The Paper learned that on September 10, local time, the 45th enlarged meeting of the World Heritage Committee opened in Riyad, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The two-week conference follows the 44th session of the World Heritage Conference held in Fuzhou in 2021. The Heritage Conference scheduled for 2022 in Kazan, Russia, was postponed due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and this year's meeting needs to deal with two years of deliberations and a series of work issues.
Among the 50 projects to be nominated for World Heritage Sites, the Pu'er Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest Cultural Landscape will be considered as the only project nominated by China. Once successful, it will become the world's first tea culture World Heritage Site and China's 57th World Heritage Site.
Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest
Luo Xin, Jingmai Mountain ©, Puer, China
The ancient tea forest cultural landscape of Pu'er Jingmai Mountain was recommended for inclusion
The current session of the General Assembly will consider 50 nominations, including 24 that were supposed to be considered in 2022 (20 new nominations and 4 major boundary modification projects), and 26 items to be considered in 2023 (25 new nominations and 1 major boundary modification project). Among them, there are 36 cultural heritage items, 12 natural heritage and 2 mixed heritage items. In terms of regional distribution, there were 22 in Europe and North America, 16 in Asia and the Pacific, and 7 in Africa, while the Arab States and Latin America and the Caribbean each had 3 each.
Pu'er, Yunnan, Jingmai Mountain.
Among them, the ancient tea forest cultural landscape of Pu'er Jingmai Mountain in the Chinese project was recommended for inclusion. Located in Huimin Town, Lancang Lahu Autonomous County, Pu'er City, Yunnan Province, China, Pu'er Jingmaishan Ancient Tea Forest Cultural Landscape is an evolving cultural landscape composed of ancient tea forests, tea gardens, forests and traditional villages. The land use practices of the Brown and Dai ethnic groups here date back to the 10th century AD. Traditional understory cultivation of ancient tea forests effectively copes with local mountain ecosystems and subtropical monsoon climate conditions, and is combined with the unique governance system of the secular community.
Jingmai Mountain, Pu'er, China
For thousands of years, all ethnic groups living here for generations have lived with tea, and the Pu'er Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest Cultural Heritage Area includes the area with the highest concentration of Jingmai Mountain ancient tea gardens and ancient villages, with a total area of 177 kilometers and 15 villages. Scattered in greenery, the village remains traditional, original and mysterious. There is not much modern commercial atmosphere here, and although there are tourists who visit, the villagers of Jingmai Mountain still maintain the life of growing tea in the village, picking tea from home and making tea from household.
Jingmai Mountain, Pu'er, China
The heritage area of "Pu'er Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest Cultural Landscape" covers an area of 72 square kilometers and a buffer zone area of 105 square kilometers. The heritage area is mainly inhabited by two ethnic groups, the Brown and the Dai, and still preserves ethnic cultural traditions such as language, customs, festivals, and sacrifices.
A bird's eye view of Nuogan Ancient Village, Huimin Town, Lancang County, Puer City, Yunnan Province, the entire ancient village is surrounded by ancient tea trees in Jingmai Mountain.
The project was included in the preliminary list in 2013, and the ICOMOS site visit was completed last year for the application project submitted in China in 2021. The evaluation documents released by the consulting organization show that Jingmai has been "recommended for inclusion" by the consulting organization and has the potential to meet the OUV value criterion (iii) (v). If successfully inscribed, the Pu'er Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest Cultural Landscape will become China's 57th World Heritage Site and an outstanding example of the sustainable land use system of traditional Chinese tea cultivation.
Pu'er area of Yunnan, Jingmai Mountain Nuogan Ancient Village.
The state of World Heritage conservation cannot be ignored
It is reported that the current session of the General Assembly will review 58 properties on the List of World Heritage in Danger. At present, there are 41 cultural heritage sites and 17 natural heritage sites in danger. In terms of geographical distribution, there were 5 in Europe and North America, 6 in Asia and the Pacific, 25 in the Arab States, 16 in Africa and 16 in Latin America and the Caribbean. One of these heritages, the Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi in Kasubi, Uganda, is to be lifted from danger at this meeting due to improved conservation status.
Kasubi, Uganda, Tomb of the Kings ©of Buganda, UNESCO
The State of Conservation Report (7B) on the World Heritage List will consider 205 properties on the List, including 63 originally scheduled for 2022 and 142 for 2023. The draft resolution recommends that six of these properties be inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Among the items that may be listed as endangered heritage, there are many "old" sites that have been inscribed on the List for 30 or 40 years, but they are all facing the test of "red card" due to climate change, infrastructure (hydropower plants and road construction), tourism development and other issues. These include the volcano Kamchatka in Russia, Venice and its lagoon in Italy, and Lviv, Ukraine.
Russia, Kamchatka volcano, ©UNESCO
Kamchatka is one of the world's most famous volcanic areas, with active volcanoes interacting with glaciers creating a vibrant landscape and home to the world's largest remaining salmon population. The volcano was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1996 on all four criteria of natural heritage. However, the boundaries of the South Kamchatka Natural Park have recently been modified to leave room for improper development. At the same time, the proposed "Three Volcanoes Park" project is considered an inappropriate way to develop sustainable tourism for heritage. For these reasons, sites will be discussed at this General Assembly whether they are listed as in danger.
Italy, Venice, ©UNESCO
Founded in the 5th century and made up of 118 small islands, Venice is an extraordinary architectural masterpiece, many of which were created by world masters. In 1987, Venice was inscribed on the World Heritage List with all six criteria for cultural heritage. However, the outstanding universal value of heritage is seriously threatened by the continuing deterioration caused by human and natural factors, including rising sea levels due to climate change, mass tourism and poor management of cruise ships. Venice will therefore be discussing at this Congress whether or not to list it as a heritage in danger.
Ukraine, Lviv, ©UNESCO
Lviv, located in western Ukraine, was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1998 with criteria (ii) (iv) for its preserved medieval urban pattern and exquisite architecture of different periods and ethnic characteristics. The Russian-Ukrainian conflict in 2022 threatens the city's cultural heritage with war, and the current congress plans to add Lviv to the World Heritage List in Danger.
Three nominations related to recent memory of conflict will be considered
In 2018, the joint declaration by France and Belgium for the Funeral and memorial sites of the First World War triggered a recent reflection in the World Heritage field on the relationship between OUV and the conflicting historical memory of the 20th century – are heritage showing humanity's "black history" "eligible" for inscription on the World Heritage List? What challenges will this bring to the current World Heritage nomination and assessment mechanism?
Although consideration of the item was postponed for further discussion, a new term, "Sites Associated with Memories of Recent Conflicts", was created and became the focus of discussion among the World Heritage Centre, Advisory Bodies, Member States, States Parties, and other members.
Rwanda, genocide remembrance
At the 44th session of the World Heritage Conference, the World Heritage Centre and Advisory Bodies have repeatedly pointed out that the nature of the thematic heritage is inconsistent with the objectives and scope of the Convention, and recommended that States Parties try to apply for other projects under the umbrella of UNESCO or other international organizations. It is clear, however, that this view is not supported by the Committee or the State party. The resolution (Decision: 18 EXT.COM 4) of the 18th Extraordinary Session of the World Heritage Committee in January this year stated that such nominations can be assessed if they are in a complete format and should be conducted on a case-by-case basis. Thus, due to the "backlog" of previous projects, this session will "focus" on three legacies related to the memory of recent conflicts: Belgium and France, World War I (Western Front) cemeteries and memorials, Argentina, ESMA museums and memorials, former secret centres of detention, torture and execution, Rwanda, genocide memorials: Nyamarta, Murambi, Gissoz and Cissero. So far, the assessment opinions of the above three submissions have not yet been announced, and it is not known whether the review process will once again spark heated debate.
Note: This article is based on relevant media in Yunnan, "Qingyuan Cultural Heritage" and past reports from The Paper