Current location:health >>
Venice faces UNESCO Heritage List demotion
health1386People have gathered around
IntroductionPopularity of Italian water city may cause it to be reclassified as 'at risk'Venice plans to charge ...
Popularity of Italian water city may cause it to be reclassified as 'at risk'
Venice plans to charge day trippers an admission fee of 5 euros ($5.35) next year in order to cut down the number of visitors drawn to its historic canals. MANUEL SILVESTRI/REUTERS
The ancient and beautiful Italian water city of Venice could be downgraded from the United Nations' World Heritage List over concerns about the damage caused by the large number of tourists who visit it.
The fate of the city in the eyes of the UN's Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, will be decided during its annual meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that began on Sunday and continues until Sept 25.
Other sites currently on the list, including Kyiv in Ukraine and Australia's Great Barrier Reef, are also facing possible downgrades, while around 50 sites are seeking inclusion for the first time.
The listing of 1,157 sites is frequently used to attract tourists and investment to locations. But sites that deteriorate while on it can be declared "in danger" and could even, eventually, be dropped.
Six sites are facing the prospect of being declared "in danger" at the ongoing Riyadh meeting.
In the case of Venice, UNESCO will consider rising water levels attributed to global warming as well as the large number of tourists who visit the city, Lazare Eloundou Assomo, UNESCO's director of world heritage, told the Agence France-Presse news agency.
"We don't know what will happen," he said.
UNESCO said in July it would consider adding Venice to the "in danger" list because of the "irreversible" damage the city had suffered because of climate change and because of excess tourism, as well as the "lack of significant progress" the nation's government had made in addressing the issues.
The Guardian newspaper said Venice is now so overwhelmed by tourists that visitors' beds outnumber those of locals, with 49,693 tourists' beds contrasting with 49,304 for full-time residents.
The paper said Venice has lost more than 120,000 permanent residents since the early 1950s as tourism has taken over the city.
In addition to the many tourists who sleep in Venice each night, around 40,000 visit from elsewhere each day, which has prompted the local government to plan to introduce an entrance ticket of 5 euros ($5.35) starting next year.
Matteo Secchi, who runs local campaign group Venessia.com, told the paper: "We feel like foreigners in our own home, because, when you walk along the streets, we are in the minority. Every now and then you see a fellow Venetian and you salute them from afar, but other than that you are surrounded by tourists."
At the same meeting where Venice's status will be decided, several aspiring locations are vying for inclusion on the coveted list, including a 900-kilometer stretch of the ancient Silk Road known as the Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor, which the nations of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan have jointly put forward for consideration.
Tags:
Reprint:Friends are welcome to share on the Internet, but please indicate the source of the article when reprinting it.“World Wrap news portal”。http://sweden.priasejati.net/news-62a899883.html
Related articles
Sharon Stone, 66, wants her 'acting career back' more than 20 years after suffering stroke
healthAs Sharon Stone looks back on her life-altering stroke, she's ready for a career second act.The Acad ...
【health】
Read moreGoalkeeper Nahuel Guzmán suspended for 11 games, fined for pointing laser at rival in Liga MX match
healthMEXICO CITY (AP) — Nahuel Guzmán, a goalkeeper for the Mexican club Tigres of Nuevo Leon, was suspen ...
【health】
Read moreAlabama court authorizes executing a man convicted of killing a delivery driver
healthMONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama Supreme Court on Wednesday authorized the execution of a man con ...
【health】
Read more
Popular articles
- Industrial scale of Sino
- Missouri lawmakers expand private school scholarships backed by tax credits
- Seattle Storm become 2nd WNBA team to open their own practice facility
- Alabama lawmakers advance bill to strengthen state's weak open records law
- South China's Beijiang River sees second flood this year
- Arizona Republican drops reelection effort after accusation he forged signatures
Latest articles
Visitors flock to celebrate Hong Kong's unique Bun Festival
Tennessee State hires coach in big step to being the first HBCU to add ice hockey
Thrice divorced Whoopi Goldberg, 68, admits she NEVER wanted to get married
Arizona Republican drops reelection effort after accusation he forged signatures
Meet the woman pole
Commanders are in line to take a quarterback with the NFL draft's 2nd pick
LINKS
- Xi Story: Friends and Comrades with a Shared Mission
- China's space telescopes precisely measure brightest gamma
- Luckin surpasses Starbucks in China in annual sales
- Chinese commerce minister meets with WTO director
- Xi Story: Friends and Comrades with a Shared Mission
- AI industrial chain spurred on by Sora
- Xi Story: Environment First for the Yangtze River
- What Chinese modernization means for multinationals eyeing new opportunities in China?
- FM rebuts U.S. official's remarks on Chinese cars as false narrative
- Xi Story: Small Projects for Greater Prosperity