UNESCO World Heritage Sites under threat

Two years ago, the mayor of Venice asked UNESCO to put his city on the List of World Heritage in Danger. This cry for help came due to overtourism in the northern Italy city, especially from cruise ships. These have now been banned. But will Venice keep its original UNESCO title? The World Heritage Committee will decide in July whether Venice still needs to be put on the endangered list.

The rock formation known as Stonehenge in southern England has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986. Dating back more than 4,000 years, the site attracts almost one million tourists each year. But construction of the A303 highway, which passes directly in front of the megalithic structure and connects the towns of Berwick and Amesbury, could relegate Stonehenge to the red list.

Lake Ohrid is the oldest lake in Europe and one of the most ancient in the world. Researchers date it around 1.36 million years of age. Most of Lake Ohrid is part of North Macedonia while a smaller part belongs to Albania. In 1979, UNESCO elevated the ancient lake to World Heritage status. But due to large-scale tourism, it is now threatened with being put on the red list.

Auschwitz-Birkenau has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. More than 1.1 million people were murdered at this Nazi death camp alone. However, the World Heritage Committee criticizes the fact that major nearby transport infrastructure projects could tarnish the solemn character of the memorial site, adding that local authorities have not responded to these concerns.

After being designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for 25 years, the volcanic region on the Kamchatka Peninsula in far-eastern Russia could be banished to the red list. The reasons are many: From illegal fishing to the unlawful exploitation of mineral resources such as gold to the destruction of wildlife habitat. These are some of the wide-ranging consequences of political mismanagement.

Kenya's oldest continuously inhabited city is around 750 years old, and its picturesque old town was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List 20 years ago. But charming Lamu Town on Lamu island is in danger of being placed on the red list as the city has a huge waste problem. Planned construction projects such as an oil pipeline and an airport are making things worse.

The Great Barrier Reef was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status in 1981. It consists of almost 3,000 individual coral reefs and extends for about 2,300 kilometers (1,430 miles). But due to climate change and rising water temperatures, it has lost more than half of its coral. Storms, gas drilling and shipwrecks also pose threats to the World Heritage status of the underwater wonderworld.

The largest mangrove forests on earth cover an area of more than 10,000 square kilometers, two-thirds of which are located in Bangladesh and one-third in India. The area is home to many endangered species such as the Bengal tiger and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. But due to poaching, water pollution, deforestation and rising sea levels, it might be placed on the red list.

Soon after it was awarded World Heritage status in 1982, UNESCO started criticizing "illegal activities” taking place in the largest controlled wildlife reserve in Africa. With too much tourism, increased exploitation of mineral resources, a controversial dam project and rampant animal poaching, Selous was placed on the red list in 2014. Will it now lose the World Heritage title?

Liverpool's Maritime Mercantile City is also facing its exclusion from the World Heritage List. Just eight years after it was awarded the title in 2004, it was already placed on the red list because the buildings were not adequately maintained. Construction projects in the surrounding areas also had a negative impact on the character of the site. The World Heritage title could now be withdrawn.