China to ban use of Tibetan sky burial for tourism. (Some travel agents have shown disrespect to the tradition)

China has set out to make a new law to regulate the traditional Tibetan practice of sky burial, which involves feeding bodies of the dead to birds. Official sources in Tibet have indicated that the use of sky burial sites as tourist attraction may be banned.
"It will be the first time for Tibet to regulate sky burials using legislation, which shows respect and offers protection to the millennium-old tradition," the official media quoted Samdrup, an official with the standing committee of the regional People's Congress.

The Regional People's Congress of Tibet, the local legislature, recently passed a bill to better regulate sky burials, covering issues like management of the site, environmental protection and qualification of ritual hosts. The purpose is to "better protect sky burials".

Chinese government has stopped the use of burial sites for tourism on several occasions in the past three decades, but the local officials have allowed it from time to time for developing tourism, sources said.

State media said that the traditional ritual has become controversial after tourists guides began leading tour groups to view the ceremony. There have been complaints that some travel agents have shown disrespect to the tradition. Tibetans and Mongolians cut bodies of the dead, and feed them to vultures and other predatory birds. It is regarded an act of generosity and a ritual that allows the soul to ascend to heaven.

The Tibetan government issued a provisional rule in 2005 that banned sightseeing, photographing and video recording at such burial sites, or publishing reports and pictures describing the rituals.

The law has been violated extensively as thousands of tourists crowd around the burial sites to watch the traditional practice. Even some monks are known to be involved in guiding tourists to the burial sites for collecting donations for their shrines. 
   http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/china/China-to-ban-use-of-Tibetan-sky-burial-for-tourism/articleshow/46004209.cms
   24/1/15---
Related:

• China accelerates tourism development in Tibet

• Tibetans enjoy splashing fun on bathing festival

• Double threat for Tibet (Climate change and human development are jeopardizing the plateau’s fragile environment.)

• Tibet's intangible heritage well-protected, says official

Tibet's intangible heritage well-protected, says official

LHASA, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government's efforts to preserve intangible heritage in Tibet and other ethnic regions have proven effective, said sources at the first Tibet development forum Wednesday.

"Of the 386 million yuan (62.7 million U.S. dollars) for cultural heritage preservation allocated by the central treasury between 2002 and 2009, about a quarter was spent in ethnic regions including Tibet," said Li Jianhui, a culture promotion official with the State Ethnic Affairs Commission.


Over the past eight years , the central treasury allocated a total of 97.2 million yuan to intangible heritage in Tibet Autonomous Region, said Li.

The plateau region is home to more than 1,000 intangible heritage items, including the famous Tibetan opera and the Epic of King Gesar, which have been listed as World Intangible Cultural Heritage items by UNESCO.

Preservation of cultural essence is aimed at passing on the heritage to future generations, said Li.

"A total of 4 million copies of the Tibetan language edition of King Gesar have been published, averaging one copy for each Tibetan adult," he said.

Other forms of intangible cultural heritage in Tibet include traditional music, dancing, craftsmanship and traditional herbal medicine and folkways.

More than 100,000 articles, nearly 2,000 audio and video clips and 45,000 pictures have been collected since Tibet started a census on intangible cultural heritage in 2006, according to figures provided by Tibet's regional government.
http://english.cntv.cn/2014/08/14/ARTI1407974763302590.shtml
14/8/14
--
-
Related:

• China to upgrade transport infrastructures in Tibet (will also build more airports in Tibet)

  • UN expresses concern of China’s detention of Tibetan singers and musicians

Poor outlook warned for Great Barrier Reef (five-yearly review to address UNESCO)

Australia's Great Barrier Reef remains under threat despite efforts to rein in major sources of damage to the World Heritage-listed icon, the government said on Tuesday.

Canberra released a five-yearly review of the reef and moves to protect it, to address concerns raised by UNESCO and persuade the world body not to put the key tourist attraction on its "in danger" list next year. "Even with the recent management initiatives to reduce threats and improve resilience, the overall outlook for the Great Barrier Reef is poor, has worsened since 2009 and is expected to further deteriorate," the government said in its outlook report.

The reef, which stretches 2,300 kilometers along Australia's east coast, is the centerpiece of a campaign by green groups and marine tourist operators aiming to stop a planned coal port expansion that would require millions of cubic meters of sand to be dredged up and dumped near the reef.

The reef has the world's largest collection of coral reefs, with 400 types of coral, 1,500 species of fish, 4,000 types of mollusc, and is home to threatened species, the World Heritage list says.

The government said run-off from farms, crown-of-thorns starfish and climate change remain the biggest threats to the reef, but acknowledged that shipping and dredging occur in reef areas already facing pressure from other impacts. "Greater reductions of all threats at all levels, reef-wide, regional and local, are required to prevent the projected declines in the Great Barrier Reef and to improve its capacity to recover," the government said.

The government said it would not allow any port development outside long-established ports in Queensland. Those existing ports include Abbot Point, where India's Adani Group and compatriot GVK plan a huge coal terminal expansion, and Gladstone, where ship traffic is set to increase sharply from 2015 as huge new liquefied natural gas plants start exports.

Green groups said the report did not let off the hook the mining industry, which is digging up coal for export, adding to climate change and expanding ports along the reef. "The greatest risk, again, is climate change," said Wendy Tubman, an official of the North Queensland Conservation Council.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has asked Australia to submit an updated report on the state of conservation of the reef, which sprawls over an area half the size of Texas, by next February 1. 
Sources: Reuters -  globaltimes.cn
13/8/14
-
-
Related:

• Australia hails Barrier Reef deferral. Environmentalists call UNESCO decision "final warning"

• UNESCO to decide if Australia's Great Barrier Reef is in danger 

• UNESCO condemns dredge waste dumping in Barrier Reef waters

• Unesco warns Australia over Great Barrier Reef...

 ----

• The battle for Tasmania's wilderness

• Υπό εξαφάνιση ο μεγαλύτερος κοραλλιογενής ύφαλος

• Μαζική Επέλαση Από Αστερίες Απειλεί τον Μεγάλο Κοραλλιογενή Ύφαλο της Αυστραλίας.

• Αχτίδα ελπίδας για το Μεγάλο Κοραλλιογενή Ύφαλο

  

   

Central and Southwest China: Concern for ancient buildings after floods

Concerns have been raised over the protection of historic towns as persistent downpours in Central and Southwest China have flooded Fenghuang, a renowned tourism destination in Hunan Province.

More than 120,000 people were relocated amid power cuts in Fenghuang on Wednesday.

The rain, however, has begun to slacken and water levels in Fenghuang have dropped, with many people returning to their homes on Thursday.

Electricity along the Tuojiang River, which runs through Fenghuang, has not been restored, although water supplies to parts of the town have been brought back online, a staff member of Fenghuang's flood prevention office surnamed Gao told the Global Times.

Reconstruction work formally started on Thursday, Gao said. No casualties had been reported as of press time.

Pictures of Fenghuang submerged by floodwaters have aroused worries among netizens and experts on ancient architecture.

Yang Zhi, owner of a traditional inn alongside the Tuojiang River, told the Global Times that everything in his inn had been washed away by floods and estimated his losses at more than 200,000 yuan ($32,234).

He blamed the government for inaccurate warning by saying that the water level of the Tuojiang River would only hit 1.5 meters above normal. The river eventually crested at 3 meters over its normal level, "So people were not prepared."

Many traditional buildings, some dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), were made of wood and stone and could be severely damaged by floods, Zhu Qiuli, an expert with the National Architecture Institute of China, told the Global Times.

Old towns have drainage problems and the Fenghuang  government obviously did not realize that the buildings need protection from water in such a rainy region, Zhu said.

It is also a warning for other old town governments, he added.

Wu Rucheng, director of the flood prevention office, admitted that excessive development along the river bank has changed the river's profile, making it more prone to serious flooding.

Fenghuang is currently being considered for UNESCO World Heritage Status.

Other parts of Hunan Province were also hit by severe rains. According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, more than 8 million people across seven provinces including Hunan were affected by the rainstorms which started on July 10.

A total of 34 people died in the flooding, while 21 remain missing. Some 400,000 people were relocated and 9,300 houses collapsed, while 384,300 hectares of crops were damaged, incurring a direct economic loss of more than 5.2 billion yuan.

• Rainstorms are also expected in Hainan Province as Typhoon Rammasun makes landfall in South China on Friday. 

By Liu Sha Source:Global Times Published: 2014-7-18  
--
-
Related:

• Ancient town under water as downpours hit central China

UNESCO adds Grand Canal, Silk Road route to World Heritage List

China gained two more UNESCO World Heritage sites Sunday, bringing the nation's total to 47.

The decision was announced by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Qatar.

The Silk Road, which served as a corridor for trade and cultural exchanges between Asia and Europe dating back 2,000 years ago, was inscribed on the World Heritage List along with the Grand Canal, which runs 1,794 kilometers from Beijing to Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province.

China's application for the Silk Road was jointly submitted with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the first transnational application for China.

"We hope the experience gained in the application process will lay the foundation for future transnational projects," said Tong Mingkang, deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.

Du Yue, secretary general of the Chinese delegation at the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee, said the approval of the application would strengthen cultural exchanges between the three countries.

A total of 33 heritage sites are included along the historic trade route, 22 of which are located in the provinces of Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have eight and three sites respectively. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping mooted the idea of a Silk Road Economic Belt during his visit to Central Asia in 2013, which was then supported by many neighboring countries.

"Different from the Silk Road, China's Grand Canal is a living heritage, which makes its preservation more challenging. Many projects have increased awareness of preservation and improved protective measures during the application process. They should be further enhanced with more investments and higher standards," Chen Tongbin, director of China Architecture Design and Research Group, was quoted by the Xinhua News Agency as saying.

• The Grand Canal, the longest artificial waterway in the world, dates back more than 2,400 years, still plays a dynamic role in transportation, irrigation and flood control.

• Other canal systems are listed as World Heritage sites, including the Canal du Midi in France and the Amsterdam Canal District of the Netherlands.

"Those canals, built after the industrial revolution, date back some 300 years. The Grand Canal has significant historical and technological value," said An Jiayao, a research fellow with the Institute of Archaeology at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. 
Source: Global Times
22- 23/6/14
--
-
Related:

• Silk Road inscription into World Heritage list "hopeful" 

  

  Maritime Silk Road

   

Australia hails Barrier Reef deferral. Environmentalists call UNESCO decision "final warning"

Australia Thursday called a decision by UNESCO to defer listing the Great Barrier Reef as in danger "a win for logic," but environmentalists said it was a final warning.

The UN cultural agency on Wednesday said the reef could be put on a list of endangered World Heritage Sites if more was not done to protect it.

It voiced alarm at a "serious decline in the condition" of the reef, and said "a business as usual approach to managing the property is not an option."

Australia was given until February 1 next year to submit a report on what it was doing to protect the natural wonder. The Queensland state government saw the deferral as "a tick of approval."

"I welcome this decision by UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, which gives Queensland a big tick and it gives the work we are doing a big tick," state Environment Minister Andrew Powell said.

"Our strong plan to protect the Great Barrier Reef is already producing positive results, creating a brighter future that Queenslanders and tourists from around the world can enjoy. This decision is also a win for logic and science rather than rhetoric and scaremongering."

The reef is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, but is under pressure not only from climate change and the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish, but agricultural runoff and development linked to mining.

• UNESCO raised particular concerns about the approval in December of a massive coal port expansion in the region and allowing the dumping of millions of tons of dredge waste within the marine park waters.

Green groups said the government was on its final warning, and had "clearly not lived up to the standards expected by the international community."

"The World Heritage Committee has resisted intense pressure from the Australian and Queensland governments to water down its decision on the reef," said WWF-Australia reef campaigner Richard Leck, who is in Doha for the committee's annual meeting.

"Instead, the committee has put Australia firmly on notice to take stronger action to protect the Great Barrier Reef."

"This is a victory for the millions around the world who say our reef is not a dump."

The World Heritage Committee is also due to consider a request from Australia to de-list 74,000 hectares (183,000 acres) of the Tasmanian Wilderness, one of the last expanses of temperate rainforest in the world.

The move, which could give access to loggers, has been denounced by environmental groups and led to thousands protesting last weekend outside Tasmania's state parliament in Hobart.
Sources: AFP - globaltimes.cn
19/6/14
--
-
Related:

• UNESCO to decide if Australia's Great Barrier Reef is in danger 

• UNESCO condemns dredge waste dumping in Barrier Reef waters

• Unesco warns Australia over Great Barrier Reef...

 ----

• The battle for Tasmania's wilderness

• Υπό εξαφάνιση ο μεγαλύτερος κοραλλιογενής ύφαλος

• Μαζική Επέλαση Από Αστερίες Απειλεί τον Μεγάλο Κοραλλιογενή Ύφαλο της Αυστραλίας.

• Αχτίδα ελπίδας για το Μεγάλο Κοραλλιογενή Ύφαλο

UNESCO to decide if Australia's Great Barrier Reef is in danger

The United Nations world heritage body UNESCO will decide on Wednesday whether to list Australia's Great Barrier Reef as "in danger."

Concerns were raised in May over the decision to allow dredging near the reef, the ABC reported.

UNESCO recommended adding the reef to the World Heritage in Danger list in 2015, unless the Queensland Government took further action to protect it.

The committee is meeting this week in Doha and Queensland Environment Minister Andrew Powell is also there to convince UNESCO the reef is not in danger.

"I'm very confident that there won't be a decision at this session," he said.

"We've delivered nearly everything that UNESCO has asked of us, and by next year we'll have done that."

• However, Josh Coates from the Cairns and Far North Environment Center said despite the action taken by the government to protect the reef, there were an "unprecedented number" of dredging proposals along the Queensland coast.

• "Those are actually going to be releasing more sediments and more nutrients into the water column, impacting on the reef and their in-shore environments," he said. 

Sources :Xinhua  - globaltimes.cn
18/6/14
--
-
Related:

• UNESCO condemns dredge waste dumping in Barrier Reef waters

• Unesco warns Australia over Great Barrier Reef...

 ----

• The battle for Tasmania's wilderness

• Υπό εξαφάνιση ο μεγαλύτερος κοραλλιογενής ύφαλος

• Μαζική Επέλαση Από Αστερίες Απειλεί τον Μεγάλο Κοραλλιογενή Ύφαλο της Αυστραλίας.

• Αχτίδα ελπίδας για το Μεγάλο Κοραλλιογενή Ύφαλο

Silk Road inscription into World Heritage list "hopeful"

The multinational campaign to include the Silk Road into the World Heritage list has entered the final countdown, with officials and experts sanguine about its success.

Jointly submitted by China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the application for adding part of the millennium-old trade route into the UNESCO list is expected to be finalized by a vote in June, when the World Heritage Committee convenes its 38th session in Doha.

Tong Mingkang, deputy director of China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage, was optimistic about the result as the route had won recommendation from the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), which serves as an important reference during the vote.

"We're now emphasizing conservation and management of the relics, and solving some technical problems," Tong told Xinhua on Friday during a seminar on the protection of Silk Road cultural heritages held in Xi'an City in northwest China.

As it is the first time China has cooperated with foreign countries for a World Heritage nomination (also the case for Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan), Tong described the Silk Road project as "very difficult", as the nominated heritages are often in different protection states, face different threats and are of different natures.

The application consists of 33 historical sites along the route, including 22 in China, eight in Kazakhstan and three in Kyrgyzstan. They range from palaces and pagoda sites in cities to ruins in remote, inaccessible deserts.

"It required large amounts of collaborative efforts to make the world recognize their values and significance," he said. SEEING THE DAWN

Once treaded by camel-driving merchants carrying silk, porcelain and spice, the about 2,000-year-old Silk Road was an important corridor for trade and cultural exchanges between Asia and Europe. It fell into disuse in the age of sailing in the 16th century.

The route once again came into the global spotlight after China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in 2011 formally launched the project to apply for adding "Silk Roads: Initial Section of the Silk Roads, the Routes Network of Tian-shan Corridor" into the World Heritage list.

An Jiayao, archaeologist with the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said success of the Silk Road campaign would be like "seeing the dawn" for researchers who have worked years, and even decades, on excavation and conservation of the relics.

Many Chinese archaeologists, including An, have taken part in UNESCO-initiated research on the Silk Road relics since 1990, but many of her colleagues have not lived to see the success which is almost on the horizon.

"They would be very glad if they knew that the Silk Road application for World Heritage eventually sees the dawn," An said at the seminar.

She said the nomination process has ushered in better protection for the relics, some of which had remained in oblivion or in a poor state of repair in the past.

Taking the Daming Palace as an example, the 67-year-old recalled when she joined its excavation in the 1990s, relics of this Tang Dynasty imperial palace in Xi'an, a starting point of the Silk Road, was encroached by graves and shantytowns.

Its fate was changed in 2007, when the Xi'an city government, in an effort to prepare the site for World Heritage status, began relocating locals to make way for a park, which opened in 2010 to better conserve and display the relics. STARTING POINT

In an evaluation report filed to the World Heritage Committee, the ICOMOS recognized the outstanding values of the Silk Road, saying they "contributed to the development of many of the world's great civilizations" and "represent one of the world's preeminent long-distance communication networks".

Still, experts with the ICOMOS expressed concerns about the threats facing properties, including urbanization, expanding roads and railways, and surging tourist numbers.

"In some places, there should be limits on the number of tourists to prevent damage to the ruins, while some others lack roads, facilities and management to receive visitors," said Rii Hae-un, executive committee member of the ICOMOS.

If the Silk Road gets enlisted, it will only be "a starting point", Rii said, urging the three countries to continue to work closely and address the insufficient protection at some nominated sites.

"From the beginning, the World Heritage List was created for the protection and conservation of heritages," Rii said, warning against neglecting conservation and management after inscription. Reports of such cases had prompted the committee to attach more weight to this regard during nomination and keep a close watch after inscription, Rii said.

Archaeologists also hope the expected inscription can inspire the protection of other sites along the Silk Road, many of which failed to enter this year's nomination list but carry no less historic value.

Tong said the Chinese government has put in force management plans for all the 22 nominated sites, while provincial and city governments administering them have signed agreements to better cooperate in protection.

Preparation for the inscription has also accrued experience for cross-boundary application for World Heritage status. The Maritime Silk Road, which also involves many countries, will surely benefit from the nomination of its overland peers, Tong said. 
[globaltimes.cn]
25/5/14
--
-

Maritime Silk Road

UNESCO condemns dredge waste dumping in Barrier Reef waters

UNESCO on Thursday condemned a decision to allow the dumping of dredge waste in Great Barrier Reef waters and recommended the Australian marine park be considered for inclusion on the World Heritage in Danger list.

The decision in January to allow three million cubic metres of dredge waste to be disposed of in park waters followed a decision by the government to give the green light to a major coal port expansion for India's Adani Group on the reef coast in December.
Conservationists warn it could hasten the demise of the reef, which is already considered to be in "poor" health, with dredging smothering corals and seagrasses and exposing them to poisons and elevated levels of nutrients.

In its first comments on the issue, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization "noted with concern" and "regrets" the move, which it said "was approved despite an indication that less-impacting disposal alternatives may exist".
It asked the government to provide a new report to the World Heritage Committee proving that dumping was the least damaging option and would not hurt the reef's value.
More generally, UNESCO expressed concern "regarding serious decline in the condition of the Great Barrier Reef, including in coral recruitment and reef-building across extensive parts of the property".
The body said "a business-as-usual approach to managing the property is not an option".
Given the reef's long-term deterioration, it recommended the World Heritage Commitee consider putting it on its in danger list in 2015 "in the absence of substantial progress on key issues".
WWF Australia spokesman Richard Leck said the government needed to act quickly to prevent the embarrassment of the reef being listed as in danger....................https://sg.news.yahoo.com/unesco-condemns-dredge-waste-dumping-barrier-reef-waters-030016633.html
1/5/14
--
-
Related:

• The battle for Tasmania's wilderness

• Υπό εξαφάνιση ο μεγαλύτερος κοραλλιογενής ύφαλος

• Μαζική Επέλαση Από Αστερίες Απειλεί τον Μεγάλο Κοραλλιογενή Ύφαλο της Αυστραλίας.

• Αχτίδα ελπίδας για το Μεγάλο Κοραλλιογενή Ύφαλο

The battle for Tasmania's wilderness

Could the government have the 2013 addition to the Tasmanian World Heritage Area revoked, asks John Pickrell.  
-
AUSTRALIA’S WORLD HERITAGE areas are having a tough time. In 2013 it was revealed that the Great Barrier Reef had lost half its coral cover since the 1980s. Now, due to a series of port developments for coal and gas exports, it is hanging under the threat of ending up on the “List of World Heritage in Danger”, the precursor to World Heritage status being removed.

It would be embarrassing for this to happen in one of the world’s wealthiest nations, one that holds under its guardianship perhaps the most famous natural World Heritage Area (WHA) on the planet. 

While we await the World Heritage Committee’s decision on the reef, it now appears that the Tasmanian Wilderness WHA could be at similar risk. In June 2013, the committee voted to add 1700sq.km to the existing 14,000sq.km protected area, which now covers 22 per cent of Tasmania.

Stunning strips of forest

The additions comprise many stunning strips of forest along the eastern and northern borders of the existing WHA, which grew to envelop areas including the eastern- and northern Great Western Tiers; Mount Field National Park; and the Huon, Styx, Upper Florentine, Picton and Counsel river valleys.

The extension was well received by conservation workers and environmentalists who believed these areas were now protected in perpetuity. It seemed a fitting way to mark 30 years since the High Court decision that saved the Franklin River from damming in July 1983.

However, in the run-up to September’s federal election, the Coalition said it did not agree with the extension, which had been formalised under the Labor government, and it would seek to have part of it delisted from the WHA if it was elected.

Value of Tasmanian forests

This has been reiterated since the election and was confirmed to AG by Richard Colbeck, Liberal senator for Tasmania and parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Agriculture. Will Hodgman, Tasmania’s Liberal opposition leader, has said that if his party wins the state election in March 2014, they’ll allow logging in parts of the extension that were previously state forest. Environmentalists say that this would be an unprecedented act of ecological vandalism.

About one-third of the newly added area is made up of pre-existing national parks and reserves that have pristine old growth woodlands and tall eucalypt forests that are of undisputed value. However, Mark Poynter of the Institute of Foresters of Australia has argued that, as the extension was not scientifically assessed for World Heritage values, it inappropriately included heavily disturbed former state forest areas.

He also says that the area added in June was ushered in as a “minor boundary modification”. The World Heritage Committee accepts these small modifications without the independent scientific analysis of value and wilderness quality that it requires for larger areas. The June addition was allowed despite the fact that minor boundary modifications typically constitute no more than a 10 per cent increase to the area of a WHA, and the new addition represented a 12 per cent increase.

Legal complications

The problem now for the Coalition is that it may not be legally permissible for recent additions to be removed. This has never been attempted in Australia and there is little experience of it internationally – usually governments fight to have territory added to the World Heritage List, not removed. Even more worryingly, if logging was to occur in disputed areas, it might place the entire WHA under threat of going on the danger list.

Some argue that removing the new areas with the minor boundary modification rule is unlikely to succeed, as they protect the integrity of the overall WHA, but this remains to be seen. One legal option would be to renounce Australia’s support for the entire World Heritage Convention, but we have to hope the government will come to its senses and realise that this is a step too far.
John Pickrell is the editor of Australian Geographic. Follow him on Twitter @john_pickrell.
Source: Australian Geographic Nov/Dec 2013
 australiangeographic.com.au
29/11/13
---
-
Related (Great Barrier Reef):

• Υπό εξαφάνιση ο μεγαλύτερος κοραλλιογενής ύφαλος

• Αχτίδα ελπίδας για το Μεγάλο Κοραλλιογενή Ύφαλο

• Μαζική Επέλαση Από Αστερίες Απειλεί τον Μεγάλο Κοραλλιογενή Ύφαλο της Αυστραλίας.

"THE 7 MOST ENDANGERED" PROGRAMME LAUNCHED. This programme will identify endangered monuments and sites in Europe....

European Investment Bank teams up with Europa Nostra to save Europe's Cultural Heritage 

-

The Hague/Luxembourg, 24 January 2013 - Europe's leading heritage organisation Europa Nostra has launched today its new flagship programme ‘The 7 Most Endangered’ with the European Investment Bank Group, represented by the EIB Institute, as its founding partner. This programme will identify endangered monuments and sites in Europe and mobilize public and private partners on a local, national and European level to find a sustainable future for those sites.

“Cultural Heritage is Europe's greatest asset: our crude oil, our gold reserve. Our heritage is Europe's bread and butter, as much as it is Europe's heart and soul. Together with the European Investment Bank, Europa Nostra is proud to launch ‘The 7 Most Endangered’ programme. If we all work together, we can stimulate a true renaissance of Europe’s unique cultural heritage “ said Plácido Domingo, President of Europa Nostra.

“The preservation of the cultural heritage in Europe is a huge task and without any doubt a common responsibility for all of us. The European Investment Bank is therefore pleased to be the founding partner of Europa Nostra’s new programme of “The 7 Most Endangered”. Its contribution to this project via the EIB Institute will be to provide analysis and advice on how funding could be obtained for the projects selected within this programme.” added Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank.

The first list of ‘The 7 Most Endangered’ will be announced during Europa Nostra’s 50^th anniversary Congress in Athens on 16 June 2013. An international Advisory Panel will prepare the short list of 14 most endangered sites and the final list of 7 will be selected by the Europa Nostra Board. Nominations of most endangered sites can be made by Europa Nostra member or associate organisations or Europa Nostra’s country representations, the full list of which is available on the Europa Nostra website.  Deadline for the submission of nominations is 15 March 2013. (For the nomination form click here)

After the selection of ‘The 7 Most Endangered’, the experts selected by the EIB Institute and the other associated partners will visit each of the 7 sites in close consultation with local stakeholders and will propose realistic and sustainable action plans for saving those sites. The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) based in Paris will be one of the associated partners for this phase of the programme. The plans would include advice on how funding could be obtained, e.g. by drawing on EU funds or, in appropriate cases, on EIB or CEB loans. Europa Nostra’s extensive network of heritage organisations will mobilise local communities and public or private bodies to strengthen the ownership and commitment for the 7 selected heritage sites in danger.

 

‘The 7 Most Endangered’ is inspired by a successful programme of the US National Trust for Historic Preservation, based in Washington. This programme will not only identify a priority list of heritage sites in danger; it will also propose concrete rescue plans indicating what could and should be done to save those sites. Besides generating public interest and enthusiasm the programme will bring people together to create sustainable solutions through feasibility studies, technical advice, capacity and funding assistance, project management support and wide-scale publicity. In this way, ‘The 7 Most Endangered’ will work as a catalyst for action.

.europanostra.org

25/01/13

Bansko Residents Rally again for Resort Expansion

Residents of the Bulgarian mountain resort town of Bansko are staging Monday a new protest rally with demands to have permits to build a new ski lift and to expand the ski tracks.
The initiative committee vows to "be on the barricades in order to remind those in power they are expecting a quick solution to the problem with the ski area" in the mountain near their town.
The demonstrators stress the winter holidays are over, but the problems persist, adding the lines for the ski lifts were unprecedented once again during the last weekend. They insist for the very first time their resort is the leader in the sad statistics of having the longest lines of people trying to use the ski lifts and threaten to move the protests to the capital Sofia.
The initiative committee is accusing Bulgarian eco activists of lies and provocations.
The protest Monday is closing once again the road between the town of Razlog and Bansko.

In the last days of 2012, similar rallies closed the same road for three consecutive days. The protests were supported by the Speaker of the Parliament, Tsetska Tsacheva, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Deputy Economy Minister in Charge of Tourism, Ivo Marinov, and Lyuben Tatarski, Member of the Parliament from the ruling Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, GERB, who appeared all in person at the demonstrations.
The proponents of new construction insist it would not cause any environmental harm because the construction will be done only within the now-existing limits of the ski zone. Such decision will lead to eliminating a text in the plan for management of the Pirin National Natural Park.
The Mayor of Bansko, Georgi Ikonomov, who supports the demonstrators, has declared he would not negotiate with the Greens party unless OLAF, the EU anti-fraud office, probes how the environmentalists are using resources and spending money.
Environmentalists have argued that Bansko is already overdeveloped, with excessive amounts of hotel beds and ski runs that have already harmed the nearby Pirin National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
They labeled the presence of senior officials at the rallies a "huge political gaffe." To them the protests are being staged by those in power in order to serve corporate interests.
Bansko's main ski and tourist operator, Yulen, is known to be held by Tseko Minev, who also owns Vitosha Ski and First Investment Bank, chairs the Bulgarian Ski Federation, and is said to be close to Bulgaria's PM Boyko Borisov.
The rallies caused long lines of vehicles during the winter holidays, outraging some of the guests arriving for the extended holiday weekend, while others have supported the demonstrators.
.novinite.com
14/1/13
--
-
Related posts:

• Bulgaria Top Cop Blocks Road to Main Winter Resort Bansko

• Bulgarian Winter Resorts (Bansko, Borovets and Pamporovo) Expect Greek Visitors Boom 

• Greek, Romanian Police to Patrol Bulgarian Ski Resort

 

Bulgaria Top Cop Blocks Road to Main Winter Resort Bansko

Bulgarian Minister of Interior Tsvetan Tsvetanov participated Sunday in a protest that blocked the entrance to Bulgaria's top winter resort, Bansko.
Tsvetanov expressed support for Bansko residents, who for a thrid day in a row have come out to request an expansion of ski facilities in the resort.
The action of Bulgaria's top cop and Vice-PM is a culmination of a string of high-ranking visits to the protests, which saw Parliament Speaker Tsetska Tsacheva and vice minister for tourism Ivo Marinov also showing up.
"I am convinced that in a very short time, protesters' demands will be satisfied. Their requests will be heard at the very first cabinet sitting in 2013," stated Tsvetanov.
8,000 Bansko residents, organized by mayor Georgi Ikonomov, have submitted to Bulgaria's President Rosen Plevneliev a petition requesting for expansion of facilities in the resort.

Sunday Ikonomov claimed that Plevneliev has already given his support for the petition.
Petitioners have argued that environmentalists and others opposing the further development of Bansko are just bullying authorities and are dooming the region to economic underdevelopment.
Opposers to projects for ski facilities expansion argue that Bansko is already overdeveloped, with local companies requesting further ski runs only to make up for an excessively high number of tourist beds in Bansko made possible by the construction boom in the 00s.
In addition, they have argued that the local ski operator, Yulen, has already overstepped the territory for ski facilities allowed by the state in the Pirin National Park, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Environmentalists have argued that the manifest support of high-ranking statespersons for the protests is out of order and showing that the rallies have been staged in a situation smacking of Vladimir Putin's Russia.
The current protests in Bansko bring to mind rallies in June supporting Bulgaria's new Forestry Act intended to ease development in forest areast, which were supported by ruling GERB party MPs and cabinet ministers.
The legislative amendments were however scrapped, after massive protests against them blocked a major intersection in capital Sofia for several days on.
The amendments to the Forestry Act were known to be sponsored by the Vitosha Ski company, which operates facilities on Vitosha Mountain nearby Sofia.
Both Vitosha Ski and Yulen are known to be controlled by notorious businessman and Bulgarian Ski Federation chair Tseko Minev, who also holds First Investment Bank.
.novinite.com
30/12/12
----
Related posts:

• Bulgarian Winter Resorts (Bansko, Borovets and Pamporovo) Expect Greek Visitors Boom 

• Greek, Romanian Police to Patrol Bulgarian Ski Resort