wwp@yahoogroups.com:
WWPano: more about World Heritage sites
G. Donald Bain 2004-May-25 18:59:00
There are 754 officially designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. They
are listed by region and country at:
http://whc.unesco.org/nwhc/pages/sites/main.htm
They have been selected by the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO (the
United Nations Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization).
More information about this group and their program at:
http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm
The sites are scattered widely over the surface of the earth. Since the
definition of world heritage includes natural landscapes as well as
man-made ones, there are sites in both heavily populated regions and
remote areas. They celebrate world cultures from the neolithic to
relatively recent times. Some are single buildings, many are entire
historic towns or city centers, some are long abandoned.
New sites are continuously being evaluated and added to the list - 25
last year, more to be announced at the next official meeting in July,
2004.
The theme of the panorama shoot is world heritage, not just UNESCO
World Heritage sites. If you can make it to one of the official sites
for the Solstice, by all means do so. But if you cannot, you are free
to photograph your idea of an important heritage site.
There are so many ways a site can be of world significance. In my area
(the San Francisco Bay Area) for example, I would include the Golden
Gate Bridge, one of man's greatest and most graceful technical
achievements; the San Francisco Opera House, founding place of the
United Nations; the Franciscan missions, last and furthest effort of
the Spanish empire; Fort Ross, similarly the ultimate extension of
Russia; maybe even the Cyclotron at Berkeley, birthplace of the nuclear
age. It might be historically premature now, but Silicon Valley will
some day need to be recognized for its role in our cultural evolution
-- perhaps the garage that Hewlett-Packard was founded in, or the Apple
campus?
Natural areas have world heritage significance also. Many American
sites are famous national parks such as Yellowstone and Yosemite. But
smaller, lesser known parks qualify equally - Baxter State Park in New
York, famous for fall colors, is one that comes to mind.
So if you can't make it to a UNESCO inscribed site, make your own
nomination. Wouldn't it be a thrill if some time in the future UNESCO
were to agree and designate it?
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Don Bain - #removed#
Landis Bennett - #removed#