The Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System and Colombia's Los Katios National Park entered UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Danger List on Saturday.
The World Heritage Committee meeting in Seville has decided to inscribe the two sites due to the current worrying state of protection.
The main problem with the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System concerns mangrove cutting and excessive development in the property which was inscribed in 1996 as the largest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere, with offshore atolls, several hundred sand cays, mangrove forests, coastal lagoons and estuaries.
While requesting stricter control of development on the site, the Committee also requested that the moratorium on mangrove cutting on the site, which expired in 2008, be reinstated.
Colombia's Los Katios National Park was placed on the World Heritage Danger List at the 33rd session of the World Heritage Committee at the request of Colombia. The decision was made in order to mobilize international support for the preservation of the property which is threatened by deforestation in areas inside and around the property due to the illegal extraction of timber.
Inscribed in 1994 for its exceptional biological diversity, the site is also suffering from illegal fishing and hunting.
The World Heritage Committee meeting, convened here from June 22 to 30, is expected to decide on new sites as well as review the state of protection for the sites already inscribed.
(Xinhua News Agency June 28, 2009)
