Unesco says in danger listing would be call to action on Great Barrier Reef | Unesco theguardian.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theguardian.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A senior Unesco official has rejected the Australian government’s claims it bowed to political pressure when deciding to recommend the Great Barrier Reef be placed on the world heritage “in danger” list.
Dr Fanny Douvere, of Unesco’s World Heritage Centre in Paris, also rejected a suggestion from the Australian environment minister, Sussan Ley, that the UN body had told the government a week ago it would not be recommending the listing.
Douvere said the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) had not provided – either formally or informally – any assurances to Australia before the decision was announced early on Tuesday.
Thailand's effort to turn the Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex into a Unesco World Heritage Site has been made in vain for the past six years. Will it have succeeded by the time the annual World Heritage Convention convenes in July?
Walking on the cobblestone streets of Vigan among Spanish colonial homes on Calle Crisologo is like travelling back in time. One is transported back to 1572, the year when Vigan, Ilocos Sur’s charming capital, was founded by the Spanish conquistador Juan de Salcedo, when caruajes or calesas (horse-drawn carriages) and people in traditional baro’t saya and barong Tagalog used to ply its bustling streets.
“It’s reminiscent of what the Philippines was in the Spanish colonial time, and it’s such a great way to go back to our roots,” says Jeff Ortega, Department of Tourism’s regional director for Region I. To date, the