17 July 2016: The 40th session of the World Heritage Committee adopted the Istanbul Declaration on the Protection of World Heritage, which invites States Parties to take measures and act together against the destruction of common heritage of humankind in cooperation with the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Participants also added 12 sites of special cultural or physical significance to the World Heritage List.

The Committee convened from 10-17 July 2016, in Istanbul, Turkey. The Committee adjourned three days ahead of schedule as a result of the events in Turkey; the Committee will resume its 40th session in Paris, France, in October 2016.

In the Declaration, the World Heritage Committee invites States Parties to consider innovative and effective solutions to address evolving needs in heritage preservation, and calls upon themto integrate the protection of cultural and natural heritage in their policy making processes and security strategies. It further calls on States Parties to exercise proactive policy supported by initiatives to protect and restore cultural and natural heritage sites, especially those on the List of World Heritage in Danger. The Declaration strongly encourages all States Parties to make financial contributions.

UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee added 12 new sites of special cultural or physical significance to its World Heritage List, including: one of the world’s largest inland delta systems, in Iraq; a transnational site in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan that encompasses one of the largest mountain ranges in the world, the Western Tien-Shan; and one of the largest ensembles of rock art in the Sahara, in a sandstone area of Chad. Another newly protected site is Hubei Shennongjia, which protects the largest primary forest in central China and provides habitats for rare animal species like the Clouded and Common Leopard, the Asian Black Bar and the Golden or Snub-nosed Monkey. Other sites include: the Khangchendzonga National Park in northern India, which contains a diversity of forests, glaciers, lakes, mountains and valleys and the world’s third-highest peak, Mount Khangchendzonga; and an archipelago site in Mexico that protects part of a submerged mountain range, which is of particular importance for seabirds as well as other wildlife, such as dolphins, manta rays, sharks and whales.

Another marine site was added in Sudan: the Sanganeb Marine National Park and Dungonab Bay-Mukkawar Island Marine National Park, which will protect an isolated coral reef structure in the central Red Sea and an offshore atoll. The area also hosts coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds and other coastal and marine features that are home to fish, marine mammals and fish, including a globally significant population of dugongs.

The Committee decided to remove Georgia’s Historical Monuments of Mtskheta from the List of World Heritage in Danger, which has been on the list since 2009 due to uncontrolled urban sprawl and the deterioration of the three medieval churches’ stone fabric and fresco paintings. The decision recognizes Georgia’s efforts to improve the site’s management and safeguarding. The Committee placed several other sites on the List of World Heritage in Danger list, including five sites in Libya, noting that the high level of instability in the country has already resulted in damage. The World Heritage List includes over 1,000 properties. [UN Press Release on 12 New Sites] [UN Press Release on 4 New Sites] [UNESCO Press Release on Eight New Sites] [UNESCO Press Release on Five New Sites] [UNESCO Press Release on Mtskheta Site] [UNESCO Press Release on Libya Sites] [Session Website] [Istanbul Declaration]