Venice has been on the World Heritage List since 1987. The purpose of the new designation would be to promote the preservation of the area for the future.
of the UN the cultural organization Unesco recommends adding Venice to the world heritage list as an endangered site. The news agency AFP reports on the topic.
According to the organization’s statement, the Italian authorities must step up their efforts to protect the historic city and the lagoon that surrounds it.
Unesco states in its recommendation that Venice is threatened with irreversible damage.
“The effects of continuous degradation caused by human activities, including construction, climate change and mass tourism, threaten to cause irreversible changes to the irreplaceable value of Venice,” Unesco stated in the recommendation.
Unesco warned that the continuous construction also threatens the visual appearance of the city.
“Furthermore, the combined effects of man-made and natural changes damage the structures and urban areas of the region,” the organization added.
An assessment submitted to the World Heritage Committee concluded that “no significant progress has been made in resolving Venice’s persistent and complex problems”. The additional measures proposed by Italy were deemed insufficient.
Unesco hopes that the inscription on the list of endangered sites will lead to “greater dedication by local, national and international stakeholders” to protect Venice.
The World Heritage Committee, which oversees the awarding of the World Heritage Label to sites around the world, is scheduled to meet in Riyadh from 10 to 25 September
The meeting will consider adding 53 new candidate sites to the World Heritage List. In the same meeting, the recommendation regarding Venice will be discussed.
Venice was added to the world heritage list in 1987. The condition of the area has worried the organization for a few years now.
Venice avoided being on the list of endangered world heritage sites in 2021. At that time, Italy had just banned large cruise ships from entering the city center.
When recommendation was published, there was a consensus in Venice about the unsustainability of the current situation.
“The tourist masses are uncontrollable,” said a gondolier to AFP Antonio Vertotto.
He added that for years the government had done nothing to curb tourism.
“I would say that there are too many tourists, but it is difficult to come up with a solution,” said a visiting tourist to AFP from Switzerland with his wife Valmir Reznik34.
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