World Heritage sites

Maria loves the beautiful old bandstand in this park. She has so many memories of this place: attending concerts with Sofia, her cousin’s wedding… Wait... What’s this!? They’re going to tear down the bandstand? But it’s a piece of our town’s history, this is unacceptable!

You’re not alone in feeling that way, Maria. Around the world, many people want to protect places that are part of their history and culture. These places teach us about how people in the past lived, like their practices, values, and beliefs. The desire to protect such places is especially strong in 1945, after World War Two. Countless important historical buildings and monuments have been damaged or destroyed by war.

Around the same time, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - UNESCO - is formed. Its goal is to promote peace and cooperation between countries through different areas: education, science, and culture. Hopefully with international cooperation, the wartime level of destruction won’t ever happen again. One of UNESCO’s earliest efforts to protect a cultural site is in Egypt in the 1960s. A large dam is being built in Aswan to protect farmland.

The dam is going to cause a lake to form and flood Abu Simbel, the location of two ancient Egyptian temples built in 1244 BCE. A global team carefully takes apart the temples and reassembles them in another location. This takes almost five years, but eventually the temples are saved. The Abu Simbel temples get people thinking about how there is natural and cultural heritage in the world that goes beyond borders and politics. In 1972, UNESCO leads an agreement between many countries to make a list of important sites that should be protected.

Fast forward to today and there are over 1000 World Heritage sites across the globe. Most World Heritage sites are cultural. Cultural sites can be archaeological sites, monuments, sculptures, or historic towns and buildings - the bandstand could fit in this category! Then there are natural sites: places that have unique biodiversity, ecosystems, and geology, like the Great Barrier Reef in Australia! There are also some mixed sites that have both natural and cultural significance like Machu Picchu in Peru.

The site has ancient Incan ruins and is home to endangered animals, like the spectacled bear. If you want to protect the bandstand, you’ll need to prove how it is valuable for everyone in the world and meets at least one of ten selection criteria. You should do some research on the bandstand and see if you can learn its history! Well Maria, what did you learn? This bandstand was built by a famous female architect.

Many of her other buildings are protected by UNESCO… the bandstand seems like a strong candidate for World Heritage status! Does this mean the bandstand is safe forever? UNESCO does important work to protect many of the world’s cultural and natural treasures. But despite their status, World Heritage sites still face problems. They can be affected by war, natural disasters, pollution, illegal hunting, vandalism...

These problems put some Heritage Sites in “danger.” There are over 50 World Heritage sites considered to be “in danger” right now. Sometimes a UNESCO designation can even cause new problems. For example, when Simien National Park in Ethiopia became a World Heritage site, the people living there were no longer allowed to practise their traditional farming activities, and many communities were relocated out of the park. There is no single, easy solution for protecting global treasures. In the case of protecting the bandstand, Maria, a UNESCO designation could be a good first step.

Good luck!