UNESCO will discuss 45 proposals for inclusion on its list

Paris - The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will decide this month in New Zealand on the potential inclusion of another 45 sites on its prestigious World Heritage list. Among the 39 countries that submitted nominations are the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The organization announced this at its headquarters in Paris.
    From the Czech Republic, the historic handmade paper mill in Velké Losiny is vying for inscription, while Slovakia is proposing the Carpathian beech forests in the northeast of the country. Slovakia is submitting this nomination in collaboration with Ukraine as a transboundary project. This would be the thirteenth registered site for the Czech Republic and the sixth for Slovakia. Globally, there are currently 830 sites on the list.
    The fact that the proposed sites will undergo expert evaluation and will reach the agenda of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee does not automatically mean that the proposal will be approved.
    The paper mill in Velké Losiny is the oldest operational handmade paper mill in Central Europe. This year it will celebrate its 410th anniversary. It is also notable as an architectural Baroque-Classical ensemble from the 18th and 19th centuries. The Eastern Slovakian forests are remarkable for their plant life and the animals that inhabit them.
    The World Heritage Committee will also discuss the status of 31 sites that are on the list of endangered World Heritage and the potential inclusion of other sites on this list in Christchurch. Both Czech and Slovak missions at UNESCO informed the Czech News Agency today that they have not received any signals that any Czech or Slovak UNESCO sites are at risk.
    Among other agenda items is the impact of climate change on sites that constitute the world's cultural heritage, possibilities for mitigating risks to these sites from natural disasters, and also the concept of "outstanding universal value," which forms the basis for the inscription of sites on the UNESCO list. A special item also concerns the state of conservation of the old city of Jerusalem and its walls.