UNESCO examines 30 new World Heritage candidates

Thirty cultural and natural sites, including those in Panama, Brazil, and Mexico, will find out this week whether they will be included in UNESCO's World Heritage List, which is increasingly threatened by climate change and conflict.

The Trans-Isthmus Colonial Route in Panama, the Huichol Route in Mexico, and the Cavernas do Peruaçu National Park in Brazil are among the nominations being considered by the World Heritage Committee for this year's edition.

This session "must more than ever fulfill its promise, that of a tangible, determined multilateralism, where culture plays an important role in responding to current challenges, whether climate change or the wounds of war," according to UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay.

Climate threats are multiplying, and "almost three-quarters of World Heritage sites already face serious water risks, such as water shortages or flooding ," he warned, also mentioning pressures related to "overtourism, which is being reported more and more worldwide."

Of the 56 properties currently inscribed on the World Heritage List in Danger, " half are in danger due to the direct consequences of conflict ," added the Director-General of UNESCO, whose mandate ends at the end of the year.

More than 1,200 cultural, natural, and mixed sites are currently part of the World Heritage List. Among the candidates for this year's list are the castles of Ludwig II of Bavaria, in present-day Germany, including Neuschwanstein, which served as the model for Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty castle.

Many of the sites nominated this year have a connection to prehistory, such as the megalithic alignments of Carnac in western France and even the Brazilian natural nomination, which features caves decorated with cave paintings. However, the World Heritage Committee could decide to postpone the latter's inscription pending clarification on the role of indigenous peoples and the management plan, among other aspects, according to the meeting's preparatory documents.

Mexico proposed the pre-Columbian Huichol route, which includes dozens of sacred natural sites along 500 kilometers through north-central Mexico, including Wirikuta.

Panama's Trans-Isthmus Colonial Route also seeks UNESCO recognition as a key link between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans in the trade system developed by Spain between the 16th and 19th centuries in its colonial dominions.