selected to join the Unesco World Heritage list will be announced over the coming week.

Some 36 candidates are hoping to make it onto on the coveted list, which comes with tourism clout, nominal protections and access to extra funding.

This year’s nominees include Vatnajökull National Park in Iceland, India’s Jaipur City, Grossglockner High Alpine Road in Austria and Babylon in Iraq. The only UK candidate is Jodrell Bank Observatory in Macclesfield, which hosts a number of radio telescopes.

Unesco’s World Heritage committee is meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, until 10 July, during which time it will announce the sites that have made the cut as they go.

Nominees are divided by category: natural sites; cultural sites; and mixed sites (a combination of natural and cultural).

There’s also a section for “Sites proposed for inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger”. Although this may sound negative, being added to this list can aid destinations in increasing protections around culturally valuable sites, as well as assisting them financially.

The committee announced on 2 July that the Birthplace of Jesus, the Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route in Bethlehem, has been taken off the List of World Heritage in Danger thanks to restorative work carried out on the Nativity Church and the introduction of a management plan to conserve the church.

Meanwhile, the islands and protected areas of the Gulf of California in Mexico has been added to the blacklist.

The World Heritage list is currently comprised of 1,092 sites in 167 countries, with more added every year. Sites include the Taj Mahal, the Lake District and the Galapagos Islands.

Here are the 2019 nominees in full.

Natural sites

1. Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast of Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf of China (Phase I) – China
2. Hyrcanian Forests – Iran
3. Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex – Thailand
4. French Austral Lands and Seas – France
5. Alpi del Mediterraneo/Alpes de la Méditerrané – France/Italy/Monaco
6. Vatnajökull National Park – Iceland

Mixed sites (natural and cultural)

1. Extension of the Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region, North Macedonia – Albania
2. Paraty Culture and Biodiversity – Brazil

Cultural sites

1. Ancient ferrous metallurgy site – Burkina Faso
2. Dilmun Burial Mounds – Bahrain
3. Babylon – Iraq
4. Budj Bim Cultural Landscape – Australia
5. Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City – China
6. Jaipur City, Rajasthan – India
7. Ombilin Coal Mining Heritage of Sawahlunto – Indonesia
8. Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group: Mounded Tombs of Ancient Japan – Japan
9. Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang Plain of Jars – Lao People’s Democratic Republic
10. Bagan – Myanmar
11. Seowon, Korean Neo-Confucian Academies – Republic of Korea
12. Großglockner High Alpine Road – Austria
13. Frontiers of the Roman Empire/The Danube Limes – Austria/Germany/Hungary/Slovakia
14. Writing-on-Stone/Áísínai’pi – Canada
15. Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region – Czech Republic/Germany
16. Landscape for Breeding and Training of Ceremonial Carriage Horses at Kladruby nad Labem – Czech Republic
17. Water Management System of Augsburg – Germany
18. Krzemionki prehistoric striped flint mining region – Poland
19. Royal Building of Mafra: Palace, Basilica, Convent, Cerco Garden and Hunting Park, Tapada – Portugal
20. Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte in Braga – Portugal
21. Monuments of Ancient Pskov – Russia
22. Risco Caido and the Sacred Mountains of Gran Canaria Cultural Landscape – Spain
23. Jodrell Bank Observatory – United Kingdom
24. Historic Centre of Sheki with the Khan’s Palace – Azerbaijan
25. Le Colline del Prosecco di Conegliano a Valdobbiadene – Italy
26. The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright – United States of America
27. Sunken City of Port Royal: A Relict and Continuing Cultural Landscape – Jamaica
28. Colonial Transisthmian Route of Panamá – Panama

Sites proposed for inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger

1. The Sundarbans – Bangladesh
2. Ancient City of Nessebar – Bulgaria
3. Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region – Albania/North Macedonia
4. Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California – Mexico
5. Kathmandu Valley – Nepal
6. Babylon – Iraq