A cultural site, the Fortifications of Vauban, and a natural site, the lagoons of New Caledonia, both presented by France, have been added to the World Heritage List of sites recognised for their outstanding universal value. Bordeaux, meanwhile, will be the subject of additional UNESCO monitoring as a result of the risks posed by the city's bridge projects.
The work by Vauban (1633-1707), Louis
XIV's military architect, comprises 12 groups of fortified
buildings and constructions along the northern, eastern and western
borders of
France
. This series, selected by UNESCO,
features new towns built from scratch, plains citadels, bastioned
town walls, bastioned towers and a residence, but also mountain
forts, coastal forts, a mountain battery and two mountain
communication structures.
It should be noted that the World
Heritage Committee chose only 12 of the 14 sites presented, with
the Bazoches and Le Palais sites not making the final list.
Nevertheless, it is possible that inscription will in future be
extended to other sites influenced by Vauban.
These comprise six marine clusters
which are representative of the main diversity of the coral reefs
and associated ecosystems of the French Pacific archipelago
of
New Caledonia
, one of the three most extensive
coral reef systems in the world. They are home to complete
ecosystems with large and diverse populations of large predators
and fish. These sites are exceptionally beautiful and contain reefs
of varying ages, ranging from living structures to ancient fossil
reefs, and provide an important source of information on the
history of
Oceania
.
In total,
27 new sites
have been added to the World Heritage List. Among these,
there are
three cultural landscapes:
The following countries have had
their first site added to the List:
Saudi Arabia
,
Papua New Guinea
, Saint-Marin and
Vanuatu
. The
World Heritage List
now features 878 sites, 679 of which are cultural sites, 174 are
natural sites and 25 are mixed sites in 145 countries.
The World Heritage Committee decided
to
establish "close surveillance" of four sites facing a specific
threat, specifically urban threats for the most part. These
are
Timbuktu
(
Mali
),
Samarkand
(
Uzbekistan
),
Machu Picchu
(
Peru
) and
Bordeaux Port of the
Moon (France). Other sites remain the focus of this procedure,
for instance the
Dresden
Elbe
Valley
(
Germany
), which has been granted a reprieve
but whose inscription will be withdrawn if the construction of the
problem bridge is not cancelled.
In the case of Bordeaux, inscribed
in 2007, UNESCO noted with regret the destruction of the Pertuis
Bridge
, the last suspension bridge with
cable-stays in France,
and will study the visual impact of the planned lift bridge
downstream of the city. The destruction of the Passerelle
Saint-Jean railway bridge, whose Construction Supervisor was
Gustave Eiffel, had been planned, but a procedure listing the
bridge as a historic monument was set in motion by the State
on
23 June 2008
, halting demolition
work.