UNESCO weighs endangered status for threatened sites
UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee will consider extending protection to several cultural and natural sites threatened by conflict, development and environmental damage when it meets in Busan, South Korea, from July 19 to 29.
The committee will examine three nominations under an emergency procedure: Sebastia in the occupied West Bank, Lebanon’s Mount Amel Castles and South Sudan’s Boma–Badingilo Migratory Landscape.
UNESCO advisers have recommended that Sebastia and Boma–Badingilo be added simultaneously to the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Located northwest of Nablus, Sebastia is a multi-period archaeological site widely identified with the ancient city of Samaria. UNESCO documents say it faces threats from land expropriation plans, development pressures and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
