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Istanbul, Turkey, 13 July—The World Heritage Committee has added the Old Towns of Djennéthe List of World Heritage in Danger due to insecurity, which is affecting the area and preventing the implementation of protective measures for the Malian World Heritage site.

The Committee has expressed concern over the property, which is situated in an area affected by insecurity. This situation is preventing safeguarding measures from addressing issues that include the deterioration of construction materials in the historic town, urbanization, and the erosion of the archaeological site. The Committee also appealed to the international community to support Mali in efforts to ensure the protection of the site.

Inhabited since 250 B.C., the Od Towns of Djenné became a market centre and an important link in the trans-Saharan gold trade. In the 15th and 16th centuries, it was one of the centres for the propagation of Islam. Its traditional houses, of which nearly 2,000 have survived, are built on hillocks (toguere) as protection from the seasonal floods.

The site was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1988.

The World Heritage in Danger is designed to inform the international community of conditions which threaten the very characteristics for which a property was inscribed on the World Heritage List, and to encourage corrective action.

Istanbul, Turkey, 13 July—The World Heritage Committee has decided to remove Georgia’s Historical Monuments of Mtskheta site from the List of World Heritage in Danger.

The Committee’s decision reflects recognition of Georgia’s efforts to improve the safeguarding and management of the site, which had been on the List of World Heritage in Danger since 2009. It had been put on the List in Danger due, notably, to the deterioration of its stone fabric and fresco paintings caused by work carried out to its edifices. It was kept on the List in Danger due to uncontrolled urban sprawl.

The Historical Monuments of Mtskheta was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1994. It includes three Medieval churches, the Holy Cross Monastery of Jvari, Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, and Samtavro Monastery, as well as major archaeological remains bearing witness to the high level of art and culture of Georgia over four millennia.

The 40th session of the World Heritage Committee opened on 10 July and will continue until 20 July. It is chaired by Ambassador, Director General of Cultural Affairs and Promotion Abroad of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lale ülker.

Istanbul, Turkey, 13 July — The World Heritage Committee has decided to add Uzbekistan’s Historic Centre of Shakhrisyabz to the List of World Heritage in Danger due to the over-development of tourist infrastructure in the site.

The Committee expressed concern over the destruction of buildings in the centre of the World Heritage site’s Medieval neighbourhoods and the construction of modern facilities including hotels and other buildings which have affected irreversible changes to the appearance of historic Shakhrisyabz. The Committee has requested that UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) send a joint mission to assess the extent of damage and propose appropriate corrective measures.

The Historic Centre of Shakhrisyabz, located on the Silk Road in southern Uzbekistan, is over 2,000 years old and was the cultural and political centre of the Kesh region in the 14th and 15th century. The Historic Centre of Shakhrisabz bears witness to the city’s secular development and to centuries of its history, particularly to the period of its apogee, under the rule of Amir Temur and the Temurids, from the 15th-16th century.

Istanbul, Turkey, 14 July—The World Heritage Committee today placed the five World Heritage sites of Libya on the List of World Heritage in Danger because of damage caused by the conflict affecting the country and the threat of further damage it poses.

The five sites are: Archaeological Site of Cyrene, Archaeological Site of Leptis Magna, Archaeological Site of Sabratha, Rock-Art Sites of Tadrart Acacus and the Old Town of Ghadamès. The Committee noted the high level of instability affecting the country and the fact that armed groups are present on these sites or in their immediate surroundings. It invoked the damage already incurred and the serious threat of further damage to explain the decision.

The Committee took this decision during its examination of the state of conservation of sites already inscribed on the World Heritage List.